Customs House

The Customs House is located at 6-7 Queens Terrace, FY7 6BT – between Fleetwood Market and The Esplanade/North Euston. The What3Words reference is balancing.sang.truth.

Customs House

The building is pictured above as it appears today, home to Fleetwood Museum. And below some historic scenes from over the years.

History of the Customs House

Financed by Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood and designed by Decimus Burton, the Customs House is the earliest Burton building remaining.

Built on the Wyre river front in 1836, the Customs House originally stood in its own grounds with ornamental gardens. Early illustrations show that it had an initial observation point from which the Customs men could look through a telescope to view incoming shipping. Officers then checked all ships in the harbour, collecting taxes for the government on imports and exports arriving by land or sea.

The building was sold in 1876, when it became a private residence and was lived in until 1889. At this time, it became the local office for the Improvement Commissioners. They were local government boards created by a private Act of Parliament, who looked after street paving, cleansing, lighting, and used watchmen to deal with public nuisances.

Later it became Fleetwood’s Town Hall, until 1974. Then in 1992 it became the Fleetwood Museum. The building still retains many of its original features, including a tiled floor in the entrance. Recent renovations showed the building’s original Georgian era appearance. It is one of the most important coastal buildings in the country.

Reasons for plaque award

Opened in 1836 to a design by Decimus Burton, the Customs House collected taxes from ships which came into the harbour. It is one of the most important coastal buildings in the country.

Use the map and walk the route around Fleetwood – find all the other sites and buildings in the trail.

Colouring In Fleetwood

Why don’t you download, print out and complete this FREE colouring in sheet of the Customs House. Click on the image to download it. Find all of the colouring in sheets for the Fleetwood Blue Plaque trail here.

Links to other websites

• Much more about the history of Fleetwood Museum • Visit Fleetwood
• Former Customs House, Fleetwood – 1072398 • Historic England
• Former Customs House, Fleetwood, Lancashire • britishlistedbuildings.co.uk