In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Accrington like this:
ACCRINGTON, a town, two townships, two chapel rises, and a subdistrict, in Whalley parish, Lancashire. The town adjoins the E Lancashire railway, near the Leeds and Liverpool canal, 4 miles by road and 5¼ by railway E of Blackburn. It is large and thriving; has sprung up within the present century; is a seat of petty sessions and county courts; publishes a weekly newspaper; carries on industry in twenty cotton factories, three print works, extensive turkey-red dye-work, several large chemical works, foundries, steel-works, and a brewery; is well supplied with water from reservoirs; and has a head post office,‡ a r. ...
station with telegraph, a banking office, four hotels, a market house of 1868, public rooms of 1857 in the Italian style at a cost of £8,000, a mechanics' institution, a museum and pleasure gardens, a church enlarged in 1826, a church of 1841 in the early English style at a cost of £8,000, a church of 1866, two fine Wesleyan chapels of 1845 and 1866, nine other dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, seven public schools, and two annual fairs. Pop. in 1851, 7,481; in 1861, 13,872. Houses, 2,579.-The townships are New A. and Old A. Acres, 2,480 and 740. Real property, £52,634; of which £8,409 are in mines. Pop., 11,853 and 5,835.-The chapelries are St. James and Christchurch; and both are p. curacies in the diocese of Manchester. Value of each, £300.* Patrons of St. J., Hulme's Trustees; of C., Trustees.-The subdistrict is conterminate with the two townships.
Accrington through time
Accrington is now part of Hyndburn district. Click here for graphs and data of how Hyndburn has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Accrington itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Accrington, in Hyndburn and Lancashire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/655
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
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