Accrington

Accrington
Accy
Accrington Town Hall
Accrington  Accrington shown within Lancashire
Population	45,600
OS grid reference	SD761286
– London	222 miles (357 km)
District	Hyndburn
Shire county	Lancashire
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ACCRINGTON
Postcode district	BB5
Dialling code	01254
Police	Lancashire
Fire	Lancashire
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Hyndburn
List of places UK England Lancashire

Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about 4 miles (6 km) east of Blackburn, 6 miles (10 km) west of Burnley, 13 miles (21 km) east of Preston, 20 miles (32 km) north of Manchester city centre and is situated on the mostly culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to "Accy", the town has a population of 45,600 according to the 2001 census and the urban area has a population of over 80,000.

Accrington is a former centre of the cotton and textile machinery industries. The town is famed for manufacturing the hardest and densest building bricks in the world, "The Accrington NORI" (iron), which were used in the construction of the Empire State Building and for the foundations of Blackpool Tower; famous for Accrington Stanley F.C. and the Haworth Art Gallery which holds Europe's largest collection of Tiffany Glass.

History

Origin of the name

The name Accrington appears to be Anglo-Saxon in origin. In the records it variously appears as Akarinton in 1194; Akerunton, Akerinton and Akerynton in 1258; Acrinton in 1292; Ackryngton in 1311 and Acryngton in 1324.

The name may mean acorn farmstead from Anglo-Saxon æcern meaning acorn and tun meaning farmstead or village. The southern part of Accrington, the township of New Accrington, was formerly in the Forest of Blackburnshire and the presence of oak trees may be inferred from local place names like Broad Oak and Oak Hill. The products of oak trees were once an important food for swine and a farmstead may have been named for such produce. Anglo-Saxon ᴁcerntun might become Middle English Akerenton, Akerinton and the like. Also worth considering is that in the Lancashire dialect acorn was akran.

There is no known Old English personal name from which the first element can be derived. But if the Frisian names Akkrum, Akkeringa and Dutch name Akkerghem, are derived from the personal name Akker there may be a corresponding Old English name from which Accrington may be derived.

Early history

Accrington covers two townships which were established in 1507 following disafforestation; those of Old Accrington and New Accrington which were merged in 1878 with the incorporation of the borough council. There have been settlements there since the medieval period, likely in the Grange Lane and Black Abbey area, and the King's Highway which passes above the town was at one time used by the kings and queens of England when they used the area for hunting when the Forest of Accrington was one of the four forests of the hundred of Blackburnshire.

Robert de Lacy gave the manor of Accrington to the monks of Kirkstall in the 12th century. The monks built a grange there; removing the inhabitants to make room for it. The locals got their revenge by setting fire to the new building, destroying its contents and in the process killing the three lay brothers who occupied it. An area of the town is named 'Black Abbey' a possible reference to the murders. Regardless of whatever happened Accrington did not remain under monastic control for long before reverting to the de Lacys.

It is thought the monks of Kirkstall may have built a small chapel there during their tenure for the convenience of those in charge residing there and their tenants, but the records are uncertain. What is known is that there was a chapel in Accrington prior to 1553 where the vicar of Whalley was responsible for the maintenance of divine worship. However it did not have its own minister and it was served, when at all, by the curate of one of the adjacent chapels. In 1717 Accrington was served by the curate of Church, who preached there only once a month. St. James's Church was built in 1763, replacing the old chapel however it did not achieve parochial status until as late as 1870.

Industrial Revolution

Until around 1830 visitors considered Accrington to be just a "considerable village". The Industrial Revolution, however, resulted in large changes and Accrington’s location on the confluence of a number of streams made it attractive to industry and a number of mills were built in the town in the mid-eighteenth century. Further industrialisation then followed in the late eighteenth century and local landowners began building mansions in the area on the outskirts of the settlement where their mills were located while their employees lived in overcrowded unsanitary conditions in the centre.

Industrialisation resulted in rapid population growth during the nineteenth century, as people moved from over north-west England to Accrington, with the population increasing from 3,266 in 1811 to 10,376 in 1851 to 43,211 in 1901 to its peak in 1911 at 45,029.

