Darwen
Darwen shown within Lancashire
OS grid reference	SD695225
Unitary authority	Blackburn with Darwen
Ceremonial county	Lancashire
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DARWEN
Postcode district	BB3
Dialling code	01254
Police	Lancashire
Fire	Lancashire
Ambulance	North West
European Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Rossendale and Darwen
List of places: UK • England • Lancashire

Coordinates: 53°41′53″N 2°27′40″W / 53.698, -2.461 Image File history File links Size of this preview: 504 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (600 × 714 pixel, file size: 423 KB, MIME type: image/png) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Red_pog2. ... Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. ... Blackburn with Darwen (Dwrgwyn) is a borough in Lancashire, North West England. ... The Ceremonial counties of England are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England. ... Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... The region, also known as Government Office Region, is currently the highest tier of local government subnational entity of England in the United Kingdom. ... North West England is one of the nine regions of England. ... Constituent countries is a phrase used, often by official institutions, in contexts in which a number of countries make up a larger entity or grouping, concerning these countries; thus the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has used the phrase in reference to the parts of former Yugoslavia... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This is an alphabetical list of the sovereign states of the world, including both de jure and de facto independent states. ... A post town is a required part of all UK postal addresses. ... UK postal codes are known as postcodes. ... The BB postcode area, also known as the Blackburn postcode area[1], is a group of postal districts around Accrington, Barnoldswick, Blackburn, Burnley, Clitheroe, Colne, Darwen, Nelson and Rossendale in England. ... +44 redirects here. ... There are a number of policing agencies in the United Kingdom. ... Lancashire Constabulary is the police force responsible for policing the county of Lancashire in the North West of England. ... A Fire Appliance belonging to the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service The fire service in the United Kingdom has undergone dramatic changes since the beginning of the 21st century, a process that has been propelled by a devolution of central government powers, new legislation and a change to operational... The Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the Shire county of Lancashire, England. ... The North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust was formed on 1 July 2006 as part of Health Minister Lord Warners plans to reduce the number of NHS ambulance service trusts operating in the United Kingdom to 12. ... This is a list of Members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom in the 2004 to 2009 session, ordered by name. ... The constituency within England. ... The United Kingdom House of Commons is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs). ... Rossendale and Darwen is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... List of cities in the United Kingdom List of towns in England Lists of places within counties List of places in Bedfordshire List of places in Berkshire List of places in Buckinghamshire List of places in Cambridgeshire List of places in Cheshire List of places in Cleveland List of places... This is a list of settlements in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

Darwen is a market town in Lancashire, England extending onto the West Pennine Moors. Along with its northerly neighbour Blackburn, it is part of the Blackburn with Darwen Borough, which has been a unitary authority since 1998. The town is spread along the route of the A666 road, with Blackburn to the north, and Bolton to the south. The market town is a medieval phenomenon. ... Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Rivington Pike, a familiar local landmark The West Pennine Moors is an area of approximately 90 square miles of moorland and reservoir scenery, located in North West England, between the towns of Chorley, Bolton, Horwich and Blackburn. ... This article is about the town in Lancashire, England. ... Blackburn with Darwen (Dwrgwyn) is a borough in Lancashire, North West England. ... Look up Borough in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A unitary authority is a type of local authority, which has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area. ... The A666 is a major road in east Lancashire, England. ... For the larger local government district, see Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. ...

History

The area Darwen currently occupies has been inhabited since the early Bronze Age and the remains of a barrow from approximately 2000 BC have been partially restored at the Ashleigh Barrow^[1] in Whitehall. Artefacts including a bronze dagger and urns containing human ashes were found and a small number of the less important finds are now on display at Darwen Library Theatre. The Romans once had a force in Lancashire and a Roman road is visible on the Ordnance Survey map of the area. Mediaeval Darwen was tiny; little or nothing survives. One of the earliest remaining buildings is dated 1675. The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... A tumulus (plural tumuli, from the Latin word for mound or small hill, from the root to bulge, swell also found in ) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. ... Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between 43 and 410. ... Roman roads, together with Roman aqueducts and the vast standing Roman Army (until 284 A.D., c. ... Part of an Ordnance Survey map at 1 inch to the mile scale from 1945 Ordnance Survey (OS) is an executive agency of the United Kingdom government. ...

