Blackburn with Darwen

Blackburn with Darwen is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, North West England. The borough includes the towns of Blackburn and Darwen plus a wider rural area which includes the villages of Lower Darwen, Feniscowles, Brownhill and Hoddlesden.^[5]

Borough of Blackburn with Darwen
Borough and unitary authority
From left to right Top: Blackburn skyline Middle: Entwistle Bottoms and Belmont village skyline Bottom: Darwen Town Hall and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Feniscowles
Coat of arms
Motto(s):  Latin: Arte et Labore, lit. 'By Skill and Labour'
Blackburn with Darwen shown within Lancashire
Coordinates: 53.7500°N 2.4815°W / 53.7500; -2.4815
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	England
Region	North West
Ceremonial county	Lancashire
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Unitary authority	1 April 1998
Named after	Blackburn and Darwen
Administrative HQ	Blackburn Town Hall
Government [1]
• Type	Unitary authority
• Body	Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
• MPs	Adnan Hussain (Ind) Andy MacNae (L)
Area [2]
• Total	137 km2 (53 sq mi)
• Rank	173rd
Population  (2024)[3]
• Total	162,540
• Rank	133rd
• Density	1,186/km2 (3,070/sq mi)
Ethnicity (2021) [4]
• Ethnic groups	List 60.4% White 35.7% Asian 1.7% Mixed 0.9% Black 1.4% other
Religion (2021) [4]
• Religion	List 38.0% Christianity 35.0% Islam 21.1% no religion 0.3% Hinduism 0.2% Buddhism 0.1% Sikhism 0.0% Judaism 0.3% other 5.0% not stated
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Postcode areas	BB BL PR
Dialling codes	01254
ISO 3166 code	GB-BBD
GSS code	E06000008
Website	blackburn.gov.uk

Formation

It was founded in 1974 as the Lancashire borough of Blackburn, from the County Borough of Blackburn, the Municipal Borough of Darwen, the parish of North Turton from Turton Urban District (chiefly the villages of Belmont, Chapeltown and Edgworth) and parts of Blackburn Rural District. It was renamed in May 1997, in preparation for a split from Lancashire County Council. On 1 April 1998 it became a unitary authority.

Demographics

Ethnicity

Ethnicity of school pupils^[6]

Ethnic group	School year
	2021/2022
	Number	%
White: Total	12,911	46.1
White: British	11,876	42.4
White: Irish	28	0.1
White: Traveller of Irish heritage	25	0.1
White: Gypsy/Roma	21	0.1
White: Other	961	3.4
Asian / Asian British: Total	12,835	45.8
Asian / Asian British: Indian	4,592	16.4
Asian / Asian British: Pakistani	7,282	26.0
Asian / Asian British: Bangladeshi	290	1.0
Asian / Asian British: Chinese	71	0.3
Asian / Asian British: Other Asians	600	2.1
Black / Black British: Total	344	1.2
Black: Caribbean	13	0.0
Black: African	274	1.0
Black: Other Blacks	57	0.2
Mixed / British Mixed	1,129	4
Other: Total	474	1.7
Unclassified	290	1.0
Total:	27,983	100.0

Religion

According to the 2021 census, 38.0% of the population was Christian, 35.0% Muslim, 0.3% Hindu, 0.2% Buddhist, 0.4% followed another religions (including Judaism, Sikhism and others), 21.1% were not affiliated to a religion and 5.0% did not state their religious views.

Religion in Blackburn with Darwen as of 2021 ^[7]

1. Christianity (38.0%)
2. Islam (35.0%)
3. Hinduism (0.30%)
4. Buddhism (0.20%)
5. Sikh (0.10%)
6. No religion (21.1%)
7. Not stated (5.00%)
8. Other (0.30%)

Governance

Main article: Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

The council is based at Blackburn Town Hall on King William Street in the centre of Blackburn. As a unitary authority, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council provides most local government services. Parts of the borough are covered by civil parishes, which provide a lower tier of local government.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Blackburn with Darwen at current basic prices published Archived 22 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added[a]	Agriculture[b]	Industry[c]	Services[d]
1995	1,496	3	755	737
2000	1,597	3	678	916
2003	1,785	4	647	1,134

Settlements

Blackburn

Darwen

Bank Fold

Bank Hey

Beardwood

Belmont

Belthorn

Blackamoor

Brownhill

Cadshaw

Chapeltown

Cherry Tree

Edgworth

Entwistle

Feniscowles

Grimshaw

Guide

Hoddlesden

Little Harwood

Lower Darwen

Pickup Bank

Pleasington

Tockholes

Waterside

Whalley Range

Whitebirk

Great Hill

Winter Hill

Towns, suburbs, villages and hills in the Borough of Blackburn with Darwen

Civil parishes

1. Darwen (town council)
2. Eccleshill
3. Livesey
4. North Turton
5. Pleasington
6. Tockholes
7. Yate and Pickup Bank

The town of Blackburn and the village of Hoddlesden lie in unparished areas.

Education

Main article: List of schools in Blackburn with Darwen

As a unitary authority, Blackburn with Darwen authority has a statutory responsibility for educational standards and schooling within its boundaries.^[8]

Transport

Blackburn with Darwen Council has a stated transport policy of "making roads traffic free".^[9]

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Blackburn with Darwen.^[10]

Individuals

• Barbara Castle: 23 November 1979.
• Sir Charles Fletcher-Cooke: 23 November 1979.
• Tom Taylor, Baron Taylor of Blackburn: 2 April 1992.
• Jack Straw: 1 October 2015.^[11]

Military Units

• The East Lancashire Regiment: 5 February 1948.
• The Lancashire Regiment: 6 November 1958.
• The Queen's Lancashire Regiment: 25 March 1970.
• The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: 1 July 2006.

See also

• Blackburn with Darwen Teaching Primary Care Trust

Notes

1. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
2. includes hunting and forestry
3. includes energy and construction
4. includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured