Places: Blackburn

BLACKBURN

Blackburn was a large parish in the centre of the county of Lancashire, it comprised some twenty-four townships in the Tudor period. The size of the parish meant that several townships had a chapel of ease, but most were not well endowed and in a ruinous condition by the end of the Tudor period.

The parish was owned by the Cistercian Abbey of Whalley until the abbey was dissolved in 1537, following which it was retained by the Crown until 1547 when it was granted to the archbishops of Canterbury. As rectors they appointed vicars to serve the parish. The archbishops of Canterbury leased the rectory itself to a series of lay rectors, one of whom was William Farington.

The parish church was completely rebuilt, probably during the 14th century, and the new building incorporated some of the old Norman stonework into its foundations. It was extensively renovated in the mid-16th century but the church was ‘disproportionately low’ (Abram, p. 302) and by the late 18th century so many parishioners had been buried beneath the floor that burials within the church had to be restricted to those who could afford to pay 3 guineas for the privilege. By that time the church was dilapidated and too small for the congregation, so it was demolished in 1820 and a new church was built on the site and is an early example of Gothic revival. However, in January 1831 the roof of the new church caught fire and the building was extensively damaged.

This new building became the basis of the nave of the new Blackburn cathedral for which construction began in 1938.

The town of Blackburn grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution, particularly with the development of the textile industry, notably the production of cotton. Coal  was mined in the southern area of the parish and there were slate quarries.

Sources:

Wm. Alexander Abram, A History of Blackburn Town and Parish (Blackburn, 1877) (image from this volume courtesy of HathiTrust)

‘The parish of Blackburn’, in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp235-244

Historic England:
Cathedral Church of St  Mary the Virgin (1239147)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1239147 National Heritage List for England