The church that stands today as Blackburn Cathedral is a mix of Georgian and mid-Twentieth Century architecture. Welcoming those of faith and no faith alike, inside there is a wealth of artisan design and history that stretches back to Medieval and Tudor times.
The site the cathedral stands on is an old one, and there has been a church on this spot for many centuries. The Norman Domesday Book records that there was a Saxon church at the time of King Edward the Confessor, known as the Inn of the Lord. This wooden church would have been replaced by a Norman stone one, and had the powerful De Lacy family as its patron. When Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln and Lord of Pontefract, granted the Stanlaw Abbey monks the right to build nearby Whalley Abbey, Blackburn parish church became connected to it for the next two hundred years.
Further rebuilding occurred in Medieval times, with the addition of adjoining chantry chapels for the locally-powerful Walmsley, Osbaldeston and Derby families. A priest would be paid to pray daily in these side chapels for the ancestors of the wealthy families, to speed them through purgatory. In 1451, Sir Edward Bolton held the office of chantry priest and teacher, tutoring Latin and plainsong at the church’s newly set-up school.
During Tudor times, the church was completely rebuilt, but affecting the congregation more than this was the turbulent political fate of Christianity. Following King Henry VIII’s destruction of the monasteries, the church was lost to Whalley Abbey and instead became property of the crown. When Henry’s son, the boy king Edward VI, abolished chantry chapels, Thomas Burgess the chantry priest was pensioned off with an annuity of £6 a year.
The Earliest Part of the Present Church is Constructed
By the early 1800s, the Tudor church was in poor repair, and with the Blackburn population growing at a huge rate, a much larger building was required. Manchester architect, John Palmer, was appointed in 1818, a pioneer of the Gothic Revival style, which he would use in the construction of the nave. Work began two years later and was completed in 1826.
During construction, Norman carvings were discovered as the foundations were dug, the distinctive chevrons and carved capitals enabling them to be easily dated. Sadly, none of these survive in the present building.
The most important find from the rebuilding work was a Medieval pax found wedged between a supporting column and a table tombstone in the graveyard. At just two and a half inches high, displaying Mary and Jesus, it was an incredibly rare survivor of its type as most paxes had been destroyed during the Protestant reformation and subjugation of Catholicism. Originally, the priest and those taking mass would take turns to kiss it. Someone hid the pax, perhaps hoping it would be used again when Catholicism was restored to be the dominant strain of Christianity in England. However, apart from the brief Catholic rule of Queen Mary, daughter of Henry VIII, this never came to pass.
The earlier stone churches had been made of a non-durable sandstone, which meant they needed replacing every 250 years. In contrast, this late Georgian edifice was constructed of much more durable gritstone. What remains from this era today is the present Nave – the large body of the church where most of the congregation sit.
The vicar at the time of the Georgian rebuild was John Whittaker. He was instrumental in setting up churches and Sunday Schools within the town. Whittaker is also remembered for preaching an infamous sermon against the Chartists, the democratic working class movement that campaigned for votes for all citizens. For the new church, Whittaker bought a window from a convent in Belgium, a fine example of Flemish glass from the 1700s. The main image showed Jesus pointing at his Sacred Heart, and is thought to be the earliest known example of its kind. Mindful that the Catholic image of the Sacred Heart might not go down well with Protestant parishioners, Whittaker had the heart painted out. In the original, Jesus was pointing at the heart with one hand, while the other was raised in a blessing. Subsequently this hand has been repainted to be holding a lamp, and visitors can still see this altered image today.
John Palmer’s spectacular new roof had an interior that displayed the colourful heads of saints, bishops, nuns, queens, kings, knights and green men, harking back to the Medieval style that was once popular. With its vibrant red panelling, it remains a stunning sight in the building today.
The Church becomes a Cathedral
When the new Diocese of Blackburn was created in 1926, it was decided that Blackburn Parish Church would be promoted to Cathedral status. The building need to be enlarged to fulfil this function and W.A. Forsyth of London was appointed as architect, with work beginning five years later.
Forsyth drew up plans for a very large central tower to be a ‘twin’ to the preexisting the Georgian bell tower. New wings, the North and South Transepts, were also planned. With the Second World War breaking out the year after work began, building licences were obtained to continue, but understandably the pace was very slow.
