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Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, east of Preston and north-northwest of Manchester. Blackburn is at the centre of the wider unitary authority area along with the town of Darwen. It is the second largest town (after Blackpool) in Lancashire.
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; Census 2001: Blackburn with Darwen Local Authority, Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 March 2008. 30.8% of the population of town were people of ethnic backgrounds other than white British.
A former mill town, Blackburn has been the site of textile production since the mid-13th century, when wool was woven in people's houses in the domestic system. Flemish people 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.
Blackburn's textile sector fell into decline from the mid-20th century and subsequently faced similar challenges to other post-industrial Northern England 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. European regional development funding , Blackburn with Darwen Council, Retrieved 17 April 2014
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.Miller 1952(1992), p. 4.
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."
The name of the town appears in the Domesday Book as both Blacheburne and Blacheburn, a royal manor during the days of Edward the Confessor and William the Conqueror. Archaeological evidence from the demolition of the medieval parish church 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. Market Cross , Archaeological Data Society. Retrieved 31 January 2007. 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 and this moiety title was subsequently granted to the monks of Whalley Abbey. 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.
John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles provides a profile of Blackburn in 1887:
Blackburn. parl. and mun. bor., parish and township, NE. Lancashire, E. of Preston 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, &c., there being over 140 mills at work. There are also factories for making cotton machinery and steam engine. 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 acre 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. Vision of Britain: Bartholomew Gazetteer Entry for Blackburn, A Vision of Britain through Time, Retrieved 21 April 2008.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, Cotton mill 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.Beattie (1992), pp. 15–16.
In 18th-century Blackburn, weaving was primarily undertaken by loom 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. In 1826 the Power-loom riots cam through Blackburn in response to the loss of jobs and low wages. 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.Beattie (1992), pp. 16–18.
Improvements to the power loom 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:Timmins (1993). 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.Beattie (1992), p. 17.
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.Turner (1992), p. 9. 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 and Oswaldtwistle were unemployed.Turner (1992), p. 12. High unemployment led to the Power-loom riots. At 3:00 pm on 24 April 1826, a mob arrived in Blackburn after attacking power looms in Accrington. 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.Turner (1992), pp. 18–24.
During the First World War 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 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.A Century of British Brewers 1890 to 2012 by Norman Barber
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.
Closures continued in the 1960s with The Parkside, Fountains, Malvern and Pioneer Mills shutting in 1964.Taylor (2000), p. 94. 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.
The inaugural British Textile Biennial, a month-long festival celebrating textiles through art and exhibitions, was held in Blackburn in 2019. The second edition took place in October 2021, and included an exhibition from Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid and a film starring Maxine Peake.
In 2021, the Blackburn with Darwen Council proposed a £250m "Blackburn Master Plan" to revitalise central Blackburn over the next decade, with the goal of building 500 new homes and creating 1,000 jobs. In 2022, £200m in government, council, and private investments were announced for the revitalisations of the town centres in both Blackburn and Darwen. The Townscape Heritage Project will create a new cultural quarter in Blackburn's historic town centre. Councillor Phil Riley stated that additional investment over the next decade could lead to 100,000 jobs in the borough.
Although children's services, adult social care and GCSE 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.
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 and the parishes of Yate and Pickup Bank, Eccleshill, Livesey, Pleasington and Tockholes from the Blackburn Rural District.
Until 2015, the MP was the former Secretary of State for Justice and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. 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.
In July 1992, white and Asian youths rioted for several nights in Blackburn, as a newsagents in Brookhouse was set on fire and police had to disperse "small groups of white youths attempting to join a confrontation between the town's ethnic minorities".
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."
The council until prior to 2008 had two members for the England First party, Mark Cotterill for Meadowhead ward and Michael Johnson for Fernhurst. Mark Cotterill has since stood down and Michael Johnson joined the For Darwen 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. 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.