This fast population growth and slow response from the established church allowed non-conformism to flourish in the town. By the mid-nineteenth century there were Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, United Free Methodist, Congregationalist, Baptist, Swedenborgian, Unitarian, Roman Catholic and Catholic Apostolic churches in the town. The Swedenborgian church was so grand that it was considered to be the ‘Cathedral’ of that denomination.

For many decades the textiles industry, the engineering industry and coal mining were the central activities of the town. Cotton mills and dye works provided work for the inhabitants; but often in very difficult conditions. There was regular conflict with employers over wages and working conditions. On 24 April 1826 over 1,000 men and women, many armed, gathered at Whinney Hill in Clayton-le-Moors to listen to a speaker from where they marched on Sykes’s Mill at Higher Grange Lane, near the site of the modern police station and Magistrate’s Courts, and smashed over 60 looms. These riots spread from Accrington through Oswaldtwistle, Blackburn, Darwen, Rossendale, Bury and Chorley. In the end after three days of riots 1,139 looms were destroyed, 4 rioters and 2 bystanders shot dead by the authorities in Rossendale and 41 rioters sentenced to death (all of whose sentences were commuted).

In the 1842 'plug riots' a general strike spread from town to town due to conditions in the town. In a population of 9,000 people as few as 100 were fully employed. From 15 August 1842 the situation boiled over and bands of men entered the mills which were running and stopped the machinery by knocking out the boiler plugs. This allowed the water and steam to escape shutting down the mill machinery. Thousands of strikers walked over the hills from one town to another to persuade people to join the strike in civil disturbances that lasted about a week. The strike was associated with the Chartist movement but eventually proved unsuccessful in its aims.

In the early 1860s the Lancashire cotton famine badly affected Accrington, although less so than the wider area due to its more diverse economy, with as many as half of the town's mill employees out of work at one time.

Conditions were such that a Local Board of Health was constituted in 1853 and the town itself incorporated in 1878 allowing the enforcement of local laws to improve the town.

Accrington Pals

Further information: Recruitment to the British Army during World War I

One well-known association the town has is with the 'Accrington Pals', the nickname given to the smallest home town battalion of volunteers formed to fight in the first world war. The Pals battalions were a peculiarity of the 1914-18 war: Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War, believed that it would help recruitment if friends and work-mates from the same town were able to join up and fight together. Strictly speaking, the 'Accrington Pals' battalion is properly known as the '11th East Lancashire Regiment': the nickname is a little misleading, since of the four 250-strong companies that made up the original battalion only one was composed of men from Accrington. The rest volunteered from other east Lancashire towns such as Burnley, Blackburn and Chorley.

The Pals' first day of action, 1 July 1916, took place in Serre, near Montauban in the north of France. It was part of the 'Big Push' (later known as the Battle of the Somme) that was intended to force the German Army into a retreat from the Western Front, a line they had held since late 1914. The German defences in Serre were supposed to have been obliterated by sustained, heavy, British shelling during the preceding week; however, as the battalion advanced it met with fierce resistance. 235 men were killed and a further 350 wounded — more than half of the battalion — within half an hour. Similarly desperate losses were suffered elsewhere on the front, in a disastrous day for the British Army (approximately 19,000 British soldiers were killed in a single day).

Later in the year, the East Lancashire Regiment was rebuilt with new volunteers — in all, 865 Accrington men were killed during World War I. All of these names are recorded on a war memorial, an imposing white stone cenotaph, which stands in Oak Hill Park in the south of the town. The cenotaph also lists the names of 173 local fatalities from World War II. The trenches from which the Accrington Pals advanced on 1 July 1916 are still visible in John Copse west of the village of Serre, and there is a memorial there made of Accrington brick.

After World War IWorld War I and until 1986, Accrington Corporation buses were painted in the regimental colours of red and blue with gold lining. The mudguards were painted black as a sign of mourning.

Demography

The 2001 census gave the population of Accrington town as 45,600. The figure for the urban area was 78,224, increased from 70,442 in 1991. This total includes Accrington, Church, Clayton-le-Moors, Great Harwood and Oswaldtwistle. For comparison purposes that is approximately the same size as Aylesbury, Carlisle, Guildford or Scunthorpe urban areas.

