Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the
Blackburn with Darwen
Blackburn with Darwen is a borough and unitary authority area in Lancashire, North West England. It consists of the industrial town of Blackburn and the market town of Darwen including other villages around the two towns.
Formation
It was f ...
borough in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...
, England. The town is north of the
West Pennine Moors
The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately of moorland and reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The West Pennine Moors are separated from the mai ...
on the southern edge of the
Ribble Valley
Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status within the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The total population of the non-metropolitan district at the 2011 Census was 57,132. Its council is based in Clith ...
, east of
Preston
Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to:
Places
England
*Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement
**The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement
**County Boro ...
and north-northwest of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
. Blackburn is the core centre of the wider unitary authority area along with the town of Darwen. It is one of the largest districts in Lancashire, with commuter links to neighbouring cities of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
Preston
Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to:
Places
England
*Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement
**The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement
**County Boro ...
Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
,
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
and
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...
.
At the 2011 census, Blackburn had a population of 117,963, whilst the wider borough of Blackburn with Darwen had a population of 150,030. Blackburn had a population of 117,963 in 2011, with 30.8% being people of ethnic backgrounds other than white British.
A former
mill town
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories, usually cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe
Italy
* '' Crespi d'Adda'', UNESCO World ...
, textiles have been produced in Blackburn since the middle of the 13th century, when wool was woven in people's houses in the domestic system.
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
weavers who settled in the area in the 14th century helped to develop the woollen cottage industry.Burrow, J. & Co. (Eds.) (1960), p. 8. The most rapid period of growth and development in Blackburn's history coincided with the industrialisation and expansion of
textile manufacturing
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
.
Blackburn's textile sector fell into decline from the mid-20th century and subsequently faced similar challenges to other
post-industrial
In sociology, the post-industrial society is the stage of society's development when the service sector generates more wealth than the manufacturing sector of the economy.
The term was originated by Alain Touraine and is closely related to s ...
northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a r ...
towns, including deindustrialisation, economic deprivation and housing problems. Blackburn has had significant investment and redevelopment since 1958 through government funding and the European Regional Development Fund.
History
Toponymy
The origins of the name has been suggested that it may be a combination of the River Blakewater, and an
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...
word "burn", meaning stream. Local author William Abram cited the ancient name as Blake Burne in his 1877 book, ''Parish of Blackburn, County of Lancaster: A History of Blackburn, Town and Parish''. Abram also confirms that the region, later known as the
Blackburn Hundred
Blackburn Hundred (also known as Blackburnshire) is a historic sub-division of the county of Lancashire, in northern England. Its chief town was Blackburn, in the southwest of the hundred. It covered an area similar to modern East Lancashire, ...
, was known as Blakeburneshyre. Blackburn was recorded in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
as Blacheborne in 1086. By the time of John Speed's map of 1610, the spelling of the town was Blackburn, while the region was Blackburne. There is anecdotal speculation that the name of the town may simply mean "black burn", or "black stream".Beattie (1992), p. 11.
Prehistory
There is little evidence of prehistoric settlement in the Blakewater valley, in which Blackburn developed. Evidence of activity in the form of two urn burials has been discovered from the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
in the hills around Blackburn. In 1879, a cinerary urn was discovered at a
tumulus
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or '' kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones ...
at Revidge, north of the town; another was excavated in 1996 at Pleasington Cemetery, west of the town, by gravedigger Grant Higson. The presence of a sacred spring—perhaps in use during the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...
—provides evidence of prehistoric activity in the town centre, at All Hallows Spring on Railway Road.
Ribchester
Ribchester is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston.
The village has a long history with evidence of Bronze ...
) and Mamucium (a major Roman fort that occupied Castlefield in Manchester). The route of the road passed east of
Blackburn Cathedral
Blackburn Cathedral, officially known as the Cathedral Church of Blackburn Saint Mary the Virgin with St Paul, is an Anglican (Church of England) cathedral situated in the heart of Blackburn town centre, in Lancashire, England. The cathedral si ...
and probably crossed the river in the Salford neighbourhood just east of the modern town centre. It is not clear whether the road predated the settlement.Lancashire County Council (2005), ''Lancashire Historic Town Survey: Blackburn'', p. 16.
George C. Miller, in his ''Blackburn: The Evolution of a Cotton Town'', says:
The ancient military way from Mamucium (Manchester) to ( Bremetennacum) (Ribchester), passing over Blacksnape, plunges on its unswerving course through Blackamoor, over the scarp at Whinney Heights, to pass across the Blakewater in the vicinity of Salford. This fact alone presents a reasonable argument for the existence of a British oppidum or walled village on the site, it being customary for such primitive communities to cluster in the vicinity of a ford or bridge.
According to William Abram (1877):
The Parish of Blackburn contains many interesting vestiges. Three of the four principal roads constructed by the Romans in Lancashire traversed some portion of the Parish : —I. The lower road from the south to Carlisle, intersected the township of Walton-in-le-Dale. 2. The road from Manchester to Overborough crossed the Parish at its broadest part. 3. The road from the sea to the interior, which formed the conmiunication between the "Sistuntian Port" (on the Wyre) and Ribchester, Ilkley-in-Wharfedale, Aldborough andYork, enters Blackburn Parish at Ribchester, by a ford over the Ribble. The late Rev. E. Sibson, in a paper on the Roman Roads of the Wigan district, speaks of a road of this kind which branched off eastward from Blackrod, "Street-fold and Water-street, near Rivington, and by White Hough, in Tockholes, to the small Roman station at Blackburn, near the new road to Preston."
Roman temple spring at All Hallows
All Hallows Spring was excavated by
Antiquarians
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifacts, archaeological and historic sit ...
in 1654 and found to contain an inscribed stone commemorating the dedication of a temple to Serapis by Claudius Hieronymus,
legate
Legate may refer to:
* Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class
:*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period
*A member of a legation
*A representative, ...
Christianity is believed to have come to Blackburn by the end of the 6th century, in either 596 (as there is a record of a "church of Blagbourne" in that year) or 598 AD.Lancashire County Council (2005), ''Lancashire Historic Town Survey: Blackburn'', p. 17. The town was important during the
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
era when the Blackburnshire Hundred came into existence as a territorial division of the kingdom of
Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
.
The name of the town appears in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
as ''Blachebourne'', a royal manor during the days of
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æt ...
and
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...
. Archaeological evidence from the demolition of the
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
on the site of the cathedral in 1820 suggests that a church was built during the late 11th or early 12th century. A market cross was also erected nearby in 1101. The manor came into the possession of Henry de Blackburn, who divided it between his two sons. Later, one half was granted to the monks of
Stanlow Abbey
The Abbey of St. Mary at Stanlaw (or Stanlow as it has been posthumously known since a Victorian cartographical error), was a Cistercian foundation situated on Stanlaw - now Stanlow - Point, on the banks of the River Mersey in the Wirral Peninsul ...
and this
moiety
Moiety may refer to:
Chemistry
* Moiety (chemistry), a part or functional group of a molecule
** Moiety conservation, conservation of a subgroup in a chemical species
Anthropology
* Moiety (kinship), either of two groups into which a society is ...
was subsequently granted to the monks of
Whalley Abbey
Whalley Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey in Whalley, Lancashire, England. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the abbey was largely demolished and a country house was built on the site. In the 20th century the house was modifie ...
. During the 12th century, the town's importance declined as Clitheroe became the regional centre. In addition to a settlement in the town centre area, there were several other medieval domiciles nearby.
Industrial Revolution and textiles
Textile manufacturing in Blackburn dates from the mid-13th century, when wool produced locally by farmers was woven in their homes. Flemish weavers who settled in the area in the 14th century developed the industry. By 1650 the town was known for the manufacture of blue and white "Blackburn checks", and "Blackburn greys" became famous not long afterwards. By the first half of the 18th century textile manufacture had become Blackburn's main industry. From the mid-18th to the early 20th century Blackburn evolved from a small market town into "the weaving capital of the world", and its population increased from less than 5,000 to over 130,000.