Like many towns in Lancashire, Darwen was a centre for the production of textiles during the Industrial Revolution. Samuel Crompton, inventor of the spinning mule, lived here for part of his life.^[2] Rail links and the Leeds-Liverpool Canal arrived in about the mid-19th century. The most important textile building in Darwen is India Mill which was built by Eccles Shorrock & Company but the company was ruined by the effects of the Lancashire Cotton Famine of the 1860s. Darwen played a considerable part in the Industrial Revolution and it has been suggested that this part of North West England should be designated a World Heritage Site.^{[attribution needed]} With the establishment of overseas colonies, the British Empire at the end of the 17th century/beginning of the 18th century had a vast source of raw materials and a vast market for goods. ... Samuel Crompton (December 3, 1753 – June 26, 1827), English inventor, was born at Firwood, in Bolton, Lancashire. ... The spinning mule was created by Samuel Crompton. ... The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in the north of England running from Liverpool, Merseyside to Leeds, West Yorkshire. ... For other uses, see Textile (disambiguation). ... Eccles Shorrock Ashton born in Clitheroe in 1827. ... The Lancashire Cotton Famine, also known as The Cotton Famine (1861 – 1865) was a depression in the textile industry in northwest England, brought about by the American Civil War. ... A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State...

Much of the town was built between about 1850 and 1900; place-names, date stones in terraces, and the vernacular architecture of cellars, local stone, locally-made brick, pipework and tiles and leaded glass (the last now mostly gone) reflect this. It was one of the first places in the world to have steam trams. The arrangement of town hall, market, public transport, eating/hotel facilities, and pre-suburban mixed size vernacular housing with local variations with topography, is very characteristic of northern England. The year 1900 perhaps represents the peak of Victorian optimism in the area. At that time, the working classes were much more identifiable as masses than at present. Orwell for example, described the sound of clogs on cobblestones of the large number of female millworkers. The rise of the Labour Party from about 1900 coincided with a decline in the Liberal Party, which followed the Manchester School in economics, increasingly seen as permitting unjustified exploitation. However on balance Darwen voted Conservative until the administrative rearrangements in the early 1970s. Victorian can refer to: people from or attributes of places called Victoria (disambiguation page), including Victoria, Australia, people who lived during the British Victorian era of the 19th century, and aspects of the Victorian era, for example: Victorian architecture Victorian fashion Victorian morality Victorian literature This is a disambiguation page... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... Orwell (or Orwellian) can refer to: The writer George Orwell (pen name for Eric Blair). ... The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the historic Liberal Party. ... Manchester Capitalism, Manchester School, Manchester Liberalism or Manchesterism are terms for political, economic and social movements of the 19th century, which originated in the North-West of England, and in Manchester in particular. ... Conservative may refer to: Conservatism, political philosophy A member of a Conservative Party Conservative extension, premise of deductive logic Conservativity theorem, mathematical proof of conservative extension Conservative Judaism britney spears Category: ...

Gandhi at Darwen, September 26, 1931 with Mirabehn (Madeleine Slade).

Andrew Carnegie financed a public library here; the town also had an art and technology college and a grammar school. In common with many northern nonconformist towns there are many chapels of assorted denominations, which flourished until the psychological blows of the First World War. As with Brittany in France, Lancashire men seem to have been hard done by in wars - being pushed disproportionately into the front line. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948) (Devanagari: मोहनदास करमचन्द गांधी, Gujarati મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી), called Mahatma Gandhi, was the charismatic leader who brought the cause of Indias independence from British colonial rule to world attention. ... Formerly Miss Slade, Mirabhen admired Gandhi so much that she dropped everything in London to come stay with him. ... Andrew Carnegie (last name properly pronounced , but often )[1] (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919) was a Scottish industrialist, businessman, a major philanthropist, and the founder of Pittsburghs Carnegie Steel Company which was later merged with Elbert H. Garys Federal Steel Company and several smaller companies to create... A nonconformist is an English or Welsh Protestant of any non-Anglican denomination, chiefly advocating religious liberty. ... A chapel is a church other than a parish church, often attached to a larger institution such as a college, a hospital, a palace, or a prison. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Historical province of Brittany, showing the main areas with their name in Breton language The traditional flag of Brittany (the Gwenn-ha-du), formerly a Breton nationalist symbol but today used as a general civic flag in the region. ... Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ...

