Heritage Town Trails

Discover Blackburn and Darwen’s incredible history when cotton was king and weaving was big business. Self-guided Heritage Town Trails will help you explore the borough from a new perspective, revealing the stories behind of some of Blackburn and Darwen’s historic buildings and taking you back to a time when the town was “the weaving capital of the world”.

Blackburn Bid launched a Heritage Trail in  2015 which will take you around 31 of Blackburn's historical sites.To download a copy please click the link below

2015 Blackburn Heritage Trail

Details of 2 other Blackburn Heritage Town Trails can be downloaded here - (Please note the starting venue for the Blackburn Town Trails is opposite the entrance to Blackburn Market on Church Street,  Blackburn Visitor Centre is inside the market.

Blackburn Town Trail North Printable Version

Blackburn Town Trail South Printable Version

Other local Heritage Trails:

Darwen Town Heritage Trail 1

Darwen Town Hertitage Trail 2   A suggestion to extend the walk 

Darwen Town Centre Trail Updated

Lancashire Not Forgotten is a heritage and arts project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, for people living with dementia, and their relatives and carers.

Reminiscence events took place across Lancashire – with sessions held in Darwen & Blackburn to capture people’s valuable stories from the past.

To help rekindle memories, the project used a wealth of heritage materials – everything from shuttles and saucepans to old photos of buildings. All these memories helped to create these two Town Centre Heritage Trails:

Blackburn  - Lancashire Not Forgotten

Darwen – Lancashire Not Forgotten 

Other Heritage Trails: 

Huntington Heritage Trail, Darwen -  'The Huntington Trail' features a giant Victorian style armchair and side-table fabricated from thick sheet steel labelled 'Huntington's Parlour', inspired by historic wallpaper designer James Huntington. The mayor of Darwen offficially opened the trail on 7th July 2012.

Witton Country Park Heritage Trail, Blackburn - follow the stones & discover the hidden history of the park with this 45 minute stroll around the park.

North Tockholes Heritage Trail

South Tockholes Heritage Trail

Belthorn Heritage Trail

Edgworth Heritage Trail

You can find lots more information and old photographs describing Blackburn and Darwen's industrious past and details of the people and communities who helped shape the towns future on www.cottontown.org