34, Darwen Street

34 Darwen Street is an office building that was formerly the offices of the Blackburn Philanthropic Mutual Assurance Society, and it may have originally been built as a public house known as The Wheatsheaf Inn. The building dates from around 1850 and has undergone some alterations in the 20th century. It is constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond, with ashlar sandstone dressings, slender ridge and side wall chimneys—most of which have moulded stone caps—and a roof covered with Welsh slate.

The main facade faces Darwen Street and features a central doorway set within a stone doorcase, topped by a semi-circular overlight with a moulded stone head. The door is concealed by a protective cover. On either side of the doorway are wide two-light windows made up of coupled sash windows with margin glazing, each topped with a semi-circular, brick-arched head that springs from a central slender shaft. These coupled lights are set within wider semi-circular arched openings in a neo-Romanesque style, beneath a hoodmould with corbel stops. Above the shaft head in the arch infill, there is a patera. A moulded string course runs above the windows, and there are three two-light windows on the first floor. The central upper window has a rectangular plaque below it that reads 'Blackburn Philanthropic Mutual Assurance Society', truncating its height.

The side elevation facing St Peter's Street has single light openings in the two eastern bays, a two-light opening, and a wider arched opening at ground floor level without a dividing pillar. There is a lower single bay section to the west with a semi-circular headed doorway and an altered shop window. Although it has been slightly altered, this building is a good example of late 19th-century commercial architecture, showcasing the architectural eclecticism of the period. The interior was not inspected.