''John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles'' provides a profile of Blackburn in 1887:
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
and
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...
, NE. Lancashire, E. of
Preston
Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to:
Places
England
*Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement
**The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement
**County Boro ...
and NW. of London by rail – par., 48,281 ac., pop. 161,617; township, 3681 ac., pop. 91,958; bor., 6974 ac., pop. 104,014; 4 Banks, 2 newspapers. Market-days, Wednesday and Saturday. It is one of the chief seats of cotton manufacture, besides producing calico,
muslin
Muslin () is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq, where it was first manufactured.
Muslin of uncommonly delicate hands ...
, &c., there being over 140 mills at work. There are also factories for making cotton machinery and steam-engines. Blackburn has been associated with many improvements in the manufacture of cotton, among which was the invention (1767) of the " spinning jenny" which was invented in nearby Oswaldtwistle by James Hargreaves, who died in 1770. There are several fine churches and public buildings. A Corporation Park (50 ac. in area) is on the outskirts of the town. Several lines of railway converge here, and pass through one principal station belonging to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Ry. Co. B. returns 2 members to Parliament.
From around 1750, cotton textile manufacturing expanded rapidly. Supplied with cotton by merchants, and paid by the piece, cottagers spun cotton into thread and wove it into cloth. The merchants arranged for cloth to be bleached and dyed.
After 1775,
spinning
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...
mills were built in the town. Early mills were warehouse conversions; the first purpose-built spinning mill was constructed in 1797 and by 1824 there were 24. The number of spindles reached 2.5 million by 1870 and spinning mills were constructed up to that time – 24 since 1850. Spinning declined between 1870 and 1900 as the sector transferred to south Lancashire.
In 18th-century Blackburn,
weaving
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...
was primarily undertaken by handloom weavers working from their own cottages. However, as powerlooms were introduced into the mills after 1825, the percentage of handloom weavers began to decline and this occurred more rapidly in areas closer to the town. Handloom weavers continued to make up a sizable portion of the workforce in outlying rural areas. The last handloom shop in Blackburn closed in 1894.
1800s
In 1807, the Daniel Thwaites & Co brewery was established; the company is still in business today and is now based at Sykes Holt in Mellor.
Improvements to the
power loom
A power loom is a mechanized loom, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution. The first power loom was designed in 1786 by Edmund Cartwright and first built that same year. ...
in the early 1840s, and the construction of a railway line in 1846, led to greater investment in power looms in Blackburn in the second half of that decade. The railway brought opportunities for expansion of the cotton trade, and in subsequent decades many new mills were constructed: between 1850 and 1870, sixty-eight weaving-only and four combined weaving/spinning mills were built and nine weaving mills were built per decade between 1870 and 1890.
Improvements in power loom efficiency meant that weaving, the primary source of wealth and income for handloom weavers, began to transfer from the cottage industry to factories. This led to high rates of unemployment: according to figures published in March 1826, some 60 per cent of all handloom weavers in Blackburn and Rishton,
Lower Darwen
Lower Darwen is a village in the unitary borough of Blackburn with Darwen, contiguous with the town of Darwen, in the county of Lancashire. It is located between the towns of Blackburn and Darwen. Nearby places include Ewood and Blackamoor. I ...
and Oswaldtwistle were unemployed. High unemployment led to the Lancashire weavers' riots. At 3:00 pm on 24 April 1826, a mob arrived in Blackburn after attacking power looms in
Accrington
Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...
. Proceeding to Bannister Eccles' Jubilee Factory on Jubilee Street, the mob destroyed 212 power looms in the space of 35 minutes. They then turned their attention to John Houghton and Sons' Park Place factory, located nearby, and destroyed another 25 looms, before seeking more machinery to attack. The crowd began to disperse at around 6:00 pm, troops having arrived at 3:30 pm to try to quell the rioting.
20th-century decline of the cotton industry
In 1890, Blackburn's
Chamber of Commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ...
had recognised that the town was overly dependent on the cotton industry, warning of the dangers of "only having one string to their bow in Blackburn". The warning proved prophetic when, in 1904, a slump hit the cotton industry and other industries dependent on it, such as engineering, brewing and building. In 1908, another slump saw 43 mills stop production and a quarter of the town's looms lay idle.
During the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
suspension of trade with India resulted in the expansion of colonial British India's cotton industry at the expense of Britain's,Taylor (2000), pp. 47–55. and the imposition of an 11 per cent import tariff by the colonial British Government led to a dramatic slump in trade in 1921, a situation which worsened in 1922 after the Indian Government raised the tariff to 14 per cent. This caused the number of stopped mills to increase to 47, with 43,000 looms lying idle. Two years into the slump, Foundry and Limbrick Mills became the first to close permanently.
Not long afterwards, in 1926, the
General Strike
A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coa ...
saw production suspended at half the town's mills and 12,000 unemployed.
In 1927, Matthew Brown & Co. relocated to the town's Lion Brewery, on Coniston Road, following their acquisition of local brewer Nuttall & Co, later the subject of a hostile takeover by Scottish & Newcastle Breweries in 1987, ceasing brewing in 1991.
In 1928, there was another slump in textile production, and another strike in 1929 after employers requested a 12% wage cut; 40,000 cotton workers struck for a week and eight mills closed, making 28 closures in six years. By the start of 1930, 50 mills had shut and 21,000 people were unemployed. A financial crisis in 1931 led to 24,000 unemployed, with 1,000 houses and 166 shops lying empty in the town. A total of 26 mills closed down between 1930 and 1934.
1948 mass fingerprinting
Blackburn became the first town to undertake the mass fingerprinting of people following the murder of
June Anne Devaney
June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in t ...
in May 1948. June Anne Devaney was a three-year-old patient at Queens Park Hospital when she was abducted from her cot and murdered in the hospital grounds on 15 May 1948. Fingerprints on a bottle underneath her cot led the police to fingerprint every male over the age of 16 who was present in Blackburn on 14 and 15 May 1948. After taking over 46,500 sets of fingerprints, a match was made with Peter Griffiths, a 22-year-old ex-serviceman. Griffiths admitted his guilt and his trial ascertained if he was sane or not. After deliberating for 23 minutes, the jury found him sane and he was hanged at
Liverpool Prison
HM Prison Liverpool (formerly Walton Gaol) is a category B local men's prison in Walton, Liverpool, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
History
Liverpool Prison (originally known as Walton Gaol) was constructed between 18 ...
on Friday 19 November 1948. After his conviction, the police destroyed all fingerprints they had taken.
1948–1999
Between 1948 and 1950 the textile industry experienced a short post-war boom, during which sales increased, industry training methods improved and automatic looms were introduced, which allowed a single weaver to control 20 to 25 looms. Loom sheds were rebuilt to house new, larger looms. Despite the post-war boom, the cotton industry continued to decline and only 25 per cent of the town's population were employed in textiles by 1951; this figure had stood at 60 per cent up to the beginning of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
in 1929. In 1952 the number of weavers fell from 10,890 to 9,020. By 1955 more cloth was imported from India than was exported and between 1955 and 1958 another 16 mills closed. In 1959, due partly to the re-organisation of the textile industry as a result of the Textiles Act, another 17 mills closed. By 1960 there were 30 mills operating in Blackburn.
Closures continued in the 1960s with The Parkside, Fountains, Malvern and Pioneer Mills shutting in 1964. In 1967 the Eclipse Mill at Feniscowles closed, unable to compete with imported cloth sold at nine pence cheaper per yard than the mill could produce. By the end of that year there were 26 mills operating. The 1970s saw further closures, and the number of textile workers in Blackburn reduced to 6,000 by January 1975, the year in which the Albion and Alston mills stopped production with the loss of 400 jobs. In 1976 there were 2,100 looms in operation in the town, compared with 79,405 in 1907.
