Town Centre Building Becomes Temple of Arts Studio
The building known as the Temple of Arts stands among the oldest surviving structures in Blackpool’s town centre, representing one of the earliest phases of the town’s architectural development before the major resort expansions of the later Victorian period. Constructed in 1847, it predated much of the surrounding urban growth and reflected the modest yet evolving townscape of mid-nineteenth-century Lancashire. In 1853 the premises were adapted by John Eastman, also recorded in some sources as John Eastham, who established there what was reputed to be Blackpool’s first photographic studio. The venture, described as the Temple of Arts, signified an important...