Darwen Heritage Centre

Darwen Heritage Centre COMMUNITY | HERITAGE | ARTS Doctor James T Ballantyne later owned Holker House when he became Mayor in 1898. It was used as office space until 2015.

In the1870s Dr George Hindle built Holker House on Railway Road to the design of George Wightman of Darwen, He named it after Holker House, which comes from the family home of the Hindles in Hoddlesden which was built in 1591. To celebrate his Mayoral term, he presented the town with our town hall clock which still lets us know the time today. Subsequently it became the Divisional Education Office

for Darwen Division until 1974, when it became the Area Education Architects' Office. From 1985 until 2005 it was used by Blackburn College. Unfortunately, it was abandoned by the College and allowed to fall into disrepair until acquired in late 2007 by Steven Milligan who meticulously renovated the building. In February 2016 The Livesey Foundation charity bought the house with intensions to make it available to the people of Darwen for a variety of community projects. Our intention is to make it available to the town for a variety of community purposes such as Charity/social meetings and events, exhibitions, venue for councilors, tourist information and much more. But most importantly it will become home to The Darwen Heritage Centre where we will be able to display to the world the history, culture, past and present of our amazing town! Holker House will be not-for-profit and will become a major attraction and community focal point for the town. If you would like to contribute to this exciting project, please contact us……..

Old Darwen photos allow us to see what changes have taken place. Not always for the better! Would you say that this ha...
03/09/2026

Old Darwen photos allow us to see what changes have taken place. Not always for the better! Would you say that this has changed for the better or worse? Can you say what year would be the latest that this photo could have been taken?

Here is another photo of the same troop of Darwen Home Guard with a few more soldiers included. Does anyone out there r...
02/09/2026

Here is another photo of the same troop of Darwen Home Guard with a few more soldiers included. Does anyone out there recognise any of the people in this photo? Do let us know if you do.

Here's another troop of the Home Guard in Everton Street in Darwen during WW2. Can you add any names to this one?
01/09/2026

Here's another troop of the Home Guard in Everton Street in Darwen during WW2. Can you add any names to this one?

As more photos come into the Darwen Heritage Centre help is needed to identify people in them. This is the Everton Stre...
31/08/2026

As more photos come into the Darwen Heritage Centre help is needed to identify people in them. This is the Everton Street Home Guard in the 1940s. One named but do you recognise anyone else as an ancestor of yours? Please do let us know if you recognise anyone.

The last post confused quite a few people - the hairdresser was in fact Sam Priestley who had his shop on Bridge Street....
30/08/2026

The last post confused quite a few people - the hairdresser was in fact Sam Priestley who had his shop on Bridge Street. Try this one - a day out for the Darwen Girls' Choir in 1951. Third from the right on the front row is a lovely lady who volunteers now at the Darwen Heritage Centre. Do you know who she is?

Heritage Open Days is almost upon us with a theme of everyday lives. What about including this person at the hairdresse...
28/08/2026

Heritage Open Days is almost upon us with a theme of everyday lives. What about including this person at the hairdressers? Who is that hairdresser? Find his presentation clock at the Darwen Heritage Centre thanks to a donation from the family.

The display at the Darwen Heritage Centre commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme will be taken d...
26/08/2026

The display at the Darwen Heritage Centre commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme will be taken down this Saturday so you have just two occasions left to view the display. Friday between 1pm and 3pm and Saturday between 10am and 3pm. It will then be rested until Remembrance week in November for one week only.

What was this the site of in days gone by in Darwen? And what was the name of the pub?
25/08/2026

What was this the site of in days gone by in Darwen? And what was the name of the pub?

Here is a conundrum - this used to be the back of the pub and the main road was on the opposite side to where it is now....
23/08/2026

Here is a conundrum - this used to be the back of the pub and the main road was on the opposite side to where it is now. What was this Darwen pub called and what is it now?

Tonight we have another Darwen pub - the Prince of Wales. But what other name was it known as?
22/08/2026

Tonight we have another Darwen pub - the Prince of Wales. But what other name was it known as?

Address

Railway Road
Darwen
BB32RG

Opening Hours

Wednesday 10am - 3pm
Friday 10am - 3pm
Saturday 10am - 3pm

Telephone

01254433140

Website

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