Memorial to John Whitaker he opened a free Sunday School in Pickford Street, which accommodated about 40 children. In doing this he was inspired by Robert Raikes who had initiated the Sunday School movement, and by David Simpson, a local Anglican priest who had earlier provided schools for poor children in the town. Unlike most Sunday Schools, Whitaker's school was non-denominational. In 1814 he followed this by opening a much larger purpose-built Sunday School in Roe Street. The school was financed by public subscription and by the children paying a small weekly fee. Whitaker died in 1820, but the school continued to flourish, and
Raikes Hall not for the fact that the Pleasure Gardens was still hosting holiday-makers at the tail end of the summer season. The entire Raikes Hall Park was later turned into housing. Leicester and Longton Roads are located on the original pitch. The Raikes Hall public house, on Liverpool Road, preserves the name. Raikes Hall Raikes Hall was a cricket and football ground in Blackpool, England. It was the home ground of Blackpool F.C. between 1888 and 1899, and it was the thirteenth ground to be used for a Football League game. The Raikes Hall ground was located in Raikes Hall Park,