Accrington The Five-Minute Guide

Accrington the internationally renowned purveyor of incredibly dense bricks. Seriously the famed Accrington Brick is iron-hard and has been used as the foundation of landmark buildings as famous and diverse as the Empire State Building in New York and Blackpool Tower!

However, that’s not all the town has to offer and it is somewhere deserving of a place on your to visit list.

Accrington is affectionately known as ‘Accy’, and grew to prominence as a cotton town back in the middle of the Industrial Revolution.  Although times have changed the town still sports a population of around 35,000, most of which are commuters who work in Manchester, 20 miles away. Accrington nowadays is a great place to visit with plenty of history some lovely buildings, and a surprisingly large amount of attractions in and around the area. Plus it has a well-storied football team, which today punches well above its weight.

So is Accrington the next big staycation destination? Who knows, but whatever if you are planning a visit (or thinking about it) then this is all you need to know, starting as per usual with a little bit of Accy history…

A Little History

It is thought that Accrington has its roots in Anglo-Saxon origins. The name itself dates to 1194 when it appears as Akarinton in some local records. It is believed that the name translates roughly to the Acorn Town, indicating that there may have been an excess in oak trees there at one point.

Around 1152, one of William the Conqueror’s men gifted the manor house at Accrington to the monks from Kirkstall. In a most un-monk-like fashion, they evicted everyone that lived on the land and built themselves a Grange. Of course, Accy residents were having none of it and burnt down their new buildings. In the confusion, three of the monks from the abbey were killed. The monks didn’t stay in the abbey for long, probably because of local hatred, and it is now a ruin. To this day, you can see the ruined buildings where the monks couldn’t take hold. In fairness to them, it wouldn’t have mattered if they had succeeded, since Henry VIII later closed all the monasteries, anyway.

Accrington as we now know it was erected in 1507 directly following a land clearance. The trees were cut to form the clearing, which is probably why it has the oak-related name. In the early days there was two townships’ worth of space cleared. That’s a hole in the forest big enough to build two separate towns in. Of course, these two areas grew to become one over time. There was already a chapel in the area by 1553 but there is no minister recorded. In fact, no minister was recorded at Accrington until 1717, when the church started to send a preacher out on a monthly basis to do a sermon for locals.

So, we know that, although not officially recorded as a thriving town, the area has been occupied for at least this long. Another church was added in 1763, which Wikipedia has as being a replacement for the old chapel. There was no parish for another hundred years – but at least the locals had somewhere to go on a Sunday.

The Industrial Revolution is where Accrington really started to take off. However, we are going to take a break in our brief of the town history to find out some fun facts about the area. We like to keep you on your toes.

Accrington Trivia – What Goes on There?

Here, we have assembled some of the finest fun facts we could find about Accrington. If you don’t laugh your socks off, you will at least be amused… Here are some of the Five Minutes Spare favourite trivia about Accrington:

• The town sits in Hyndburn Borough, thus named for the river that runs through it. Another name for the same river was the River Stink, according to locals during the Industrial Revolution.
• Local football team, Accrington Stanley, have more than a handful of firsts. The first-ever penalty kick was taken against them, they were one of the founding 12 members of the football league (as Accrington FC), then they were the first of those founding teams to get kicked out of it (way back in 1962). It’s not been an easy journey being an Accrington fan!
• The old Peel Stadium in town was called so because it belonged to the Peel family. They were incredibly rich, and they were responsible for the creation of the police force. At one time, this area was wealthy.
• There is an area of the town known as Black Abbey, which is probably a reference to the murders of the three monks inside the burned Grange back in times of old.
• The guy who invented khaki coloured dye and subsequently supplying the army with clothing forevermore was an Accy man. He was named Frederick Gatty and you can probably learn about him in most museums in Accrington.
• Shale dug out of the quarries in this area, was ground up into a slurry clay. This clay was fired into some of the densest bricks known to Britain in the Industrial era. These bricks were harder, longer-lasting, and kept better heat. To this day, the Accrington Brick is said to be the most famous product of the town.

There you go – enlightenment in twenty sentences. Don’t you feel your well-being improve? No? Never mind then. Let’s go back to the history.

The Industrial Age In Accrington

As of the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, Accrington was still a reasonably unremarkable village. It had its own priest, sure, but not much else. By the middle of the 1800s, however, the town’s situation on so many tributaries and rivers had made it too tasty for the water mill-reliant cotton and wool making factories to resist. During this period, the waterways would have been filthy with runoff, busy with water wheels, and filled with boats transporting goods.

The Age of the Train

The railway reached Accrington on the 19^th June 1848, bringing with it yet another way for goods to move around. A canal was added too, but not until 1926. By this time, the population had grown from a humble town of three thousand people to a far from humble industrial centre with 45 thousand people in 1911. The locals lived in the rapidly expanding slum areas while the wealthy mill and landowners took up mansions on the outskirts of town.

