Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
on the canal. With a 15th century tower and font, Burne-Jones Art Nouveau window, ceiling
and balcony on slim pillars and ornate gravestones, it provides a substantial and interesting
centrepoint in its setting of terraced houses. The first church was a temporary one set up by
Oswald, King of Northumbria, on his way to battle. The current massive tower was used as a
watchtower. The village formerly made red dye and printed calico. Sir Robert Peel's family
had a cloth works here.
Oswaldtwistle was probably named after Oswald's
twistla
, King Oswald's boundary in the
7th century. It has been an industrial area for over two centuries and its contributions belie its
size. Stanhill resident James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny in 1764.
Blackburn had Bronze Age inhabitants, the Romans built a fort here and it has been a
cotton-weaving centre since the 14th century, much rebuilt since the Second World War. It
was a newspaper report on the state of Blackburn's roads that inspired some of John Lennon's
most discussed lines.
The Blackburn skyline once had 200 chimneys, one of 95m probably being the highest
in the UK. In addition, there are a dozen church spires. The cathedral was the 1826 parish
church of St Mary, with medieval and contemporary glass, a magnificent lantern tower re-
stored in 1998, a medieval pax, a John Hayward sculpture of Christ the Worker and a tower
topped by a gently tapering cone with a cross on top. Despite the cathedral, Blackburn re-
mains a town. The Museum & Art Gallery in a Grade II Arts & Crafts building has medieval
manuscripts, local history, militaria and early textile machinery, models of the spinning jenny,
spinning mule, flying shuttle and spinning wheel. Residents of Blackburn have included Ge-
orge Ellis - the father of the modern brass band - Kathleen Ferrier, Carl Fogarty, Russell
Harty and writers Josephine Cox and Alfred Wainwright. Barbara Castle, one of the Kinder
Scout open land access trespassers, was MP for 34 years, bringing in legislation on national
speed limits, compulsory car seat belts and equal pay for men and women.
Belmont Wharf and the Springs Branch
.
The six Blackburn locks bring the 39km Burnley pound to an end. Interest ranges from a
toothed segment on a lock gate to a modern statue of a cyclist at Nova Scotia Wharf. There