21st century
Governance
:''This section describes the organisation of government in the area. For information on party politics and local issues see the section on
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
below''
Blackburn is administered by
Blackburn with Darwen
Blackburn with Darwen is a borough and unitary authority area in Lancashire, North West England. It consists of the industrial town of Blackburn and the market town of Darwen including other villages around the two towns.
Formation
It was f ...
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
, which encompasses Blackburn and the small town of Darwen to the south. The town sends one Member of Parliament (MP) to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
.
Local government
The council has been elected "by thirds" since 1996 In its 2007
Comprehensive Performance Assessment In the United Kingdom, the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA), conducted by the Audit Commission, assessed the performance of every local authority
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within ...
(CPA), the Audit Commission described the council as "improving well" and gave it the highest "four star" overall performance rating.Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) scorecard 2007 , Audit Commission, Retrieved 5 July 2008.
Although children's services, adult social care and
GCSE
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
results were praised, the commission highlighted "significant health problems" and increased "levels of repeat victims of domestic violence" as causes for concern. Despite generally good performance, overall user satisfaction levels with the council are below average and not improving. The borough has Beacon Council status and shares its best practice in education policy with other councils as part of the scheme.
Members of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MPs) to Westminster until it was abolished in 1950 and replaced for one parliamentary term by two new single-member constituencies, Blackburn East and Blackburn West. At the 1955 general election, Blackburn East and Blackburn West were merged into the modern-day constituency which is relatively tightly formed and returns a single MP.
Coat of arms
The
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
of the former Blackburn Borough Council has many distinctive emblems.The Crests of Blackburn and Darwen ,
Blackburn with Darwen Council
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is the local authority of Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. From 2020 to 2021, the Mayor of Blackb ...
, Retrieved 16 April 2008 The
blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The ...
of the arms is: ''Argent a Fesse wavy Sable between three Bees volant proper on a Chief Vert a Bugle stringed Argent between two Fusils Or. On the crest, a Wreath of the Colours a Shuttle Or thereon a Dove wings elevated Argent and holding in the beak the Thread of the Shuttle reflexed over the back and an Olive Branch proper.'' The
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
motto
A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. M ...
of the town is , correctly translated as 'By art and by labour' but often translated as 'By skill and hard work'.
The motto, granted on 14 February 1852 to the former Borough of Blackburn, is poignant, as Blackburn, once a small town, had risen to importance through the energy and enterprise of her spinners and manufacturers, combined with the skill and labour of her operatives. The Borough of Blackburn was formed by the amalgamation of the County Borough of Blackburn, the Borough of Darwen, part of the
Turton Urban District
Turton Urban District was, from 1873 to 1974, a local government district centred on the historical area of Turton in the administrative county of Lancashire, England.
History Background
Turton was a township and chapelry of the civil and e ...
and the parishes of
Yate and Pickup Bank
Yate and Pickup Bank is a civil parish in the borough of Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish taken at the census of 2011 was 366. The parish contains two hamlets, Bank Fold and Pickup Bank and par ...
Livesey
Livesey is a civil parish in the unitary borough of Blackburn with Darwen, in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 6,202.
Etymology
Its name likeliest came from Old English ' ...
,
Pleasington
Pleasington () is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire, England. It had a population of 467 in the 2001 census, reducing to 446 at the 2011 Census.
It is a rural village set on a hillside above the Riv ...
and
Tockholes
Tockholes is a village and civil parish which forms part of the Blackburn with Darwen unitary authority in the English county of Lancashire, England. Tockholes consists of the village of Tockholes itself and the hamlet of Ryal Fold, and has a po ...
from the
Blackburn Rural District
Blackburn was a rural district in Lancashire from 1894 to 1974.
It was named after, but did not include Blackburn, which was an independent county borough. It surrounded Blackburn on the north and western sides, and also included an exclave o ...
.
Politics
Blackburn council and its successor have been predominantly controlled by the Labour Party since 1945 and continuously for 19 years until May 2007 when it fell into no overall control. UKPollingReport characterises the constituency of Blackburn as "a mix of deprived inner-city wards dominated by Muslim voters, white working class areas and
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
Foreign Secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwe ...
Jack Straw. Previous MPs for Blackburn include the former Labour cabinet minister Barbara Castle from 1945 to 1979. The distribution of seats as of May 2018 was 44 seats for the Labour Party, 17 for the Conservatives and 3 for the Liberal Democrats.
;Far-right
In the 1970s Blackburn experienced its first significant wave of Asian immigration and became a focus for far-right politics. In 1976, two National Party councillors were briefly elected, including
John Kingsley Read
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
.
In July 1992, white and Asian youths rioted for several nights in Blackburn, with incidents taking place including an arson attack on a café which had allegedly been a meeting place for local Asians involved in organised crime.
Although some towns in the
North of England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
suffered
race riots
An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positio ...
in the summer of 2001, the streets of Blackburn were undisturbed and the disturbance of the Summer 2011 riots was minimal.
The next resurgence of support for the far right came in 2002; The incumbent Liberal Democrats were pushed into third place behind Labour. Commenting on the elections, Blackburn MP Jack Straw said: "It is very sad. We had the far right in Blackburn 26 years ago when they won two seats in Shadsworth. But there the whole community decided they wouldn't have it. You can never say they won't put candidates in Blackburn but we will work hard on community relations."
;Nationalists / Localists
The council until prior to 2008 had two members for the England First party,
Mark Cotterill
Mark Adrian Cotterill (born 3 October 1960) is a far right political figure who has been involved in a number of movements throughout his career. He is noted for activity to establish links between the far right in Britain and America, by foundin ...
for Meadowhead ward and Michael Johnson for Fernhurst. Mark Cotterill has since stood down and Michael Johnson joined the
For Darwen
The For Darwen Party was a local political party in Darwen, south of Blackburn, England, with a platform that Darweners were not properly represented on Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council.
Founded in 2007, the party had three Borough Councill ...
party. Members of the BNP won a council seat in the town in November 2002 following elections in May which saw three of their colleagues elected in nearby
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...
. The BNP's Robin Evans secured a 16-vote majority in Mill Hill ward with two recounts following a campaign using pub meetings and leafleting. Robin Evans resigned from the party in October 2003.
Geography
At (53.7449°, −2.4769°), and north-northwest of London, Blackburn stands above sea level, east of
Preston
Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to:
Places
England
*Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement
**The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement
**County Boro ...
and north-northeast of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
. The
Ribble Valley
Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status within the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The total population of the non-metropolitan district at the 2011 Census was 57,132. Its council is based in Clith ...
and
West Pennine Moors
The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately of moorland and reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The West Pennine Moors are separated from the mai ...
lie to the north and south respectively. Blackburn experiences a
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...
maritime climate, like much of the British Isles, with relatively cool summers and mild winters. There is regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year.
Although the city of Preston, the administrative centre for Lancashire, is located about west, Blackburn is the largest municipality in East Lancashire. The town is bounded on other sides by the towns of
Accrington
Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...
to the east and Darwen to the south. The village of Wilpshire is north of Blackburn, and is partly contiguous (development-touching) however in the
Ribble Valley
Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status within the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The total population of the non-metropolitan district at the 2011 Census was 57,132. Its council is based in Clith ...
local government district. Other nearby villages are Langho, approximately northeast, and
Mellor Mellor is a surname.
Notable people with this surname
* Alan Mellor (born 1959), English cricketer
* Anne K. Mellor (born 1942), feminist scholar of Romantic literature
* Chip Mellor (born 1950), President and General Counsel of the Institute for J ...
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...
.
Geology and terrain
Located in the midst of the East Lancashire Hills, some areas of the town are characterised by steep slopes. The town centre centres in a plain of
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''.