Cotton was dyed here until the American Civil War caused a shortage that made flax popular. As with many of the industrialised northern towns, the people of Accrington liked to union-up. Back in the early days, that meant grabbing your pitchfork and joining the mob to go and march on the wealthy. The workers lived ten to a room in slum conditions, while the wealthy sprawled on estates and languished in newly deforested meadows.

Riots

In 1826 the first of many uprisings saw a mild increase in working and living conditions. Riots saw 60 looms destroyed in Accrington alone – but the rioting spread outwards. All-in-all, more than a thousand looms were destroyed. 41 men were sentenced to death only to have their sentences forgotten about.

In 1842, rioting started again. This time it was because only 100 of the 9k residents had any work. Power looms took some of the work away from locals, who were left destitute. Reportedly, dozens of locals crossed the hills to the next town to incite rioting there, too. By 1860 the cotton famine hit, by which point conditions had deteriorated to the point that the town was incorporated in 1878 – just so the police could enforce sanitation laws.

The World Wars in Accrington

WWI Accrington was a hopeful place. Like most English towns, buddy regiments were formed at the outbreak of the war. Everyone thought it would be over by Christmas and instead, died horrifically in trenches thousands of miles from home. The Accrington Pals were the buddy regiment formed here. 700 of them died in those trenches. It was mistakes like this – a whole generation of the same area wiped out – that forced the army to rethink how it places soldiers. Therefore, those you know who join up are always removed from their hometown… so that the mistakes of this war are never repeated.

It is estimated that half of the Accrington Pals died in the first hour of the Battle of the Somme. This was their first day in the field. The same battle cost the British 19,000 men.

This was repeated in the Second World War when the town lost 173 of its sons. Each is written on the cenotaph on Oak Street, placed there so that we never forget their sacrifice. Fortunately, Accrington itself wasn’t bombed during WWII, but nearby Clayton was. All in all, it was the first Great War that caused Accrington the most grief.

Before we recount Accrington in the modern years, let’s have a bit more fun. We dug up some of the most famous people from Accrington, all for you!

Famous People from Accrington

There have been numerous famous (and some infamous) faces that have been born in Accrington. Below, we listed some of the Five Minutes Spare favourites. If you think of any others, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook so you can let us know… Yes, we’re shameless. Get over it.

• Mystic Meg is by far our favourite person to ever have come out of England.
• The Boxer Luke Blackledge, a commonwealth competitor, is Accy born.
• Janice Battersby, AKA Vicky Entwhistle, was born here.
• Footballers by the dozen, including George Haworth, Charlie Clapham, Tom Dooley, and numerous others.
• Loads of cricketers, too. David Lloyd, Peter Martin, and William Brown, to name but a few.

There are loads more to scroll through, but we thought these were the most important. To be fair, though, when Mystic Meg was born in your town, you don’t need any more famous people to boast about…

Let’s finish up the history so that we can get back to the attractions. We all know that’s the bit you came here for.

Modern History of Accrington

Accrington bricks were made from 1887 all the way up until 2008. They were made again in 2015 until the present, still internationally famed for their density. It is said that Accrington Brick makes the best base stones, being part of both the Blackpool Tower and the Empire State Building’s base levels. Although there were once four brickyards, there is only one left.

In 1908 the town saw a library open. It was around now that it had its population peak. After the war, the town council spent time and money erecting some housing estates. Those families who had been squashed into the slums now had indoor plumbing and space to breathe.

The railway was closed in the 1960s after over a hundred years of service. The recession meant that the town started to shrink. The few young men that did return from the war settled down and had families, who grew into young men and women with no jobs. Accrington became more of a commuter town than anything else.

The 2000s saw the addition of a skatepark, plus a full refurbishment of the town centre to something less… ghetto. Half of the main road was dug up and refurbed. £10million was spent updating the poor town. In 2014 some new green spaces were added, and new housing was proposed… how much of this has been finished yet, we do not know.

What does the future lie for this town? It started as a clearing in some oak trees and survived Henry VIII, two civil wars, two world wars, a double-dip recession and now, a pandemic. If it gets through the next few years, we’re pretty sure it moves on to the next level and unlocks some superpowers. Time will tell.

The Best Bits of Accrington!

And now, the part you have all been waiting for (imagine a drum roll) – the best things to see and do if you are in Accrington on staycation… or because your car broke down there. Accrington has plenty of attractions and here are some of the local’s favourite things to see and do.

Historical Sights and Landmarks

One of the most prominent landmarks in the area is the old railway viaduct, which sits in the centre of town. The Viaduct is a Grade II listed building and is an attraction to trainspotters everywhere. It’s a standout feature that helps to make the town so memorable to tourists.

Both the Town Hall and the market hall in Accrington are considered to be the best places for sightseeing. They are larger than life, magnificently built buildings that make for excelling Instagram opportunities. The Town Hall was built by the Peel family circa 1858. The market hall has been there since the same era but has been redeveloped on more than one occasion. It is both an outdoor and an indoor market. Unfortunately, a large proportion of Accrington Town Hall has also been refurbished. Although this looks nice and clean, a lot of history tends to be lost at these points.

