Tag: Blue Plaques

Lytham’s Talbot Hotel and its Evolution

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The Talbot Hotel in Lytham was a landmark building built between 1850 and 1870, located on Clifton Street. Originally a popular inn, it later became a shopping complex after significant refurbishment in the 1980s. The building featured a Bath Street entrance that served as an order office and later became a recreation room. Notably, a rare cobble-walled stable located behind the hotel, possibly part of an earlier farm, was also a significant historical feature. For many years Leonard Dews (see image below) occupied this space as well as other sites in the Isle of Man and Blackpool. Unfortunately, a robbery… Read more »

St John the Evangelist, The Parish Church of Blackpool

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The parish church of Blackpool Saint John the Evangelist, or St John’s Blackpool, is an Anglican church in Blackpool. It was completed in 1878 and is a Grade II listed building. A church was built on the site in 1821 and was replaced by the current building to accommodate a larger congregation. The church was designed by Garlick, Park and Sykes in the Early English style and has been restored and renovated in 1986 and from 2000 to 2006. St John’s is known as the parish church of Blackpool, and is an active parish church in the Diocese of Blackburn… Read more »

The Sacred Heart Becomes Blackpool’s First Roman Catholic Church

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Sacred Heart Church was founded by the Jesuits as the town’s first Roman Catholic church. It was built in 1857 to a design by Edward Welby Pugin. The church was enlarged, to the east, in 1894, to a design by Pugin & Pugin. It was designated as a Grade II* listed building by English Heritage on 20 October 1983. The Grade II* listing is for “particularly important buildings of more than special interest”. Since 2004, it has been served by priests from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster. The parish priest is Canon Robert Dewhurst. The church is constructed of… Read more »

The Great Marton Windmill and the Oxford Hotel

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Much of the information below came from the late Harold Monks and Philip Walsh, which is featured on the display boards facing Park Road at what was once known as Oxford Square. The windmill, constructed of brick, was five storeys high, with a dome turned by a wheel and rope. One of the millers, Thomas Moore, is reputed to have carried out the first development of South Shore about 1819 on land bought by Alexander Moore from John Forshaw. The mill was repaired at intervals – in 1841 costing twenty four pounds, nine shillings and five pence – but ultimately… Read more »

St Nicholas Church of England Primary School

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St. Nicholas Church of England Primary School remains as Blackpool’s oldest school still providing education within its original building, which still survives on School Road. The original school on the Moss was a dame school, a converted c1830 cottage on Division Lane. When it became too small (and it literally is the size of a cottage) the school moved across to School Road where it shared some of the church buildings and gradually extra buildings were added. It opened on April 16th 1873 as a one room school and schoolhouse with 79 pupils. The present school was gifted to the… Read more »

The Clifton Arms, One of Blackpool’s Oldest Hotels

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The Clifton Hotel in Blackpool has a rich history, originally opening as the Clifton Arms in 1780. It was partially demolished in 1865 and rebuilt by John Talbot Clifton, reopening in 1874. Over time, it has been known by various names, including the Ibis and Forshaws Hotel. John Harling took over the Clifton Hotel in 1889; the Blackpool Opera House also opened around this time. The hotel has been known as the Ibis and is currently operated as Forshaws Hotel. In 2021, a project to replace the failing render on the exterior of the building was completed, restoring it to… Read more »

Church Hall that’s Hosted Operatic Societies for More Than 70 Years

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A former church hall, which played host to one of Blackpool’s leading operatic societies for more than 70 years, has been furnished with a blue plaque. After 91 years of performing the Gilbert and Sullivan operas in Marton and on the Fylde coast, Marton Operatic Society folded last year. In commemoration of the old Marton Parish Church hall, where the society had performed for 72 years from 1930 to 2002, Operatic Society committee members thought that a blue plaque placed on the wall of the venue in Preston Old Road would be a fitting tribute. The site had been previously… Read more »

Blackpool Girls’ Secondary School & Blackpool Collegiate School for Girls

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The Education Act of 1902 made local authorities responsible for providing secondary education for all, and so plans were put in place to provide an educational establishment in Blackpool that could deliver this. In 1906 the Blackpool Secondary School opened on Raikes Parade, with the school playing fields on St Walburgas Road; this rather impressive building would later become, and still is home to the Salvation Army. September 1925 saw the girls move to the Blackpool Girls’ Secondary School at the junction of Beech Avenue and Forest Gate, which was officially opened by Lady Stanley on the 23rd of October… Read more »

The Borough Theatre & Bazaar is Now a TK Maxx

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The Blackpool Borough Theatre, later known as Bannister’s Bazaar, Feldman’s Theatre, and finally Queens Theatre, had a rich history in Blackpool. Initially housed in the same building as the Borough Bazaar, it opened in September 1877 on Bank Hey Street. The building was sold and renamed Bannister’s Bazaar in 1879, then became Feldman’s Theatre after Bert Feldman purchased it in 1927. Feldman’s Theatre was later renamed Queens Theatre. The theatre was demolished in the 1970s to make way for a C&A store, now occupied by TK Maxx.

Town Centre Building Becomes Temple of Arts Studio

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One of the oldest surviving buildings in the town centre. Built in 1847 it became John Eastman’s Temple of Arts photographic studio in 1853, said to have been the first in Blackpool. The outer wall was originally adorned by three carved figures – ‘The Three Graces’, Faith, Love and charity. Created by the artist Samuel Wood they were subsequently hidden for many years until uncovered in 1976. Sadly they were damaged during building renovation in 1988 and were replaced by a plastic replica.