Th ...
surrounded by hills. The Revidge to the north can be reached via a steep climb up Montague Street and Dukes Brow to reach a peak of above sea level.Blackburn Ordnance Survey Get-a-map, Retrieved 27 October 2006
To the west, the wooded Billinge Hill in
Witton Country Park
Witton Country Park is a 480- acre (1.9 km²) public park in the west of Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Around half of the country park is mixed woodland and parkland, while the rest is either farmland or rough grassland with open access. ...
is high, while Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital is situated to the east of the town at a vantage point of . These figures can be considered in the context of other hills and mountains in Lancashire, including Great Hill at , Winter Hill at ,
Pendle Hill
Pendle Hill is in the east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Brierfield, Clitheroe and Padiham. Its summit is above mean sea level. It gives its name to the Borough of Pendle. It is an isolated hill in the ...
at and Green Hill at .
The River Blakewater, which gives its names to the town, flows down from the moors above Guide and then through the areas of Whitebirk, Little Harwood, Cob Wall and Brookhouse to the town centre. The river is
culvert
A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdo ...
ed and runs underground in the town centre, under Ainsworth Street and between
Blackburn Cathedral
Blackburn Cathedral, officially known as the Cathedral Church of Blackburn Saint Mary the Virgin with St Paul, is an Anglican (Church of England) cathedral situated in the heart of Blackburn town centre, in Lancashire, England. The cathedral si ...
and the Boulevard. On the western side of the town centre the Blakewater continues through the Wensley Fold area before joining the
River Darwen
The River Darwen runs through Darwen and Blackburn in Lancashire, England, eventually joining the River Ribble at Walton le Dale south of Preston on its way to the Ribble Estuary.
Course
Originating at Jack's Key Clough where Grain Brook and Gr ...
outside Witton Country Park; the Darwen flows into the
River Ribble
The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea ...
at Walton-le-Dale.
The geology of the Blackburn area yields numerous resources which underpinned its development as a centre of manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution. Mineable
coal seam
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...
s have been used since the mid-late 16th century. The
Coal Measures
In lithostratigraphy, the coal measures are the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. In the United Kingdom, the Coal Measures Group consists of the Upper Coal Measures Formation, the Middle Coal Measures Formation and the Lower Coa ...
quarried
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...
in the past for
millstone
Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones.
Millstones come in pairs: a wikt:convex, convex stationary base known as the ''be ...
s and, along with local
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...
deposits, used as a construction material for roads and buildings. In addition, there were deposits of iron ore in the Furness and
Ulverston
Ulverston is a market town and a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 11,524, increasing at the 2011 census to 11,678. Historically in Lancashire, it lies a f ...
districts.
The Blackburn area was subjected to
glaciation
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate bet ...
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...
-and-
shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especiall ...
bedrock is overlain in much of the area by
glacial deposit
image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...
s called till (which is also called "boulder clay") of varying thickness up to several tens of feet.
Glacial outwash
An outwash plain, also called a sandur (plural: ''sandurs''), sandr or sandar, is a plain formed of glaciofluvial deposits due to meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier. As it flows, the glacier grinds the underlying rock surface and ca ...
(sand and gravel) also occur in small patches, including along Grimshaw Brook.
Green belt
Blackburn is within a
green belt
A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...
region that extends into the wider surrounding counties, and is in place to reduce
urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
, prevent the towns in the nearby
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
and
Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wir ...
conurbations from further convergence, protect the identity of outlying communities, encourage
brownfield
In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land pre ...
reuse, and preserve nearby countryside. This is achieved by restricting inappropriate development within the designated areas and imposing stricter conditions on permitted building.
Sizeable areas of green belt exist within the borough, west and south of Blackburn surrounding Witton Country Park and Pleasington parish, with other parishes in the borough containing portions of green belt, Tockholes, Eccleshill, Yate and Pickup Bank parish, Livesy, Darwen, with North Turton largely covered. The green belt was first drawn up in 1982 under
Lancashire County Council
Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It consists of 84 councillors. Since the 2017 election, the council has been under Conservative control.
Prior to the 2009 L ...
, and the size in the borough in 2017 amounted to some .
Demography
At the time of the
UK Government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_est ...
's 2001 census, Blackburn, defined as an urban area, had a population of 105,085 and a population density of . According to further statistics from the same census, this time defining Blackburn as a Westminster parliamentary constituency, the population was 69.22 per cent
White British
White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...
(national average for England 89.99 per cent) with significant
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
n (14.31 per cent) and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
i (11.45 per cent ) ethnic minorities.2001 Census: Key Statistics, Ethnic Group (KS06)
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for ...
. Retrieved 18 March 2008. 12.33 per cent of the population was born outside the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
.2001 Census: Key Statistics, Country of Birth (KS05)
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for ...
. Retrieved 18 March 2008. In terms of religion, 57.53 per cent of residents were Christian (average for England 71.74 per cent), 25.74 per cent
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
(average for England 3.1 per cent) and 15.98% no religion or not stated.2001 Census: Key Statistics, Religion (KS07)
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for ...
. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
With regard to the economic activity of those aged 16–74, the 2001 Census indicates that 33.93 per cent were full-time employees (average for England 40.81 per cent), 11.72 per cent part-timers, 5.97 per cent self-employed (average for England 8.32 per cent), and 4.5 per cent unemployed (average for England 3.35 per cent).2001 Census: Key Statistics, Economic Activity (KS09A)
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for ...
. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
The 2001 census also records the social grade of the constituency's 72,418 people aged 16 and over: using the NRS social grades system, 10,748 were classed as AB (higher and intermediate managerial/administrative/professional), 17,514 as C1 (supervisory, clerical, junior managerial/administrative/professional), 11,691 as C2 (skilled manual workers), 19,212 as D (semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers), and 13,253 as E (on state benefit, unemployed, lowest grade workers).2001 Census: Key Statistics, Approximated Social Grade (UV50)
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for ...
. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
Additionally, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council manages a site for Gypsies and travellers, in the Ewood area of the town.
The 2011 census showed that there was an increase in the number of people of ethnic minorities living within the Blackburn with Darwen area. Results showed that 31 per cent of people in the area were of an ethnic minority background, with 66.5 per cent defined as
white British
White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...
. This equates to roughly 45,500 people within Blackburn with Darwen being of a minority ethnic group – a level three times greater than the average across Lancashire and the rest of the region.
In 2011 Blackburn had 117,963 residents, of whom:
*62.7% White (60.0% White British)
*34.3% Asian
*0.7% Black
There is a distinct contrast between different areas with ethnic groups due to segregation. Areas south and west of the town centre such as Ewood have an indigenous majority, with all wards in the area being more than 85 per cent White British. In contrast, most wards north and east of the town centre have an Asian majority, but also a small but increasing community of people from mainland Europe.
Economy
As of 2007, the town centre was subject to a multimillion-pound investment, and
Blackburn with Darwen Council
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is the local authority of Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. From 2020 to 2021, the Mayor of Blackb ...
have already made some refurbishments and renovations of key public places, notably the Church Street area with its
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
classical style Waterloo Pavilions complemented by street furniture and sculptures. As of 2006, The Mall Blackburn (formerly known as Blackburn Shopping Centre) was the main shopping centre in Blackburn with over 130 shops and 400 further outlets close by. in June 2011, Blackburn Market opened in a new site under the shopping centre and opened six days a week (Monday–Saturday). The previous market was based on the other side of Ainsworth Street. It first opened on this site in 1964, where there was a three-day market (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) and the Market Hall (Monday–Saturday).
The town centre was expanded by construction of the Grimshaw Park retail development (including Blackburn Arena) in the 1990s. The adjacent Townsmoor Retail Park and Peel Leisure and Retail Park are more recent developments.
in May 2008, one of the town's most well-known shops, the shoe store Tommy Ball's, closed due to
insolvency
In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-shee ...
. The town's oldest store, Mercer & Sons, also closed after a decline in sales blamed on the
credit crunch
A credit crunch (also known as a credit squeeze, credit tightening or credit crisis) is a sudden reduction in the general availability of loans (or credit) or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from banks. A credit cr ...
