St Mary's Church

St Mary's was built to accommodate the increasing population of the town in the early 19th century. Building began in May 1836 and the church opened in 1838. The church was designed by John Latham, and was extended in a matching style with the addition of transepts and a chancel in 1852–56 by E. H. Shellard. The church was declared redundant by the diocese of Blackburn on 1 March 1996, and was converted into a conservation centre for the Museum of Lancashire in 2006.

The church is constructed in sandstone and has a slate roof. It is orientated in a north–south axis and is in Romanesque Revival style. The plan consists of a five-bay nave, east and west transepts, and a chancel. All the windows are round-headed. At the south end of the church is a tower flanked by wings. The tower is in four stages, the bottom stage being in three storeys. The lowest of these storeys contains a round-headed doorway with three orders of moulding. Both of the upper storeys contain a three-light window. Each of the three upper stages is set back, with two-light bell openings in the second and third stages. The top stage consists of a drum with corner cylinders, on which is a…