Restrictions on construction were not lifted until the early 1950s, and work then proceeded in earnest. Unfortunately, the project was hit by massively increased costs due to inflation. This meant the scheme was scaled back, and the plan for the huge new tower was scrapped. The North and South Transepts would still be built, as would the extended crypt.
A tradition was established that when a Bishop of Blackburn arrives at the cathedral to be enthroned, they knock on the door with a ‘Saxon Hammer’. This is somewhat of a misnomer, as the head of the hammer that is used is from the Bronze Age. It was found in the River Ribble, a large shaped stone with a huge hole pierced through it, by which it is fixed to a wooden shaft. Although featured in the guide book, the hammer is not currently on display.
The 1960s
In 1961, Laurence King was appointed as architect. He inherited a problem – what to do with the space that was to be filled by Forsyth’s cancelled huge tower. To solve this, he designed a more modest structure, which was dubbed the Lantern Tower. This would have a ‘crown’ made from stone and concrete, topped by a slim aluminium spire that supported a 17ft tall cross. Placed within the spire was a time capsule containing local newspapers and a parchment with the names of the then current Bishop, architect and church wardens.
Innovative techniques were used for the installation of 56 panels of coloured glass that would form the Lantern. John Hayward, artist in residence, used blue, green, purple and gold glass that would be illuminated by the sun as it moved across the sky in the day, changing the internal light. The coloured pieces were glued on to plain glass using epoxy resin, and black resin was applied to give the look of traditional stained glass. Both the glass work and the concrete construction techniques were cutting edge for the 1960s, but would soon be the cause of many problems.
John Hayward designed a large square altar to sit underneath the Lantern Tower. This could be seen clearly whether people sat in the nave or either of the new transepts. Above the altar he created a corona, resembling a jagged crown of thorns. To complete the area, he made four abstract angels looking down onto the altar. Hayward also carved the new cathedra (Bishop’s throne) along with the choir and cleric stalls.
At the far end of the nave, Hayward installed his Christ the Worker sculpture. This 13 feet high figure wears a scapula – both a worker’s apron and a monk’s habit. Around him the ‘aureole of glory’ suggests a loom in a Lancashire weaving shed.
Further restoration work in the church was carried out during this period, including cleaning and repainting the Nave’s stunning ceiling, taking out the Victorian glass in the Nave windows and replacing it with clear Swedish glass. Lamentably, this led to the destruction of an iconic Pre-Raphaelite window of Faith, Hope and Charity, designed by Edward Burne-Jones.
A Crisis with the Lantern Tower
It did not take long for the Lantern Tower to begin to show problems. The stone cladding developed cracks and the metal reinforcing bars beneath became visible. The roof began to leak. The epoxy resin bonding the coloured glass to the clear glass failed due to exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun. Glass began to fall inwards, landing around the altar. Measures were taken to mollify the problem, but a permanent solution would need money raised and radical changes to the existing structure.
By the late 1990s, permanent remedial work had to be carried out imminently. Brian Lowe, the new cathedral architect, came up with a rescue plan. The lantern was reduced to its frame of concrete and this was repaired. The roof was replaced by a new stainless steel one, lined with bitumen, with insulation layers beneath it. The concrete cladding and window frames were replaced by sandstone ones. To prevent the build up of condensation, automatic ventilation units were installed. New parapet walls were added, and huge lead troughs were placed around the lantern to prevent heavy rain from building up water on the roof.
Local artist Linda Walton was commissioned to design the replacement stained glass. Her team used traditional glass, blown and rolled, from the famed firm of Hartley Wood in Sunderland. The colours reflect a theme of fire and water, in blue and red colours, showing the cool blue light of morning and deep red of the setting sun. It had taken six months to build the original Lantern Tower, but fifteen months to do the much needed repairs.
Visiting the Cathedral Today
The Nave
The Nave is what remains of the Georgian church. It is a very light and spacious place, with light flooding in from the clear windows where the Victorian glass was once housed. The painted decorative roof bosses, featuring Medieval style heads and buildings, are worth studying although due to the height of the nave, perhaps binoculars would help. The Pulpit was made in 1940 and shows superbly carved figures of Saints Peter, James, John, Mary, Andrew and John the Baptist. Hayward’s Christ the Worker is a huge figure towering over the cathedral exit.
