Visit Accrington Places

Welcome to Visit Accrington Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Accrington

  

Accrington Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Accrington

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Accrington history

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Origin of the name

The name Accrington appears to be Anglo-Saxon in origin. The name may mean acorn farmstead from æcern meaning acorn and tun meaning village. The southern part of Accrington, the township of New Accrington was formerly in the Forest of Blackburnshire.

Early history

Accrington covers two townships which were established in 1507 following disafforestation; those of Old Accrington and New Accrington which were merged in 1878. There have been settlements there since the medieval period, likely in the Grange Lane and Black Abbey area. The monks built a grange there; removing the inhabitants to make room for it. The locals got their revenge by setting fire to the new building, destroying its contents and killing the three lay brothers who occupied it.

Industrial Revolution

Accrington’s location on the confluence of a number of streams made it attractive to industry. The town’s population increased from 3,266 in 1811 to 10,376 in 1851 to 43,211 in 1901 to its peak in 1911 at 45,029. For many decades the textiles industry, the engineering industry and coal mining were the central activities of the town.

Accrington Pals

The ‘Accrington Pals’ battalion was the smallest home town battalion of volunteers in the First World War. Only one of the four companies that made up the original battalion was composed of men from Accrington. The rest volunteered from other east Lancashire towns such as Burnley, Blackburn and Chorley.

Accrington landmarks

The Arcade is a Victorian shopping centre with about 10-15 outlets and has many restaurants. Oakhill Park is a large and old park with a sceneric view of Accrington. The Coppice and Peel Park are a park in Accrington which was opened by William Peel on 29 September 1909.

Accrington geography / climate

Accrington is a hill town located between the Pennines and the West Pennine Moors. The River Hyndburn or Accrington Brook flows through the centre of the town. The highest height in the town is 320 metres (1,050 ft) which is in Baxenden.

You can visit Accrington places with Walkfo Accrington to hear history at Accrington’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Accrington has 24 places to visit in our interactive Accrington map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Accrington, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Accrington places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Accrington & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 24 audio facts unique to Accrington places in an interactive Accrington map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Accrington Places Map
24 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Accrington historic spots	Accrington tourist destinations	Accrington plaques	Accrington geographic features
Walkfo Accrington tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Accrington

  

Best Accrington places to visit

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Accrington has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Accrington’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Accrington’s information audio spots:

Accrington power station Accrington power station was a coal and refuse fired electricity generating station located in the centre of Accrington, Lancashire. The station supplied electricity to Accrington and to Haslingden and the Altham and Clayton-le-Moors areas between 1900 and 1958.

Globe Works, Accrington The Globe Centre is made up of the remainder of The Globe Works, which created machinery and looms for the cotton industry under management of the Howard & Bullough firm. Following refurbishment contains rented offices and conference rooms.

Thorneyholme Road Thorneyholme Road is a cricket and former football ground in Accrington, England. It was the home ground of Accrington F.C. from 1878 until 1894 when they moved to Moorhead Park.

St James’ Church, Church Kirk St James’ Church was an active Anglican parish church in Accrington, the archdeaconry of Blackburn, and the diocese of Blackburn until November 2015 when it was closed. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

Immanuel Church, Oswaldtwistle Immanuel Church is an Anglican church in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire. It was built 1836–1837, designed by J. and T. Stones, and has been designated a Grade II listed building. It is an active parish church in the Diocese of Blackburn and archdeaconry of Blackburn.

Hameldon Hill Hameldon Hill is a Carboniferous sandstone hill with a summit elevation of 409 metres (1,342 ft) It is listed as a “HuMP” or “Hundred Metre Prominence”, its parent being Freeholds Top, a Marilyn near Bacup.

Visit Accrington plaques