One of Darwen's biggest claims to fame is that it hosted a visit from Mahatma Gandhi in 1931. He had accepted the invitation from Corder Catchpool, owner of the Greenfield Mill, to come and see the effects of India's boycott of cotton goods. The unemployed cotton mill workers greeted the man with great affection despite it being his fault they were out of work in the first place. “Gandhi” redirects here. ...

India Mill is now home to many companies including Brookhouse (producers of aeroplane parts) and Capita Group who runs TV licensing. Since the 1950s, the textile industry has strongly declined in the region, although many of the factories and other industrial buildings from the period survive and are now used for other purposes. India Mill and its famous chimney have been sold in a £12 million deal. Among Darwen's other famous industries are included Crown Paints, formerly Walpamur Paints, the earliest British paint manufacturer who actually named one of their paints 'Darwen Satin Finish'. Crown Wallpapers who invented wallpaper as we know it by being the first manufacturer of continuous rolls and also invented and made 'Anaglypta' in the town. ICI Plastics where acrylic glass (Perspex - now called lucite) was invented and is still manufactured. Spitfire canopies and (later) coloured polythene washing-up bowls were first made here. Britain's leading patent-holder of electric kettles is a Darwen resident. This article refers to the tool of travel. ... Capita is a British company headquartered in London which specialises in business process outsourcing, having clients in central and local government, and in the private sector. ... The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ... Crown Wallpaper (aka Crown Wallpaper Company) was an agglomeration of wallpaper manufacturers in the United Kingdom in 1899. ... Mary Cassatts painting of two ladies drinking tea in a room with red-blue striped wallpapers. ... Lincrusta is an embossed fabric used for covering walls, similar in style to anaglypta. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Perspex redirects here. ... Spitfire may refer to: Supermarine Spitfire, a single-seat fighter plane used in World War II Triumph Spitfire, a small two-seat British sports car from Triumph Motor Company Spitfire, a slang term for a highly-excitable or passionate person, especially a woman. ...

Governance

Darwen was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1878. The population of the town declined from 40,000 in the 1911 census to 30,000 in the 1971 census.^[3] In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the town became part of the Lancashire non-metropolitan district of Blackburn, which was renamed Blackburn with Darwen in 1997, shortly before it became a unitary authority. A borough is a political division originally used in England. ... The Local Government Act 1972 (1972 c. ... This article is about the town in Lancashire, England. ... Blackburn with Darwen (Dwrgwyn) is a borough in Lancashire, North West England. ... A unitary authority is a type of local authority, which has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area. ...

In Lancashire dialect, the name Darwen is pronounced Darren, and the locals refer to themselves as Darreners. They are generally resistant to any attempts at submerging the identity of the town within Blackburn.^[4] Junction 4 of the M65 motorway lies within the town and the services here were originally named "Blackburn Services". Following local protests^[5] they have been renamed "Blackburn with Darwen Services". Lancashire Dialect and Accent refers to the vernacular speech in the historic county of Lancashire excluding that of Liverpool. ... The M65 motorway is a major road in England. ... Rest stop redirects here. ...

Geography and name

The River Darwen passes through the town, subsequently joining the River Ribble, one of the longest rivers in North West England. Most authorities trace the name 'Darwen' to the Brythonic derw "oak"^[6][7], which is supported by the older name Derewent, though it has been claimed^{[attribution needed]} that the name Darwen stems from Dwrgwyn, from the Old Welsh dwr or "water" and gwyn Brythonic for "white" or "clear". Thus the name may mean "clear water". The River Darwen is a river running through Darwen and Blackburn in Lancashire. ... The River Ribble at Ribchester The River Ribble is a river that runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire, in the North of England. ... North West England is one of the nine regions of England. ... The Brythonic languages (or Brittonic languages) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family. ... Old Welsh (Hen Gymraeg) is the label attached to the Welsh language from the time it developed from the Brythonic language, generally thought to be in the period between the middle of the 6th century and the middle of the 7th century, until the early 12th century when it developed...

The Guinness Book of Records mentions that Darwen had one of the largest flash floods in the UK. Suresh Joachim, minutes away from breaking the ironing world record at 55 hours and 5 minutes, at Shoppers World, Brampton. ... Lower Antelope Canyon was carved out of sandstone by flash floods A Flash Flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas (washes), rivers and streams, caused by the intense rainfall associated with a thunderstorm, or multiple training thunderstorms. ... The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent...