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 to the east and Darwen to the south. The village of Wilpshire is north of Blackburn, and is partly (development-touching) however in the Ribble Valley local government district. Other nearby villages are Langho, approximately northeast, and Mellor to the northwest.
The towns of Rishton, to the east, and Great Harwood, to the northeast, are both in the local government district of Hyndburn. The town of Burnley lies to the east. Map of Blackburn and surrounding region, Google Maps; RecPath used for distances.
To the west, the wooded Billinge Hill in Witton Country Park 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 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 and runs underground in the town centre, under Ainsworth Street and between Blackburn Cathedral and the Boulevard. On the western side of the town centre the Blakewater continues through the Wensley Fold area before joining the River Darwen outside Witton Country Park; the Darwen flows into the River Ribble 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. mining have been used since the mid-late 16th century.
The Coal Measures in the area overlie the Millstone Grit which has been quarry in the past for and, along with local limestone deposits, used as a construction material for roads and buildings. In addition, there were deposits of iron ore in the Furness and Ulverston districts.
The Blackburn area was subjected to glaciation during the Pleistocene, and the sandstone-and-shale bedrock is overlain in much of the area by called till (which is also called "boulder clay") of varying thickness up to several tens of feet. Glacial outwash (sand and gravel) also occur in small patches, including along Grimshaw Brook. Geology of the Blackburn Area , Grimshaw Origins and History, 2000 A Landscape Strategy for Lancashire – Landscape Character Assessment , Lancashire County Council Contaminated land inspection strategy . Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
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, and the size in the borough in 2017 amounted to some .
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. 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. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
Additionally, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council manages a site for gypsies and travellers in the Ewood area of the town.
In the 2021 census, the population of Blackburn with Darwen was 154,922, according to mid-2021 population figures published by the ONS. Blackburn with Darwen's population growth rate between mid-2020 and mid-2021 was 0.2% per year. Blackburn with Darwen covers an area of 137 square kilometres (53 square miles) and has a population density of 1,131 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2021.
According to the latest 2021 census, the population in Blackburn with Darwen is predominantly white (60%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 40% of the population. The largest religious group in Blackburn with Darwen is Christians who account for 38% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 87.5% of people in Blackburn with Darwen, and spoken either well or very well by 8% of the population. 3.4% reported having poor English language skills, and the remaining 0.8% spoke no English at all. Blackburn with Darwen 2021 census data, varbes.com. Accessed 28 July 2023.
| White: White BritishNew category created for the 2001 census | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 104,629 | 76.1 | 98,144 | 66.5 | 87,997 | 56.9% |
| White: White Irish | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,172 | 0.9 | 794 | 0.5 | 589 | 0.4% |
| White: Gypsy or Irish TravellerNew category created for the 2011 census | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 161 | 0.1 | 101 | 0.1% |
| White: Romanichal | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 143 | 0.1% | ||
| White: Other White | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,323 | 1.0 | 2,910 | 2.0 | 4,562 | 2.9% |
| Asian or Asian British: British Indians | – | – | – | – | 7,485 | 5.5% | 10,824 | 7.8% | 14,654 | 10.7 | 19,791 | 13.4 | 24,389 | 15.8% |
| Asian or Asian British: Pakistani | – | – | – | – | 5,468 | 4% | 8,299 | 6% | 12,020 | 8.7 | 17,801 | 12.1 | 27,525 | 17.8% |
| Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi | – | – | – | – | 158 | 316 | 523 | 0.4 | 1,525 | 1.0 | 1,473 | 1.0% | ||
| Asian or Asian British: British Chinese | – | – | – | – | 177 | 237 | 204 | 0.1 | 721 | 0.5 | 400 | 0.3% | ||
| Asian or Asian British: Other Asian | – | – | – | – | 358 | 516 | 1,187 | 0.9 | 1,656 | 1.1 | 1,391 | 0.9% | ||
| Black or Black British: African | – | – | – | – | 145 | 178 | 183 | 0.1 | 614 | 0.4 | 1,061 | 0.7% | ||
| Black or Black British: Caribbean | – | – | – | – | 73 | 100 | 106 | 0.1 | 202 | 0.1 | 170 | 0.1% | ||
| Black or Black British: Other Black | – | – | – | – | 226 | 328 | 29 | 0.0 | 117 | 0.1 | 175 | 0.1% | ||
| Mixed: White and Black Caribbean | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 200 | 0.1 | 315 | 0.2 | 368 | 0.2% |
| Mixed: White and Black African | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 109 | 0.1 | 162 | 0.1 | 231 | 0.1% |
| Mixed: White and Asian | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 703 | 0.5 | 989 | 0.7 | 1,329 | 0.9% |
| Mixed: Other Mixed | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 250 | 0.2 | 357 | 0.2 | 668 | 0.4% |
| Other: ArabNew category created for the 2011 census | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 585 | 0.4 | 841 | 0.5% |
| Other: Any other ethnic group | – | – | – | – | 678 | 0.5% | 960 | 0.8% | 178 | 0.1 | 645 | 0.4 | 1,328 | 0.9% |
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).