. It opened in 1840 and was originally an ironmonger, but it converted to selling toys, household goods and hardware. In January 2009 the directors of the company announced that the shop would close after a 30-day statutory consultation, unless they changed their minds or a buyer was found.
Markets continue to offer a wide range of local produce, such as Lancashire cheeses,
tripe
Tripe is a type of edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals. Most tripe is from cattle, pigs and sheep.
Types of tripe
Beef tripe
Beef tripe is made from the muscle wall (the interior mucosal lining is removed) of a cow's ...
, Bowland beef and lamb. Walsh's Sarsaparilla stall decided not to join the move into the Mall shopping centre in 2011, and opens six days a week.
Major employers in Blackburn include: Blackburn College, Thwaites Brewery,
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenue ...
( Samlesbury Aerodrome site, located at Samlesbury, northwest of Blackburn); Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council; and the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (based at the Royal Blackburn Hospital).
''Drumstone Trade Park'' near the town centre has trade outlets.
Numerous business parks exist in and around the town.
Northern Trains
Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail N ...
, who also operate all of its passenger services. It is on the Ribble Valley line between Clitheroe and Manchester Victoria; trains to Manchester typically take around 50 minutes and continue on to
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Bor ...
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...
,
Colne
Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds.
The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne ...
,
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...
and
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
; services westwards go to
Preston
Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to:
Places
England
*Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement
**The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement
**County Boro ...
and
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...
.
Buses
Blackburn's new bus station in Ainsworth Street opened in May 2016. A new interchange was built outside the station as part of the Cathedral Quarter redevelopment, where all buses continue to the bus station.
Air
Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those ...
, the busiest airport in the UK outside London, provides scheduled flights. It is located about south-east of the town.
Waterways
The
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool.
Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...
runs through Blackburn from Feniscowles in the south-west to Whitebirk in the north-east, skirting the town centre to the east of Blackburn railway station. This important early industrial artery arrived in 1810 and became the chief focus for industrial growth in the 19th century, with raw cotton imported via
Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
. While it suffered neglect in the wake of the area's industrial decline, the Blackburn stretch has benefited from a number of regeneration projects since the 1990s. British Waterways residential moorings are to be found at Finnington Lane Bridge on the western edge of the borough.
Roads
The
M65 motorway
The M65 is a motorway in Lancashire, England. It runs from just south of Preston through the major junction of the M6 and M61 motorways, east past Darwen, Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley, Brierfield, Nelson and ends at Colne.
History
The ...
passes to the south of Blackburn. It runs from
Colne
Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds.
The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne ...
, about north-east of Blackburn, to a point close to the village of
Lostock Hall
Lostock Hall is a suburban village within the South Ribble borough of Lancashire, England. It is located on the south side of the River Ribble, some south of Preston and north of Leyland. It is bordered on its southeastern side by the ...
near
Preston
Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to:
Places
England
*Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement
**The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement
**County Boro ...
, about west. Junction six of the motorway is located at the eastern edge of Blackburn, near the Intack area; junctions five and four are located to the south, near the village of Guide and the
Lower Darwen
Lower Darwen is a village in the unitary borough of Blackburn with Darwen, contiguous with the town of Darwen, in the county of Lancashire. It is located between the towns of Blackburn and Darwen. Nearby places include Ewood and Blackamoor. I ...
area, respectively; and junction three is located at the south-western edge of the town, close to the
Feniscowles
Feniscowles is a village in the unitary authority of Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire, England. It lies approximately west of Blackburn, in the civil parish of Livesey.
Description
The village is primarily a suburb of Blackburn, off Pre ...
area. The M65 links Blackburn to the national motorway network, connecting to junction nine of the M61 and junction 29 of the M6.
Other major roads in and around Blackburn include the A666 and the A677. The A666 runs from the A59 near the village of Langho, some north-west of Blackburn. It passes through the town centre and continues south through the towns of Darwen and Bolton, then south-west to the town of
Pendlebury
Pendlebury is a town in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,069. It lies north-west of Manchester city centre, north-west of Salford and south-east of Bolton.
Historically in Lanc ...
, near
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
, where it joins the A6 at Irlams o' th' Height. The A677 runs from the east part of Blackburn, about from the centre. It passes through the centre of the town and continues to the western outskirts. It then heads north-west to the village of
Mellor Brook
Mellor Brook is a village which straddles the borders of the Boroughs of Ribble Valley and South Ribble in Lancashire, England. The village population at the 2011 census was 2,467.
The village of Mellor Brook is approximately north west ...
before continuing west towards the city of
Preston
Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to:
Places
England
*Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement
**The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement
**County Boro ...
. It joins the A59 about west of Blackburn, about halfway between Blackburn and Preston. Barbara Castle Way, named after the former local MP, runs from Montague Street to Eanam Roundabout; it passes close to the town centre as part of the A6078 town centre orbital route.
Landmarks
Cathedral
Blackburn Cathedral
Blackburn Cathedral, officially known as the Cathedral Church of Blackburn Saint Mary the Virgin with St Paul, is an Anglican (Church of England) cathedral situated in the heart of Blackburn town centre, in Lancashire, England. The cathedral si ...
was formerly
St Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
's Parish Church. It was reconsecrated in 1826 on the site of a previous church that had stood for several hundred years. In 1926 the
Diocese of Blackburn
The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created on 12 November 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool and Burnley, the cities of Lanc ...
was created and the church gained cathedral status. Blackburn was selected above other locations for the new wave of Archbishop Temple's cathedrals because of its then excellent public transport infrastructure – the cathedral stands next to the bus and railway station. Between the 1930s and 1960s an enlarged cathedral was built using the existing building as the nave. Six of the cathedral's bells were cast in 1737 and are claimed to derive from even older bells. An image of the cathedral is used behind BBC interviews filmed at BBC Radio Lancashire in Darwen Street, opposite the cathedral.
Ewood Park
The ground was opened in AprIl 1882. Work on the redeveloped, all-seater stadium got underway in February 1993 when the old Darwen End stand was demolished. This stand, with the old Blackburn End stand, was redeveloped before the Nuttall Street stand was also demolished ready for redevelopment in January 1994. Almost two years later, on 18 November 1995, the new Ewood Park was officially opened. With a capacity of 31,367, it consists of four sections: the Darwen End, Riverside Stand (so named as it stands on the banks of the
River Darwen
The River Darwen runs through Darwen and Blackburn in Lancashire, England, eventually joining the River Ribble at Walton le Dale south of Preston on its way to the Ribble Estuary.
Course
Originating at Jack's Key Clough where Grain Brook and Gr ...
), Blackburn End, and Jack Walker Stand, named after a Blackburn industrialist and club supporter. The stadium also has conference and banqueting facilities.
Queen Victoria's statue
Blackburn's statue of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
stands next to the cathedral grounds overlooking the Cathedral Square. Victoria's fourth daughter, Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, unveiled the statue on 30 September 1905. It was sculpted by the Australian Sir Bertram McKennal out of white Sicilian
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
and stands on a grey
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...
plinth. It is high and weighs , while the plinth is high and weighs .
Town Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
was completed in 1856 at a cost of £35,000, equivalent to about £1.5 million as at 2008. The architect was James Paterson and the contractors were Richard Hacking and William Stones. It originally housed a police station with 18 cells, a large assembly room, and a council chamber. A tower block extension was constructed in 1969 at a cost of £650,000, equal to about £6.6 million as at 2008. The tower block is not strictly an extension to the earlier building: the two buildings are connected only by an elevated, enclosed footbridge. The tower block was high and the top was above sea-level when built, although it has since been re-clad and these figures may have altered slightly. The two buildings are known locally as the ''New Town Hall'' and ''Old Town Hall'' respectively.