The borough of Hyndburn as a whole has a population of 88,996. This includes Accrington Urban Area and other outlying towns and villages such as; Altham, Baxenden, part of Belthorn, Huncoat, Rishton and Stanhill.

Economy

The centre of Accrington is located around a pedestrianised street called Broadway with shops on both sides, which connects Blackburn Road to Whalley Road. On one side of Broadway forms part of a shopping centre called the Accrington Arndale, which consists of 52 retail units, and opened in October 1987. There are two retail parks, the main one which consists of 4 high street chains. The markets, with indoor and outdoor stalls, are on Blackburn Road next to the Town Hall.

The indoor market was opened in 1869 and the Market Hall is now a listed building; in 2010 it was refurbished and the following year it was named as best indoor market in a National Association of British Market Authorities competition. The outdoor market, with 37 stalls, is next to it and opens most days

The town centre is home to a number of high street multiples, including: Fulton's Foods, Greggs, Argos, EE (x2), Specsavers,cex, Wilko, Shoe Zone, Superdrug, Costa Coffee, Sports Direct, Cash Generator, GAME, Santander, Poundland, Timpson, Vodafone, Coral, Althams Travel, Marks & Spencer (which is closing August 2015), Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Grainger Games, Carphone Warehouse, Wilko, O2, Halifax, British Heart Foundation, Post Office, Thomas Cook, Thomson, Peacocks, Burton, Holland & Barrett, NatWest, Dorothy Perkins, WHSmith, Nationwide, Iceland, Blue Inc, Boots Opticians, Sense, Card Factory, Subway, Yorkshire Bank, Boots, Store Twenty One, Poundworld, Peacocks, B&M Bargains, Wetherspoons, Grainger Games and a mix of other shops. In March 2015, Subway announced plans to open an second store in Accrington.

Fast-food restaurants include; McDonald's, Burger King, and KFC. A BT Call Centre is also in town, employing many local people. A Viaduct VUE is located in the town, having opened in 2002, which previously contained a bowling alley (Accrington Superbowl, and then 1st Bowl

Near the town centre, there is a small retail park which includes a Home Bargains, Pets at Home, Iceland, which opened recently, and Poundstretcher, in a shopping development known as Eastgate Retail Park, which opened in 1998, in honour of the aforementioned road. In June 2015, Iceland announced plans to open on the retail park. In September 2015, it officially opened.

A Tesco Extra is on Eagle Street, which opened in 2010, and an Asda on Hyndburn Road, which opened in 1985, being the main supermarkets with discount retailers, such as Aldi, Lidl, which reopened in September 2015. A Homebase was located in the town, but it closed in February 2015, and was converted into a B&M Homestore. A Halfords Autocentre is located in the town, as are Kwik Fit, ATS Euromaster, and National Tyres. Fountain Retail Park, which opened in 1998, in honour of the aforementioned works, includes a Matalan.

In Whitebirk, a retail park, The Peel Centre, includes a Currys, PC World, Onit Furniture, ScS Sofas, Sofaworks, Harveys Furniture & Bensons for Beds. In January 2015, Smyths Toys Superstore announced plans to open in the park, and is set to open December 2015. The Range has a store in Whitebirk, located where B&Q used to be in Blackburn, before it relocated in September 2004 to the Nova Scotia Retail Park, in the Grimshaw Park area. There is a hotel called The Dunkenhalgh Hotel, which is owned by Mercure. In May 2012, Queen Elizabeth II stayed at the hotel, during her visit to Lancashire.

Peel, the site's owner, have repetitively have had planning permission denied for a controversial expansion of the park, first in May 2005, then June 2007, and most recently August 2014, by the High Court, after an appeal was lodged. They wanted the use of the site to be changed, by adding ASDA Living, Boots, and Next, trying to make a "copy" of Preston's Deepdale, as well as relocating other stores. In June 2007, then–Blackburn MP Jack Straw announced that it would be the "death knell" for Blackburn, as did then–Hyndburn MP Greg Pope, saying that it would be the "death knell" for Accrington.

