Alec Stuttard looks at the history of one of East Lancashire’s most well-known buildings

BLACKBURN Cathedral, formerly the parish church of St Mary the Virgin, became a cathedral in 1926, when the Diocese of Blackburn was created. And now plans are under way to mark the centenary of one of the finest buildings in East Lancashire.

The present Dean, the Very Rev Peter Howell-Jones, says that plans to celebrate the centenary in six years time are already being formulated. “We are determined to make it a truly memorable event,”

he said.

William Temple, when he was Bishop of Manchester, decided that Blackburn Parish Church should become the cathedral for the new diocese.

The cathedral’s original scheme, drawn up by the architect WA Forsyth in 1933, included space for a refectory, library and chapter house. Temple’s idea was that as well as being a place of daily worship, it would also be a “centre of influence on all aspects of people’s lives”.

It has certainly proved to be exactly that with a wide variety of ecclesiastical, musical, educational and community events and celebrations – among them a visit in 2014 by The Queen who distributed Maundy Money, the world premiere of a tone poem by Darwen musician and composer David Mellor the following year to mark the centenary of the deaths of three local lads in a moorland blizzard during the Great War, and earlier this year, screenings of of BBC TV’s popular “Flog It” antiques show which were recorded there.

Sixty years ago Laurence King was appointed architect to the cathedral. It fell to him to adapt the design.

He solved the problem by substituting the iconic Lantern Tower for the massive structure proposed by Forsyth, placing the sanctuary directly beneath it in the central crossing. This meant that wherever people are sitting, the drama of the liturgy is visible.

It was during this time that the dark Victorian windows were removed from the nave and the floor of Derbyshire polished limestone was installed.

The sanctuary furniture with the striking corona, both a crown of suffering and a crown of glory, were created by the artist John Hayward who also designed the Worker Christ at the rear of the nave.

The cathedral stands on a site reputedly associated with early Christianity.

The foundations are believed to date from the year 596.

By 1818 the old church was in disrepair and it was decided to build a completely new building. John Palmer, a pioneer of gothic revival, was asked to build it. St Mary’s must have been a very early example.

This building forms the nave of the cathedral and was adorned as part of the completion scheme of the late 1960s by the architect Lawrence King and rededicated in 1965 in the presence of Princess Margaret.

For 14 years the chapter worked in partnership with the borough council and others to regenerate the cathedral precinct and the surrounding area, now known as the Cathedral Quarter.

These plans came to fruition with a multi-million pound regeneration scheme, completed in 2016, including a new hotel and office block as well as a new eastern precinct for the cathedral.

It also houses a library, refectory, teaching and meeting rooms and offices. There are also ten residences for clergy and lay staff, a cloister garth or court and a 50-space underground car park.

The forthcoming centenary will be quite an occasion.