The North Transept
Advent Huntson, a Derbyshire wood carver, created the original cathedral Bishop’s throne. It is topped by a pelican feeding her young, a traditional Christian image. Flanking either side are the oldest pieces on display in the cathedral – the Medieval misericords (monks’ seats). Numbering eight in total, they have a range of fantastic carvings beneath the topple seats. The misericords originated from Whalley Abbey (with the rest now in Whalley Parish Church) and are worthy of close examination. The familiar motifs of an angel, lion and winged bull for three of the gospel writers (respectively Matthew, Mark and Luke) can clearly be seen. Adam and Eve, the serpent and the apple tree are depicted on another. Of particular interest is a fox preaching in a pulpit to an audience of geese. This was perhaps a sly dig at the hypocrisy displayed by some of the clergy to their flock.
The South Transept
The huge window in the south transept was created by John Hayward, with the glass at the top part taken from the Nave windows in the 1960s refurbishment. This was deemed inferior glass work at the time, and so was cut up to create the top part of this new window. Unfortunately, one of the windows sacrificed was the iconic Pre-Raphaelite representation of Faith, Hope and Charity, embodied as the figures of three women. While Faith and Charity’s heads (but not bodies) have been retained in the new window, all trace of Hope has been lost. Below the reused Victorian glass Hayward created more abstract work, in which an anchor and cross can be made out.
A smaller separate window contains fragments of glass dating from the 1400s. The destruction of stained glass windows is traditionally blamed on Cromwell’s soldiers during the Civil War, and this accusation is repeated in the current guidebook. This is such a common trope that many take it as truth, but the removal of glass in many churches came long before the Stuart era. Cromwell and his puritan followers remain convenient bogeymen. The date for removal of glass from parish churches more likely lies with the Protestant Reformation acts passed by King Edward VI, the aforementioned son of Henry VIII. The wholesale removal and destruction of paintings, figures depicted in windows, statues and even church bells occurred during his short reign.
An even more unlikely story is told of a choirboy saving the glass believed broken during Cromwell’s time, to have it restored in the time of Charles II. There is absolutely no evidence for this. The pieces are few but interesting – a white rose, part of a portcullis, some portraits – all worth a lingering look.
At only two and a half inches tall, the tiny Medieval Pax is perhaps too precious to be put on display, with only eight now existing in Britain. However, a much larger version has been created in the south transept. This is made of fibreglass, and closely resembles the original except for the depictions of the heads of Mary and Jesus, which appear more stylised and perhaps more suitable for contemporary tastes than those of the original (which can be seen in the guide book).
East Lancashire Regiment Chapel
The chapel of the East Lancashire regiment was created in 1970 and features three soldier saints – St Martin, St Michael and St George. The etchings on the glazed screen were created by John Hayward and when the sun illuminates them, their shadow outlines can be seen on the opposite wall. The chapel also contains the flags (colours) of the regiment. Hayward’s stained glass window uses the greens and yellows of camouflage.
Nearby, by the stairs down to the crypt, the surviving Burne-Jones window displays the preachers Enoch, Paul and Elijah. Aficionados of his work will recognise the vibrant shades in the coloured glass of the pinks and reds of the angels’ wings that Burne-Jones was so particular about.
On the lower floor is the popular Checks and Greys Cafe, an independently run enterprise that welcomes both visitors to the cathedral and the wider public. From there, the visitor can exit to the newly created piazza area to explore the grounds around the cathedral and enjoy the external artworks on its walls.
Site visited by A. and S. Bowden 2024
Access
Blackburn Cathedral is open every day except Monday
Checks and Grays Cafe is open every day
There is ample paid parking near the cathedral in Blackburn centre car parks
Nearby
Fleming Square and Exchange Building
References
Blackburn Cathedral, G.A. Williams (1971) Pitkin Pictorials
Blackburn Cathedral, G.A. William (1990) RJL Smith & Associates Much Wenlock
Blackburn Cathedral, Chris Chivers (2010) Scala. This is the current guidebook available from the cathedral
On site interpretation boards
Misericords of North West England: Their Nature and Significance, John Dickson (2008) Centre for North-West Regional Studies, University of Lancaster. This excellent book can be obtained from the Regional Heritage Centre of Lancaster University online shop (see here)
staging.hrp.org.uk/media/2938/tudor-religious-crises-chronology-pdf.pdf
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Whittaker
churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2007/10-august/gazette/john-david-hayward
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartley_Wood_and_Co
checksandgreys.co.uk
hardscape.co.uk/blackburn-cathedral-quarter/
Lancashire Past 
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