Technical School
The school was built in the Northern Renaissance style and has a slate roof, an attic, a basement and two intermediate storeys. Made mainly of red brick and yellow
terra cotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
, it is profusely decorated. There are ornate
gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...
s, a round-arched entrance with angled
turret
Turret may refer to:
* Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building
* Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon
* Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope
* M ...
s and balcony above; in addition, there is a
frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
below the top storey with panels depicting art and craft skills. A Grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
, it is now part of Blackburn College. The Prince of Wales placed a time capsule in the wall of the college during his visit. The college celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2013.
Other landmarks
The Wainwright Bridge was opened in June 2008. The £12 million
bowstring arch bridge
A tied-arch bridge is an arch bridge in which the outward horizontal forces of the arch(es) caused by tension at the arch ends to a foundation are countered by equal tension of its own gravity plus any element of the total deck structure such grea ...
Ribble Valley
Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status within the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The total population of the non-metropolitan district at the 2011 Census was 57,132. Its council is based in Clith ...
railway lines west of the town centre and forms part of the A6078 Town Centre Orbital Route. The bridge is named after
Alfred Wainwright
Alfred Wainwright MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume '' Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'', publis ...
, after a vote by the townspeople. Blackburn Arena, opened in 1991, houses an
ice rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
and is home to the
Blackburn Hawks
The Blackburn Hawks (formerly known as the Blackhawks and the Lancashire Hawks) are a British ice hockey team based in Blackburn, Lancashire. They are currently members of the EIHA Moralee Conference (NIHL N1), and have previously played in the ...
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...
Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread.
Geography and administ ...
-based artist Stephen Charnock. It shows eight famous faces associated with the town, including
Mohandas Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
, who visited nearby Darwen in 1931. The station was renovated in 2000. BBC Radio Lancashire has its studios in Darwen Street in the town centre. Thwaites Brewery, which produces
cask ale
Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous ca ...
, has had a position in the centre of the town since 1870. There is also King George's Hall, which is an arts and entertainment centre and Thwaites Empire Theatre. A section of the
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool.
Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...
Lombard Romanesque
The term Lombard refers to people or things related to Lombardy, a region in northern Italy.
History and culture
* Lombards, a Germanic tribe
* Lombards of Sicily, a linguistic minority living in Sicily, southern Italy
* Lombard League, a me ...
church, built in 1926, destroyed by
arson
Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wate ...
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
Corporation Park, north-west of the town centre, was built on of land bought from Joseph Feilden, lord of the manor, for in 1855. It opened on 22 October 1857, with shops and mills closing for the day, church bells ringing and flags flying from public buildings. Railway companies claimed 14,000 people travelled to the opening. A conservatory was opened on 16 May 1900. Corporation Park contains the
Blackburn War Memorial
Blackburn War Memorial is located in Corporation Park in Blackburn, Lancashire, England.Corporation Park. East Lancashire Memorials. Retrieved 17 August 2012. The town's annual Armistice parade concludes at the war memorial.
The town's Queen's Park was opened in June 1887, having been laid out at a cost of £10,000 on land acquired by Blackburn Corporation from the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title was Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Chu ...
in 1882. It originally had two
bowling green
A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls.
Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...
s, two tennis courts, a lake of over , a children's paddling pool, a bandstand, and a refreshment room. Two additional bowling greens and a pavilion were added in 1932.
Witton Country Park
Witton Country Park is a 480- acre (1.9 km²) public park in the west of Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Around half of the country park is mixed woodland and parkland, while the rest is either farmland or rough grassland with open access. ...
is a space to the west of the town. The land was purchased in 1946 and was the ancestral home of the Feilden family. It is larger than all the town's other parks and playing fields put together.Duckworth (2005), p. 79. Witton Park High School is located within the park, as are three astroturf football pitches and a full-size athletic track, which is home to the Blackburn Harriers. The Blackburn model aircraft club also uses the park for radio-controlled aircraft. Pleasington cemetery and crematorium lie on its edges.
Roe Lee Park, in the north of the town, opened on Wednesday 30 May 1923 to commemorate a visit by
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother ...
. It was originally a site with five tennis courts and three bowling greens. The borough council website describes it as a "urban fringe park with bowling greens, kick around area and children's playground". In 2007, all four parks described here were winners of
Green Flag award
The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...
s.
Blackburn Cemetery is located to the north of the town centre in Roe Lee.
Libraries
Blackburn Central Library, located in the town centre close to the Town Hall, is described as "the seventh most visited library in England". The library has various sections and facilities, including: an information and reference section, a media section, a community history section, a children's library, and a creche. An ICT training suite at the library has been named the "Bill Gates Room". Blackburn has smaller libraries for the Mill Hill, Livesey and Roman Road parts of the town, and a mobile library service.
special school
Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...
s. St Thomas's and Sunnyhurst Pupil Referral Unit educates children unable to attend mainstream school for health reasons or other difficulties.Blackburn with Darwen Schools ,
Blackburn with Darwen
Blackburn with Darwen is a borough and unitary authority area in Lancashire, North West England. It consists of the industrial town of Blackburn and the market town of Darwen including other villages around the two towns.
Formation
It was f ...
, Retrieved 14 April 2008
Over £25 million was invested in educational initiatives in Blackburn with Darwen in the late 2000s, including new schools, city learning centres and children's centres. Over 11,000 adults take part in some form of educational programme.
Blackburn with Darwen
Blackburn with Darwen is a borough and unitary authority area in Lancashire, North West England. It consists of the industrial town of Blackburn and the market town of Darwen including other villages around the two towns.
Formation
It was f ...
council has twice had Beacon Status for education in the "Fostering School Improvement" and "Transforming the School Workforce" categories.Education and lifelong learning ,
Blackburn with Darwen Council
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is the local authority of Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. From 2020 to 2021, the Mayor of Blackb ...
, Retrieved 14 April 2008 Compared with 56.5 per cent nationally, 51.3 per cent of pupils in Blackburn with Darwen achieve grades A*–C.Key Figures for Education, Skills and Training
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for ...
, Retrieved 14 April 2008 The average GCE/VCE A/AS and Equivalent Point Score per Student is 649.7, compared with 716.7 nationally.
Although the town's proportion of ethnic minorities is below 25%, in some schools the vast majority of pupils are from the ethnic minority population, whilst other schools are almost entirely white. This has been identified as a problem to racial integration in the town.
The independent school sector is represented by
Westholme School
Westholme School is a coeducational private school in Blackburn, Lancashire, England.
Founded in 1923, it caters for boys and girls aged from 3 years to 18 years. The school became fully coeducational in 2018.
Westholme's motto is ‘MENS SA ...
and
Jamiatul Ilm Wal Huda
Jamiatul Ilm Wal Huda, also known as Darul Uloom Blackburn, is an 11–25 independent, Islamic, boarding and day school for boys in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. It was established in 1997 and its name means The College of Knowledge and G ...
.
The two
further education
Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...
St. Mary's College Saint Mary's College (in French, ''Collège Sainte-Marie''), is the name of several colleges and schools:
Australia
*St Mary's College, Ipswich, an all-girls Catholic school in Queensland
*St Mary's College, Maryborough, a co-educational school i ...
EFL Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...
Ewood Park
Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...
stadium. It was established in 1875, becoming a founder member of
The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
in 1888. In 1890 Rovers moved to its permanent home ground at
Ewood Park
Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...
. Until the formation of the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
in 1992, most of Blackburn Rovers' success was pre-1930, when they won the league twice and
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...
six times. After finishing runners-up to
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
Blackburn has an Olympic-sized ice rink housed at the 3,200-seat Blackburn Arena. The arena is the home of the
Blackburn Hawks
The Blackburn Hawks (formerly known as the Blackhawks and the Lancashire Hawks) are a British ice hockey team based in Blackburn, Lancashire. They are currently members of the EIHA Moralee Conference (NIHL N1), and have previously played in the ...
and
Lancashire Raptors
The Lancashire Raptors were a British ice hockey team based in Blackburn, Lancashire. They were members of the English National Ice Hockey League, and have played in the North 2 division. Their home ice was the 3,200-seat Blackburn Arena.
