Blackburn Cathedral
| Blackburn Cathedral | |
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| Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin with St Paul |
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The Cathedral from the west
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 Blackburn Cathedral
Shown within Blackburn town centre
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| Coordinates: 53°44′50″N 2°28′53″W / 53.7473°N 2.4813°W | |
| Location | Blackburn, Lancashire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Website | www.blackburncathedral.com/ |
| History | |
| Consecrated | 1977 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | John Palmer W.A. Forsyth Laurence King |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Years built | 1820–1967 |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Diocese of Blackburn (since 1926) |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Julian Henderson |
| Dean | Peter Howell-Jones to be installed 25-03-17 |
| Precentor | Andrew Hindley, Canon Sacrist |
| Canon(s) |
Ian Stockton, Canon Chancellor Andrew Horsefall |
| Laity | |
| Director of music | Samuel Hudson |
| Organist(s) | Shaun Turnbull |
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Listed Building – Grade II*
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| Official name | Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin |
| Designated | 28 November 1951 |
| Reference no. | 1239147 |
Blackburn Cathedral, officially known as the Cathedral Church of Blackburn Saint Mary the Virgin with St Paul, is an Anglican (Church of England) cathedral situated in the heart of Blackburn town centre, in Lancashire, England. The cathedral site has been home to a church for over a thousand years and the first stone church was built there in Norman times.
With the creation of the Diocese of Blackburn in 1926 (taken from the Diocese of Manchester) the impressive parish church of St Mary the Virgin was raised to cathedral status. The church, which was built in 1826 and designed by architect John Palmer, now forms the cathedral's nave.
In the early 1930s, fundraising began to enlarge the cathedral so that the building complemented its newfound importance. By 1938, enough money had been raised and work began on enlarging the new cathedral. Although work was interrupted by the war, it was resumed afterwards and continued through the 1950s and into the early 1960s. After the death of architect W.A. Forsyth in 1950, architect Laurence King joined the project and designed the distinctive lantern tower. The lantern tower, which consists of 56 different panes of coloured glass, with a modernist slender aluminium spire, was completed in 1967.
The cathedral was finally completed in 1977 and what had been built over the past decades was finally consecrated as Blackburn Cathedral that year.
The North transept contains eight misericords dating from the 15th century. It is not known at what time they arrived at the Cathedral, but they are believed to have originated at Whalley Abbey. This could mean that they were removed to a builder's yard after the Dissolution, but with the cathedral not being built until the 19th century, this allows for the possibility that they had lain unused for some 300 years.
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Wikipedia