As well as motor dealerships from Ford (Peoples), Vauxhall & Chevrolet (Accrington Garages), the town was home to a Arnold Clark (previously Bowker BMW & Mini) car dealer, which closed down in 2010, and was demolished in January 2015. This was in order to make way for Brickworks, which opens in July 2015. BP, Esso (which includes a Tesco Express), and Texaco (x3) operate garages in the town. An out of town business park, Accrington Trade Park, which opened in 2004, includes a Screwfix, Eurocell, James Hargreaves, and Howdens.

Formerly cotton and textile machinery were important industries in the town. NORIs, a type of iron hard engineering brick, were produced nearby in Huncoat was closed in 2013, but later reopened in 2015. A Simon Jersey is nearby and many other businesses are in nearby Altham. Mills and factories are Accrington's past but there a few factories and garages now occupy the old building.

The council has an regeneration plan in place, which will according to the council, boost the local economy. The plan is to upgrade many old shops, and build a bus station. A memorial for the Accrington Pals may be built outside the town hall.

Geography

Accrington is a hill town located at the western edge of the Pennines within a bowl and largely encircled by surrounding hills to heights of 300-400m. The Hyndburn or Accrington Brook flows through the centre of the town. Hill settlements origins were as the economic foci of the district engaging in the spinning and weaving of woolen cloth. Wool, lead and coal were other local industries. Geographical coordinates: 53° 46' 0" North, 2° 21' 0" West. Height above sea level: there is a spot height outside the Market Hall which is 133.5m; the bench mark on the side of the neighbouring Town Hall is 441.10 feet. The highest height in the town is 320m which is in Baxenden and the lowest is the town hall which is at 132.5m. most of the town is around 200m.

Transport

The town has strong local travel links as Accrington railway station lies on the East Lancashire Line serving trains running locally and trains running from Blackpool to York. However, recent changes to the train timetables have been a disservice to Accrington, increasing the journey time to Preston (a vital link to London or Scotland) by up to 1.5 hours. However, there are still buses to Manchester every thirty minutes as well as more frequent services to other towns in east Lancashire. The main road running through the town centre is the A680 running from Rochdale to Whalley. The town is served by junction seven of the M65 and is linked from the A680 and the A56 dual carriageway which briefly merge; linking to the M66 motorway heading towards Manchester. The closest airports are Manchester Airport at 27 miles (43 km), Blackpool Airport at 28 miles (45 km) and Leeds Bradford Airport at 30 miles (48 km).

There was once a rail link south to Manchester via Haslingden and Bury, but this was closed in the 1960s as part of cuts following the Beeching Report. The trackbed from Accrington to Baxenden is now a linear treelined cycleway/footpath. A train service to Manchester via the Todmorden Curve on the Caldervale Line is planned to start in 2014.A new bus station is being built in Accrington too.

Bus operators Pilkington Bus and M & M Coaches are based in Accrington, and Holmeswood Coaches, Rosso and Transdev Blazefield subsidiaries Transdev in Burnley & Pendle and Lancashire United also provide bus services in the town; routes serve places such as Blackburn, Oswaldtwistle, Rishton, Burnley and Clitheroe.

Public services

Accrington Library

Accrington Library, on St James Street, is a Carnegie library that opened in 1908. It is noted for its stained glass window designed by Gustav Hiller and as a place of inspiration for the young Jeanette Winterson.

Near the Tesco supernarket, there is Accrington Skate Park which is popular during the school holidays. On Manchester Road, Accrington Police Station serves the Borough of Hyndburn. In April 2003, Hyndburn Community Fire Station opened, also serving the Borough of Hyndburn.

Law and Order

The town is served by the Lancashire Constabulary Police station on Manchester Road. The police station is now moving into town as an effort to save money due to rising expenses and decreasing funding by the government. Crime is very low in Accrington compared to nearby towns.

Social

Governance

Accrington is represented in parliament as a part of the constituency of Hyndburn. Note that the constituency boundaries do not align exactly with those of the district of the same name.

Accrington was first represented nationally after the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 after the 1885 general election by Accrington (UK Parliament constituency). This seat was abolished in the 1983 general election and replaced with the present constituency of Hyndburn (UK Parliament constituency).

Hyndburn consists of 16 wards of 35 councillors. Due to its size Accrington is represented by a number of wards in the Borough of Hyndburn. The town largely consists of the Milnshaw, Peel, Central, Barnfield and Spring Hill wards, although some parts of those wards are in other towns in the borough.