H ...
ice hockey teams, both of which play in the
English National Ice Hockey League
The National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) is a set of professional ice hockey leagues administered by the English Ice Hockey Association. It is currently the second tier of British ice hockey, below the Elite Ice Hockey League. Formerly called the ...
.
Cricket
Although Lancashire County Cricket Club play inter-county
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
East Lancashire Cricket Club
East Lancashire Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Lancashire League, which plays its home games at Alexandra Meadows in Blackburn. For the 2015 season its captain was Mark Bolton and its professional was Juan de Villiers. The club has bee ...
.
Blackburn Northern Cricket Club states it has recently leased the
Ribchester
Ribchester is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston.
The village has a long history with evidence of Bronze ...
Cricket Ground for its matches.
Cultural references
Blackburn is mentioned in
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' song " A Day in the Life".
:I read the news today—oh, boy
:4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
:And though the holes were rather small
:They had to count them all
:Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.
The title of the unofficial
fanzine
A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share ...
of the town's football club, Blackburn Rovers, is ''4,000 Holes'', and the 1968 Beatles film '' Yellow Submarine'' has John mentioning the lyric as well in the "Sea of Holes".
In 1975, documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield made ''
Juvenile Liaison
''Juvenile Liaison 1'' (1975) and ''Juvenile Liaison 2'' (1990) are documentary films by award winning film director Nick Broomfield about a juvenile liaison project in Blackburn, Lancashire. The first film examines a series of children and the ...
'' about a juvenile liaison project in the town. It examines a series of children and their run-ins with the law, including minor wrongdoings such as theft, truancy and being abusive to parents. After its production, the film was banned by the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
for many years; ''Juvenile Liaison'' revolved mainly around the activities of Sergeant Ray, whose preventive measures for dealing with young troublemakers fell mainly in the strong-arm category. In 1990, Nick Broomfield returned to Blackburn to film a follow-up. '' Juvenile Liaison 2'' revisits some of the residents from the first film, in some attempt to measure the success of the scheme.
The 1994 TV film ''
Pat and Margaret
''Pat and Margaret'' is a British television film written by comedian Victoria Wood. The story follows sisters Margaret, a cook, and Pat, a successful actress in the United States, after they are reunited on a television programme after spending ...
'' starring
Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director.
Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over se ...
and
Julie Walters
Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a B ...
was partly filmed in Blackburn.
The TV show ''
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
''Hetty Wainthropp Investigates'' is a British crime drama television series, starring Patricia Routledge as the title character, Henrietta "Hetty" Wainthropp, that aired for four series between 3 January 1996 and 4 September 1998 on BBC One. ...
'', screened on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
from 1996 to 1998, included many scenes shot in Blackburn.
The 2005 British film '' Love + Hate'', directed by Dominic Savage, was shot in Blackburn.
The film-makers
Mitchell and Kenyon
The Mitchell & Kenyon film company was a pioneer of early commercial motion pictures based in Blackburn in Lancashire, England, at the start of the 20th century. They were originally best known for minor contributions to early fictional narrative ...
were based in Blackburn in the early 20th century. Much of their film stock, some 800 negatives, was found in their old premises on Northgate in 1994 and is now in the safekeeping of the aforementioned British Film Institute.
St Peter's Burial Ground
During late 2015, work done on St Peter's Burial Ground in advance of road construction involved disinterring the remains of nearly 2,000 individuals buried there during the cemetery's period of operation (1821–1945). The burial ground had been connected with the former St Peter's Church, a large one that seated some 1,500 people, which was demolished in 1976. Archaeologists found that nearly half of the bodies were those of young children, who appeared to have died quickly during the mid-19th century from illnesses affected the lungs and gastrointestinal system. The numbers are taken as reflecting the massive increase in the city's population during that period due to its booming textile industry, which led to unhealthy living situations among the working classes.
The remains were to be relocated to another section of the cemetery. A memorial service conducted by Julian Henderson, the
Bishop of Blackburn
The Bishop of Blackburn is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Blackburn in the Province of York.
The diocese covers much of the county of Lancashire and has its see in the town of Blackburn, where the seat of the diocese is loca ...
, for those being re-buried was scheduled to be held during the summer of 2016.
Notable people
Politics and industry
Jack Walker
Jack Walker (19 May 1929 – 17 August 2000) was a British industrialist and businessman. Walker built his fortune in the steel industry, amassing a personal fortune of £600 million. He then went on to become the owner and benefactor of Black ...
, steel baron and once owner of the local steel company
Walkersteel
Walkersteel is a major steel processing company based in Blackburn, Lancashire. The firm was originally established by Charles Walker before his son Jack Walker turned the business into a major company.
The company was sold to British Steel pl ...
, was born in the town in 1929 and lived locally until he moved to the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
in 1974. He was a former owner of Blackburn Rovers.
In politics, William Henry Hornby, a leading industrialist, the first mayor of Blackburn, and Chairman of the Conservative Party was born in the town in 1805.
John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn
John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923) was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor.
Initially, a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-lean ...
First Secretary of State
The First Secretary of State is an office that is sometimes held by a minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The office indicates seniority, including over all other Secretaries of State. The office is not always in use, ...
and
Secretary of State for Social Services The Secretary of State for Health and Social Services was a position in the UK cabinet, created on 1 November 1968 with responsibility for the Department of Health and Social Security. It continued until 25 July 1988 when Department of Health and ...
under Labour governments of the 1960s and 1970s.
Sajjad Karim
Sajjad Haider Karim (born 11 July 1970) is a British politician. He served as a Member of the European Parliament for the North West England between 2004 and 2019.
Sajjad is one of 10 members of the executive of European Movement UK and Chair o ...
(born 1970) served as a Member of the European Parliament for the North West England between 2004 and 2019.
Mohsin Issa
Mohsin Issa CBE: and Zuber Issa CBE: are British-Indian billionaire brothers and businessmen who both co-founded Euro Garages (EG), a chain of petrol filling stations and convenience stores that operate in Europe, the United States and Aust ...
and
Zuber Issa
Mohsin Issa CBE: and Zuber Issa CBE: are British-Indian billionaire brothers and businessmen who both co-founded Euro Garages (EG), a chain of petrol filling stations and convenience stores that operate in Europe, the United States and Aust ...
are owners of
EG Group
EG Group is a British retailer headquartered in Blackburn, United Kingdom, which operates filling stations, convenience stores and fast-food restaurants in Europe, the United States and Australia. The group was created through the combination of ...
.
Arts and music
*
Tony Ashton
Edward Anthony Ashton (1 March 1946 – 28 May 2001) was an English rock pianist, keyboardist, singer, composer, producer and artist.
Biography
Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Ashton spent his formative years in the seaside town of Blackpool whe ...
(1946–2001), rock musician
* Michael Billington (1941–2005), actor, star of ''
UFO
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
''
*
William Billington
William Billington (1875 – 1952) was an English executioner. He was on the Home Office list from 1902 to 1905 and had participated in hangings from 1899.
Career
Billington, second son of executioner James Billington, carried out his first ha ...
(1825–1884), writer, known as the "Blackburn Poet"
* Josephine Cox (1938–2020), fiction writer
* Ross Eccles (born 1937), contemporary artist; many of his paintings feature scenes and landmarks of Blackburn and Lancashire
*
Kathleen Ferrier
Kathleen Mary Ferrier, CBE (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the c ...
(1912–1953),
contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type.
The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typica ...
* Michael Gibson (born 1980), television presenter and documentary director
*
Barry Gray
Barry Gray (born John Livesey Eccles; 18 July 1908 – 26 April 1984) was a British musician and composer best known for his collaborations with television and film producer Gerry Anderson.
Life and career
Born into a musical family in Blackburn ...
(1908–1984), composer
*
Kathleen Harrison
Kathleen Harrison (23 February 1892 – 7 December 1995) was a prolific English character actress best remembered for her role as Mrs. Huggett (opposite Jack Warner and Petula Clark) in a trio of British post-war comedies about a worki ...