Landmarks

Darwen 'Jubilee' Tower

Overlooking the town from the moors to the west is Darwen Tower (officially 'Jubilee Tower'). Built in celebration of both Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and of the successful campaign the same year by the people of Darwen for free public access to Darwen Moors, it stands at an altitude of 1225 feet and is 86 feet tall. Moorland in the Pennines (England); Coarse grasses and bracken tend to dominate especially in high rainfall areas. ... Snapshot of Darwen Jubilee Tower The octagonal Jubilee Tower at grid reference SD678215 on Beacon Hill overlooking the town of Darwen was completed in 1898 to commemorate Queen Victorias Diamond Jubilee and also to celebrate the victory of the local people for the right to access the moor. ... Queen Victoria redirects here. ... A Diamond Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 60th anniversary. ...

Transport

Darwen is on Junction 4 of the M65 motorway, and so takes a lot of passing traffic. Much of the heavy traffic passes through the town itself along the A666 causing an air pollution issue which the local council have recently attempted to address adding a new one way road system to the town centre. Darwen is on the Ribble Valley Line, operated by Northern Rail, for trains and its stop is Darwen railway station where you can catch one train an hour between Clitheroe and Manchester (via Bolton). Darwen's bus terminal (Darwen Circus) has recently been improved and regular services head to Blackburn, a limited service also heads to Bolton and Clitheroe but the Bolton service terminates at 7:00pm. The A666 is a major road in east Lancashire, England. ... Air pollution is the modification of the natural characteristics of the atmosphere by a chemical, particulate matter, or biological agent. ... The Ribble Valley Line is a railway line that runs from Manchester Vitctoria through Blackburn and to the small market town of Clitheroe in Lancashire. ... Northern Rail is a train operating company that has operated local services in the north of England since 2004. ... Darwen railway station serves the town of Darwen, a medium sized Lancashire town. ... Arms of Clitheroe Town Council Clitheroe is a small civil parish of the borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. ... This article is about the City of Manchester in England. ... For the larger local government district, see Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. ...

Culture

The town is also the home of Darwen Football Club, the Darwen Library Theatre (an extension to the library), and the TV show Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. It also has a large non-indigenous community including many Italians. Darwen F.C. are a football club from Darwen in the north west of England. ... The Darwen Library Theatre is located in Darwen, near Blackburn, Lancashire, England. ... Hetty Wainthropp Investigates is a British crime-comedy drama television series which aired from 1996 to 1998 on BBC One. ... Languages Italian, Sicilian, Neapolitan, Corsican, Sardinian, Emiliano-Romagnolo, Ligurian, Lombard, Piedmontese, Venetian, Ladin, Friulian Religions predominantly Roman Catholic      The Italians are a Southern European ethnic group found primarily in Italy and in a wide-ranging diaspora throughout Western Europe, the Americas and Australia. ...

Darwen has a few footnotes in entertainment history: its theatre (now demolished) had appearances by Charlie Chaplin, and it featured in a film by Norman Wisdom. George Formby's wife was from Darwen. Yaweh redirects here. ... Sir Norman Wisdom, OBE (born 4 February 1915) is an English comedian, singer and actor. ... George Formby, OBE (26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961) was an English singer and comedian who became a major star of both cinema and music hall. ...

Notable people

• Margaret Chapman, an illustrator and painter
• Bryn Haworth, British rock/gospel musician and singer-songwriter
• John Harwood, Mayor of Accrington 1912-1915; raised the Accrington Pals (11 Battalion East Lancashire Regiment)
• The Potter family who among other things made paper in Darwen, were related to Beatrix Potter

Margaret Chapman (November 18, 1940 - 28 July, 2000) was a British illustrator and painter. ... The Accrington Pals was a British First World War Pals battalion of Kitcheners Army raised in and around the town of Accrington in Lancashire. ... The East Lancashire Regiment of the British Army was formed in 1881 from the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment Foot and the 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot . ... Helen Beatrix Potter (28 July 1866 – 22 December 1943) was an English author and illustrator, botanist, and conservationist, best known for her childrens books, which featured animal characters such as Peter Rabbit. ...

Photo gallery

Darwen countryside Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (3024 × 2016 pixel, file size: 1. ...

Darwen countryside Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (3024 × 2016 pixel, file size: 1. ...

References