In May 2008, one of the town's most well-known shops, the shoe store Tommy Ball's, closed due to insolvency. The town's oldest store, Mercer & Sons, also closed after a decline in sales blamed on the credit crunch. 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, 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 (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.
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, near Manchester, 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 before continuing west towards the city of Preston. 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.
Blackburn railway station features a mural by the Ormskirk-based artist Stephen Charnock. It shows eight famous faces associated with the town, including Mohandas Gandhi, 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, 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 runs through the town. St Anne's Roman Catholic Church is also situated in the centre of the town, is a Lombard Romanesque church, built in 1926, destroyed by arson in 2002 and rebuilt in 2004. Blackburn – St Anne from English Heritage, retrieved 14 February 2016 The Canterbury Street drill hall was completed in 1870.
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 in 1882. It originally had two , 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.Duckworth (2005), pp. 78–79.
Witton Country Park 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. 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". Roe Lee Park . Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. Retrieved 5 June 2008. In 2007, all four parks described here were winners of Green Flag awards.
Blackburn Cemetery is located to the north of the town centre in Roe Lee.
The town also has a few . 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, 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 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, 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, 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 and Jamiatul Ilm Wal Huda.
The two further education colleges in the town are Blackburn College and the sixth-form St. Mary's College. The town does not have a university, but some higher education courses for over-18s are provided by the East Lancashire Institute of Higher Education (ELIHE).
Local radio stations are Central Radio North West which is a local independent commercial radio station and BBC Radio Lancashire which broadcast from the town, Heart North West, Greatest Hits Radio Lancashire, Capital Manchester and Lancashire
The Lancashire Telegraph and Lancashire Post are the town's local newspaper.
Blackburn Northern Cricket Club states it has recently leased the Ribchester Cricket Ground for its matches.
The title of the unofficial fanzine 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".
The 2005 British film Love + Hate, directed by Dominic Savage, was shot in Blackburn. Love + Hate, Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 10 May 2008. Love + Hate – film review, BBC website. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
The remains were to be relocated to another section of the cemetery. A memorial service conducted by Julian Henderson, the Bishop of Blackburn, for those being re-buried was scheduled to be held during the summer of 2016.
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, Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor was born in the town in 1838. The town had close links with Barbara Castle, an MP in Blackburn for 34 years (1945–1979) and holder of the positions of Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity, First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Social Services under Labour governments of the 1960s and 1970s. Sajjad Karim (born 1970) served as a Member of the European Parliament for the North West England between 2004 and 2019.
George Dewhurst (1789-1857), Radical, Reformer and Reedmaker. "One of Blackburn's most remarkable sons".
Mohsin Issa and Zuber Issa are owners of EG Group.
A showman born in Blackburn named Frederick Kempster was dubbed "The English Giant" at a height of . He lived from 1889–1918 and remains one of England's Tallest People in History by the Guinness Book of Records.
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