Blackburn Railway Station

Blackburn Railway Station is a railway station building dating to approximately 1886-8, constructed for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company to replace an earlier, smaller station. It has undergone alterations, and the upper floor is now unoccupied.

The station is predominantly red brick in Flemish bond with fine penny-struck pointing, featuring sandstone dressings and a hipped slate roof to the main block. Glazed roofs are set on iron framework over the front canopy and side and rear ranges. The building follows a long rectangular plan, largely covered by an axial three-span glazed roof, with a single-depth booking hall block centrally within the front span and a full-width canopy to the front. The architectural style is Italianate.

The main block is single-storey, except for the booking hall, which is two storeys and four bays, with a two-bay centre projecting slightly. A high sandstone plinth, a continuous moulded cornice, and a deep, continuous canopy unifies the ground floor range. This canopy is supported by cast-iron columns forming five very wide bays and features latticed girders with 20 hipped glazed roof spans (four per bay, though the last nine spans now lack glazing), along with a continuous fretted wooden valence. Broad brick pilasters define bays on the ground floor, initially containing large segmental-headed windows and doorways with shouldered architraves, though some have been altered.

The upper floor of the booking hall features sandstone quoins, a plain sandstone frieze, a prominent moulded cornice, and four large Venetian windows. The windows in the centre two bays have pediments over the central square lights, while those in the outer bays feature run-out impost bands. A large clock, set in a pedimented upstand with carved enrichments including the monogram "LYR" (Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway), is mounted above the centre. Four tall panelled and corniced chimney stacks are present.

The interior has been modernised, with the exception of the upper floor of the booking hall, which is now inaccessible. The left return of the left side range has three gables and similar openings to those at the front. Other components of the station complex, including the platforms, walls, waiting rooms, and rear offices, are not considered of special interest.