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Wednesday 10am - 3pm Friday 10am - 3pm Saturday 10am - 3pm

Darwen Heritage Centre

Name: Darwen Heritage Centre
Address: Railway Road, Darwen, BB32RG, GB
Telephone: 01254433140

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COMMUNITY | HERITAGE | ARTS Doctor James T Ballantyne later owned Holker House when he became Mayor in 1898. It was used as office space until 2015.

In the1870s Dr George Hindle built Holker House on Railway Road to the design of George Wightman of Darwen, He named it after Holker House, which comes from the family home of the Hindles in Hoddlesden which was built in 1591. To celebrate his Mayoral term, he presented the town with our town hall clock which still lets us know the time today. Subsequently it became the Divisional Education Office for Darwen Division until 1974, when it became the Area Education Architects' Office. From 1985 until 2005 it was used by Blackburn College. Unfortunately, it was abandoned by the College and allowed to fall into disrepair until acquired in late 2007 by Steven Milligan who meticulously renovated the building. In February 2016 The Livesey Foundation charity bought the house with intensions to make it available to the people of Darwen for a variety of community projects. Our intention is to make it available to the town for a variety of community purposes such as Charity/social meetings and events, exhibitions, venue for councilors, tourist information and much more. But most importantly it will become home to The Darwen Heritage Centre where we will be able to display to the world the history, culture, past and present of our amazing town! Holker House will be not-for-profit and will become a major attraction and community focal point for the town. If you would like to contribute to this exciting project, please contact us……..

02/11/2026

Darwen's part in the Battle of the Somme is the focus for our Remembrance Commemorations this year and the display goes up this Wednesday, 4th November and will be on show throughout November.

02/11/2026

Next week sees this year's Remembrance Commemorations and this year the Battle of the Somme will be the focus at the Darwen Heritage Centre. The display will be going up this Wednesday 4th November and will be on display throughout November.

01/11/2026

Here is another of those Terrace names on a street in Darwen. Where can you find this one? It's been there since 1884.

31/10/2026

Lots of people asked us about the visit of our Royal guest on Friday but we couldn't give answers at the time because we were told not to. However, there will be a press release in due course but again this has to be sanctioned by the Palace. We are expecting the official photos next week and will select those for approval by the Palace and hope to upload these as soon as possible. Meanwhile the plaque commemorating the visit will be on display in the Heritage Centre for the next two weeks before installation.

30/10/2026

Terraced houses on a street in Darwen looking pretty cool, well looked after, smart appearance and somewhere attractive to live. What street is this?

29/10/2026

Short name, long street, where is this tonight in Darwen?

28/10/2026

Just a reminder tonight that the Darwen Heritage Centre will be closed this Friday, 30th October, but will be open again on Saturday 31st October. Spooky!

27/10/2026

Last night was indeed Hilton St and came from Hilton's old Paper Mill which stood on the land where India Mill and chimney were constructed. Tonight's photo shows Darwen in a much calmer time with little of the traffic problems we face today. But when did the trams change from steam to electric?

26/10/2026

Another Darwen Street but how many of you knew that people lived on this street in the past? What is the name of this street and where did it come from?

25/10/2026

The next talk at the Darwen Heritage Centre will take place on Wednesday 11th November at 7pm.

Address

Railway Road
Darwen
BB32RG

Opening Hours

Wednesday	10am - 3pm
Friday	10am - 3pm
Saturday	10am - 3pm

Telephone

01254433140

Website

http://darwenheritagecentre.org.uk/

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