Accrington became incorporated as a municipal borough in 1878. Under the Local Government Act 1972, since 1974, the town has formed part of the larger Borough of Hyndburn including the former Urban Districts of Oswaldtwistle, Church, Clayton-le-Moors, Great Harwood and Rishton.

Health

Accrington Acorn PHCC under construction

The local hospital is Accrington Victoria Hospital however, as it only deals with minor issues, A&E is provided by the Royal Blackburn Hospital. Other services are provided at the Accrington Pals Primary Health Care Centre and the Accrington Acorn Primary Health Care Centre.

Media

The chief publications in the area are the weekly Accrington Observer, part of MEN media, and the Lancashire Telegraph.

Special Events

There is a Ron Hill 10K marathon happens every year at the end of march/start of April and is named for the local Olympic runner for Britain Ron Hill.The marathon takes you around town and through the local countrysides and is organised by the council and local businesses. There is also a 1K family run too where families could run together. It was first started in 2014 where people came to run but in 2015 more than 500 runners came and ran in the race.

There is also a food festival which happens in the market hall and a Christmas market which has lots of stalls from Europe and Asia.

Accrington food and drink festival

Accrington's biggest food and drink festival was held in the towncentre with special appearance by chef Richard Fox and Jesse McClure. 50 international stores came with food from Jamaica to Italy and a World War I reenactment with an old tank and army vehicles from World War I to commemorate DDay. The food Festival will also be held in 2016 on June 4.

Sport

Local Swimming Club Pioneer 79 is based in the area and uses Accrington Academy's swimming pool.

Football team

Accrington Stanley F.C. wall plaque: "Industry and Prudence Conquer"

Accrington Stanley F.C., entered the Football League in 1921 with the formation of the old Third Division (North); after haunting the lower reaches of English football for forty years, they eventually resigned from the League in 1962, due to financial problems, and folded in 1965. The club was reformed three years later and then worked its way through the non-league divisions to reach the Nationwide Conference in 2003. In the 2005–06 season, Stanley, after winning against Woking with 3 matches to spare, secured a place back in the Football League and the town celebrated with a small parade and honours placed on senior executives of the team. Coincidentally, one of the teams relegated—and thus being replaced by Stanley—were Oxford United, who were voted into the Football League to replace the previous Accrington Stanley. The football stadium is called the Crown Ground. Until the 2012-13 season, when Fleetwood Town entered the league, Accrington was the smallest town in England and Wales with a Football League club.

Accrington Stanley Football Club has officially had its own pub in the town, the Crown, since July 2007.

Team history

An earlier club, Accrington F.C., were one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888. However, their time in league football was even less successful and considerably briefer than that of Accrington Stanley: they dropped out of the league in 1893 and folded shortly afterwards due to financial problems. The town of Accrington thus has the unique "distinction" of having lost two separate clubs from league football.

Cricket

Accrington has a cricket ground. Cricket is also played in parks.Schools nearby have shown major interest in cricket and have held cricket training and tournaments.

Golf

Accrington has a golf course.

Other sports

There are many gyms in the town and the council has held fitness classes for the women and old people. There are two sports centres, the main on being the Hyndburn Sports Centre near Lidl.

Education

List of primary schools in Accrington;

• Hyndburn Park Primary School,
• Peel Park Primary School,
• Sacred Heart Prinary School,
• Benjamin Hargreaves CE Primary School,
• Springhill County Primary School,
• Accrington Huncoat Primary School,
• St Johns and St Augustines CE Primary School,
• St Mary Magdalen's CE Primary School,
• St Nicholas' CE Primary School,
• Woodnook Primary School,
• St James CE Primary School, Altham,
• St Johns CE Primary School, Baxenden,
• All Saints CE Primary School,
• Mount Pleasant Primary School,
• Green Haworth CE Primary School,
• Stonefold CE Primary School,
• St Peters CE Primary School.

