HEYSHAM  , a seaport in the

Lancaster parliamentary division of Lancashire, England, on the south shore of Morecambe Bay, served by the Midland railway . Pop . (1901) 3381 . Under powers obtained from parliament in 1896, the Midland Railway Company constructed, and opened in 1904, a harbour, enclosed by breakwaters, for the development of traffic with Belfast and other Irish ports, a daily passenger-service of the first class being established to Belfast . The ,harbour has a depth at low tide of 17 ft., and extensive accommodation for live-stock and goods of all kinds is provided . Heysham is in some favour as a watering-place . The church of St Peter is mainly Norman, and has fragments of even earlier date . Ruins of a very ancient oratory stand near it . This was dedicated to St Patrick, and is traditionally said to have been erected as a place of prayer for those at sea .