(1892–1995), actress
*
Tez Ilyas
Tehzeeb "Tez" Ilyas ( ur, تہزیب الیاس; born 8 April 1983) is a British Pakistani stand-up comedian. He currently presents a satirical comedy show that mixes sketches and current affairs, called '' The Tez O'Clock Show'' on Channel ...
(born 1983), stand-up comedian
*
Russell Harty
Frederic Russell Harty (5 September 1934 – 8 June 1988) was an English television presenter of arts programmes and chat shows.
Early life
Harty was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, the son of greengrocer Fred Harty, who ran a fruit-and-veget ...
(1934–1988), broadcaster
* Ethel Carnie Holdsworth (born Ethel Carnie; 1886–1962), writer and feminist
*
Lee Mack
Lee Gordon McKillop (born 4 August 1968), known by his stage name Lee Mack, is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and presenter. He is known for his quick wit, writing and starring in the sitcom '' Not Going Out'', being a team captain on th ...
, (born 1968), actor/comedian
* Grace Davies, (born 1997), singer/songwriter
* Sarah Martin (born 1974), musician, member of Belle and Sebastian
*
Ian McShane
Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, producer and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (20 ...
(born 1942), actor
*
Tony O'Neill
Tony O'Neill (born 1978, Blackburn, Lancashire) is an English writer based in New York. A one-time musician with Kenickie (1997–98), Marc Almond (1997–98), The Brian Jonestown Massacre (1999) and Kelli Ali (2001–04), O'Neill is also the ...
, (born 1978), author
* Steve Pemberton (born 1967), actor
*
Wendi Peters
Wendi Louise Peters (born 29 February 1968) is an English actress. Peters began her acting career in theatre, with appearances in various productions including ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1991), ''Guys and Dolls'' (1991), ''Into the Woods'' (199 ...
(born 1968), actress
*
Ronald Stevenson
Ronald James Stevenson (6 March 1928 – 28 March 2015) was a Scottish composer, pianist, and writer about music.
Biography
The son of a Scottish father and Welsh mother, Stevenson was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, in 1928. He studied at the ...
(1928–2015), Scottish composer
* Jeanette Threlfall (1821–1880), Christian hymnist and poet
*
Debbie Travis
Debbie Travis (born June 27, 1960 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England) is a British-Canadian television personality, self-taught interior decorator, and former fashion model. She is best known as the host of ''Debbie Travis' Facelift'' and ''Debbie ...
(born 1960), television host
* Anthony Valentine (1939–2015), actor
*
Diana Vickers
Diana Vickers (born 30 July 1991) is an English singer, songwriter, actress and fashion designer, who initially came to public attention as a semi-finalist on ''The X Factor'' in 2008. Vickers signed a record deal with RCA Records and, after to ...
(born 1991), singer and actress
*
Alfred Wainwright
Alfred Wainwright MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume '' Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'', publis ...
(1907–1991), guidebook author
*
Jon Walmsley
Jon Walmsley is a musician, songwriter, actor and producer.
Acting career
Walmsley is known for his accomplishments as an actor, most notably a nine-season run as Jason Walton on ''The Waltons''. He also returned for all of the ''Waltons'' re ...
(born 1956), musician and actor
*
Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom (born 29 March 1961) is an English film director. He began his career working in British television before moving into features. Three of his films—''Welcome to Sarajevo'', ''Wonderland'' and ''24 Hour Party People''—h ...
(born 1961), film maker
*
William Woodruff
William Woodruff (12 September 1916 – 23 September 2008) was a professor of world history and author. His two autobiographical works, ''The Road to Nab End'' and its sequel ''Beyond Nab End'', both became bestsellers in the United Kingdom. Th ...
(1916–2008), historian and author
*
AJ Odudu
Onatejiro "AJ" Odudu (born 12 February 1988) is a British television presenter from Blackburn, UK. She is best known for co-presenting the 2013 Channel 5 reality show spin-off ''Big Brother's Bit on the Side'', alongside Emma Willis and Rylan ...
(born 1988), television host
Sport
*
Gareth Ainsworth
Gareth Ainsworth (born 10 May 1973) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Queens Park Rangers.
A former youth player at Blackburn Rovers, the midfielder, who was known for his crossing ability ...
(born 1973), footballer and football manager
* Farakh Ajaib (born 1991), snooker player
*
Iain Balshaw
Iain Robert Balshaw, MBE (born 18 April 1979) is an English former rugby union player who played on the wing or at full back for Bath, Leeds Carnegie, Gloucester and Biarritz Olympique. He won 35 international caps for England between 2000 ...
(born 1979), England
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
player
*
Bernard Cafferty
Bernard Cafferty (born 27 June 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire) is an English chess master, columnist, writer, magazine editor and translator.
Chess career
Cafferty was one of the leading English chess players of the late 1950s and 1960s, ranking a ...
(born 1934), chess player, author and translator
* Albert Clough (1901–1957), professional footballer
*
Matt Derbyshire
Matthew Anthony Derbyshire (born 14 April 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club NorthEast United.
He played for Blackburn Rovers for five years, and had loan spells with Plymouth Argy ...
(born 1986), footballer for
AC Omonia
Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia ("Harmony"; also tran ...
Stade Reims
Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1910 and plays in Ligue 1, the top level of Football in France, having been promoted from Ligue 2 in 2018. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Aug ...
and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
*
Keith Duckworth
David Keith Duckworth (10 August 1933 – 18 December 2005) was an English mechanical engineer. He is most famous for designing the Cosworth DFV (Double Four Valve) engine, an engine that revolutionised the sport of Formula One.
Early life a ...
(1933–2005), motor-racing engine designer
*
David Dunn
David John Ian Dunn (born 27 December 1979) is an English former professional football player and manager; he is now a coach at club Port Vale.
Dunn played as an attacking midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career representing ...
(born 1979), footballer for
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
and England, then football coach
*
Russell Edmonds
Russell Stuart Edmonds (born 9 September 1977) is a former English cricketer. Edmonds was a right-handed batsman who played primarily as a wicketkeeper. He was born in Blackburn, Lancashire.
Edmonds represented the Lancashire Cricket Board i ...
(born 1977), former cricketer
*
Frank Fielding
Francis David Fielding (born 4 April 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Stoke City.
He began his career at Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League. He spent time on loan at Wycombe Wanderers, Northampton T ...
(born 1988), footballer for
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club () is a professional football club in Bermondsey, South East London, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name ...
*
Carl Fogarty
Carl George Fogarty, (born 1 July 1965), often known as Foggy, is an English former motorcycle racer and one of the most successful World Superbike racers of all time. He also holds the second highest number of race wins at 59. He is the son ...
(born 1965), four time motorcycle
World Superbike
Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing.
The championship was founded in ...
champion
*
Joe Garner
Joseph Alan Garner (born 12 April 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Fleetwood Town of EFL League One.
Garner started his career with Blackburn Rovers before joining Carlisle United. Garner had a three- ...
(born 1988), footballer for APOEL FC
*Will Greenwood (born 1972), England
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
player
*Connor Mahoney (born 1997), footballer for
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club () is a professional football club in Bermondsey, South East London, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name ...
*Oliver Newby (born 1984), cricketer for Lancashire County Cricket Club, Lancashire
*Geoffrey Phillips (born 1931), England cricketer
*Anthony Pilkington (born 1988), footballer for Cardiff City F.C.
*John Sumner (climber), John Sumner (1936–2004), rock climber
*William Townley (1866–1950), footballer and coach
Sciences
*Timothy Leighton (born 1963), Ultrasonics and Underwater Acoustics professor, Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton
*Barbara Mawer (1936–2006), biochemist and medical researcher
*Noel Slater (1912–1973), mathematician and astronomer
*Eric Fawcett (1927–2000), professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Toronto, credited with discovering the Hall effect in type-II superconductorsEric Fawcett obituary – Science for Peace