Haworth Park, near the Haworth Gallery, is a pleasant area to see some lovely gardens. Take a picnic or eat at one of the nearby cafes. Enjoy a stroll through beautiful conservation areas just outside of town.

Galleries and Museums

Haworth Art Gallery is one of the biggest and best in the whole area. It’s inside a beautiful old building, those who run it describe it as an arts and crafts house and garden. They have gardens, a gorgeous stately hall to explore, and a restaurant with tea rooms for lovely summer afternoons… bliss. You can also pop into the Watermark Photography and Art Studio if you want some scenic shots of the local area to remember your trip by.

Although not your average art gallery, you can book classes or group time for an event at Space 2 Make. This studio gallery has been running for more than two decades. It is one of the first, and few, paint-your-own-pottery galleries in the whole region. Kids absolutely adore it and adults have fun making, too. You can even be taught great things about pottery if you are in Accrington long enough to catch a few classes.

Sports and Recreation

If you like football or Cricket then Accrington has plenty to offer with both of the town’s teams being historied if not particularly bestowed with honours. Let’s start with football (no surprise there!).

Accrington Stanley FC

The club has been through various guises, with the original (Accrington FC) being founded way back in 1876 however the current one was formed in 1968 and after many years in the lower reaches of the non-league before in 2001, a stroke of luck on the transfer front arrived. The sell-on clause in Bret Ormenrod’s contract netted the club enough to make a concerted promotion push and five years later in 2005-6 season, they won the National Conference Title to return to the Football League. Since then they have won the League Two title in 2017-18 and are currently well established in League One.

Accrington Stanley plays their home games at the Crown Ground stadium or the Wham Stadium, given it is currently sponsored by What More UK.  It has a total capacity of 5,450 so you should be able to pay at the gate if you fancy taking in a game or like we have done in the past book a ticket so you have a memento. You may need to book if they are playing in a cup game or against one of the bigger clubs who often find themselves playing in this division (Leeds, Leicester, Norwich, & Southampton have all been in League One in the recent past).

They also have their own pub in the town, the Crown, which they acquired in July 2007. How good is that! So go have a pint and take in a game. The standard of football is surprisingly good and the local fans are a pretty friendly bunch, who appreciate you as a neutral supporting their club.

Accrington Cricket Club

If Crickets your game then head down to Thorneyholme Road and watch the local team putting leather on the willow. They play in the Lancashire League and they are quite successful having won the senior XI title eight times, most recently in 2013. They have been around since 1846 and some famous names have played for them including Australian legend Shane Warne who was in the team in the early 1990s.

Not your Sports?

If you don’t fancy football or cricket, you can pop down to the Hyndburn Leisure centre for a bit of a swim. Join an exercise class, have a go at spin biking, or visit their gym. There’s also the Jump Works Trampoline Park, which makes for a great day out for younger visitors. Anyone who loves a giggle will find this great fun.

For those that like their sports a little tamer, Accrington Golf Club will give you plenty of space and fresh air. Have a leisurely stroll around the course, where they have installed an internet booking system. This is hardly revolutionary, but it is for golf clubs. I mean that you can keep shooting holes even in pandemic times.

Shopping and Retail

A peculiar pastime native to this area of the country is to go out antiquing on weekends. It’s a pastime that is steadily spreading among the boomer generation. Warner Street have an auction centre with a collectables room that you can find treasures aplenty in. Do it on a Sunday and follow it with afternoon tea.

Head down to Accrington Market, which is part shopping centre, part old-Accrington attraction. It generally runs over three days once a year fayre-style, although there is a market hall open most days. You can go to the car boot sale here and attend all manner of other events.

Lastly, the best shopping mall in town is the Accrington Arndale, where you can buy almost anything else you might need on the day to day. There’s also a garden centre outside of town called the Oswaldtwistle Mills that has an activity centre in it for the kids, as well as a café for the adults. It’s part soft play, part farmhouse, part shop and part café. Locals adore it.

Other Notable Attractions in Accrington

There are several other places that you might want to drop in and visit if you are staying in Accrington. Some favoured things to do in town couldn’t be squeezed in with any detail, so we made a note of them here.

Check out these places if you are staying in Accrington:

• The Buddu Chill spa, massage, and holistic therapist – have reiki or sports massage.
• The Angela Kays Beauty Salon – where you can get your hair and nails done.
• Archery Wars are a corporate training firm in the area, look them up.
• The Limitless Community Hub is for the teens.
• The B & A Snooker and Pool hall is fun for all!

There’s something for you and your family to get up to in all areas of Accrington. Whether you have kids to entertain or moody teens to please, you can do it all – or most of it – within ten miles of Accrington town centre.

How to Get To Accrington

We might have filled you in on all the fun things to do in town, but we haven’t told you how to get there yet!

By Road

Head north on the M6 and then follow the M65 before you hit Preston.

By Rail

Accrington Station is now operative, although the old station and route were closed in the Beeching purge in 1966.

By Air

Manchester Airport is about 22 miles from Accrington.

By Sea

If you can float down the River Hyndburn, then you can get to Accrington by water.

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