Posts Tagged ‘Blackburn’

Shipping Containers for sale in Blackburn Lancashire

Estimated Population: 105,085

Blackburn is a large town in Lancashire, England. It lies to the north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, 8.9 miles (14.3 km) east of the city of Preston, and 20 miles (32 km) north-northwest of the city of Manchester. Blackburn is bounded to the south by Darwen, with which it forms the unitary authority area of Blackburn with Darwen, Blackburn being the administrative centre. At the time of the UK Government’s 2001 census, Blackburn had a population of 105,085,[1] whilst the wider borough had a population of 137,470.

A former mill town, textiles have been produced in Blackburn since the middle of the 13th century, when locally produced wool was woven in people’s houses. Flemish weavers who settled in the area during the 14th century helped to develop the industry.[3] James Hargreaves, inventor of the spinning jenny, was a weaver in Blackburn.[4] The most rapid period of growth and development in Blackburn’s history coincided with the industrialisation and expansion of textile manufacturing. Blackburn was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the first industrialised towns in the world.

Blackburn’s textile sector fell into a terminal decline from the mid-20th century. Blackburn has subsequently faced similar challenges to other post-industrial northern towns, including deindustrialisation, economic deprivation and housing issues.

Shipping Containers for sale in Blackburn Lancashire