Secondary schools serving Accrington are:

• Accrington Academy
• Heathland School
• The Hollins Technology College
• Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School
• Norden High School and Sports College
• Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School
• St Christopher's Church of England High School

All the secondary schools compete each other to achieve better results which resulted in The Hollins Technology College winning an award from SSAT for fantastic progress as well as Accrington Academy. The college in the town centre is Accrington and Rossendale College; nearby universities include University Centre at Blackburn College, and the University of Central Lancashire in Preston. There is also a library near the town centre where books and internet are available.

Landmarks

• Haworth Art Gallery

The Haworth Art Gallery was previously a mansion named as Hollins Hill Mansion. The museum houses a collection of Tiffany glassware presented to the town by Joseph Briggs, an Accrington man who had joined Tiffany’s in the late 19th century and eventually became art director and assistant manager.It is situated in Haworth Park on Manchester Road.

• The Viaduct

The Viaduct is a bridge which has a railway line on it, it goes through the town and has many storage units and shop on sale buy the National Rail. The Viaduct ends at the Accrington Eco Station.

• Town Hall

The Accrington Town Hall is a really old building and is also listed too. It has a reception rooms where pantomimes and fitness clubs are held. Weddings could also be held there. The town hall is on Blackburn Road near The Arcade.

• The Arcade

The Arcade is a Victorian shopping Centre with about 10-15 outlets and has many restaurants there. It is on Church street near the town hall. The arcade has hardware shops and shops like Argos. There are some restaurants in there too. Sadly most outlets are closing since the year 2013.

• Oakhill Park

Oakhill Park is a large and old park with a sceneric view of Accrington. It has won many awards such as the best park in Lancashire. The Haworth Art Gallery is in the park. It is on Manchester Road.

Development

The Hyndburn Borough Council is spending £10 million to refurbish the towncentre which includes

• upgrading all the shops in the towncentre
• building a new bus station (which is highly criticized for being built in the wrong place.)

Half of Blackburn Road is being refurbished and is now being made in to a more greener beautiful shopping street which would upgrade shops,add more trees and repave the pavements as it would look more appealing to the new housing being sold and built around the area.

Two new phases are being built, the first one called the Acorn Park, where new houses are being built fit for the younger generation with balconies and greener spaces and Phoenix Place which will also include new housing and the building of a new mosque to help the overcrowding of nearby mosques. The wood nook area is one of the most darkest and has the highest amount of abandoned housing in Hyndburn, which is also being refurbished and extended ready to be sold to new families which can help the local economy.

Notable residents

• Jon Anderson, singer with rock band Yes, was born there

• Reece Bibby, member of Stereo Kicks and 2014 finalist of The X Factor (UK TV series)
• Harrison Birtwistle, composer
• Thomas Birtwistle, trade unionist
• Mike Duxbury, footballer, was born in the town
• Vicky Entwistle, actor, Janice Battersby in the TV Soap Coronation Street
• Graeme Fowler, cricketer, former England batsman, cricket coach and occasional pundit on BBC Radio's Test Match Special
• Nicholas Freeston (1907-1978), Award winning Lancashire poet
• Andy Hargreaves, academic
• Julie Hesmondhalgh, actor, Hayley Cropper in the TV Soap Coronation Street
• Frederick Higginbottom, journalist and newspaper editor
• Ron Hill, long-distance and marathon runner
• Netherwood Hughes, World War I veteran, died in 2009, aged 108
• David Lloyd, cricketer, now a pundit for Sky Sports
• William Macrorie bishop of Maritzburg
• Mystic Meg, astrologer, born in the town as Margaret Anne Lake in 1952
• Edward Ormerod, mining engineer and inventor of the Ormerod safety link for use in coal mines
• Alan Ramsbottom, professional cyclist
• Anthony Rushton, tech entrepreneur
• Hollie Steel, Britain's Got Talent finalist of 2009
• Diana Vickers, singer-songwriter, stage actress and fashion designer
• John Virtue, artist
• John Rex Whinfield, chemist, inventor of Terylene (polyester), the first completely synthetic fibre invented in UK
• Jeanette Winterson, author, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is an account of her childhood in the town

See also

• Listed buildings in Accrington
• Howard & Bullough

Further reading

• William Turner. Pals: the 11th (Service) Battalion (Accrington), East Lancashire Regiment. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword, 1998. ISBN 978-0-85052-360-7

External links

• Hyndburn Borough Council