Cathedral Village, Market Street Lane, Blackburn, Lancashire. Building Assessment.

Following a proposal by Ellis Hillman Partnership to redevelop a number of properties along Market Street Lane in Blackburn a programme of archaeological work was requested by the Specialist Advisor (Archaeology) at Lancashire County
Council. This comprised a rapid desk-based assessment and an assessment of the standing buildings.
The desk-based assessment revealed that the majority of the area developed between 1739 and c1795 during a period of rapid growth in Blackburn, although most of the standing buildings probably date to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Of the eight buildings within the study area three (Buildings 3, 4 and 7) were warehouses, particularly involved in the trade of foodstuffs, especially corn flour. Market Street Lane was also an important part of the social life of historic Blackburn, with a number of public houses, as well as a meeting room and theatre within the study area
(Buildings 2 and 6). A single building fronting onto Fleming Square, which was used as the Cloth Hall and was built shortly after 1822, was also included in the study area,
as were two buildings on Mincing Lane (Buildings 7 and 8), one of which was a warehouse Building 7).