Human remains alert for £3.75m Blackburn church development

The former St John the Evangelist Church in Victoria Street in Blackburn town centre. The church was destroyed by a fire in April 2019
-Credit:Google


Archaeologists working on the redevelopment of a burned out Blackburn church as a £3.75million new innovation hub have been put on alert for the potential discovery of skeletons. They have been told that any human burials found must be excavated in their entirety for re-interment whole.

The warning relates to proposals to redevelop the site of the Grade II heritage-listed St John the Evangelist Church in Victoria Street in Blackburn town centre. The church was destroyed by a fire in April 2019.

Blackburn with Darwen Council proposes to transform the landmark building into a high-quality, sustainable work space – providing offices, meeting rooms and more as part of a new Tech Innovation Quarter in Blackburn. It will become an ‘innovation hub’ with 9,000 square feet of new office space to be spread over four floors including a proposed new roof space – and is a keystone of the authority’s ambitious £250m Blackburn Town Centre Masterplan, including a new Business Innovation District.

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The 18th century building, once home to the Bureau Centre for the Arts, was gutted by an accidental fire in April 2019, with flames visible across the town.

Work is due to start on the £3.75m plus scheme later this year and as part of the discharge of the planning conditions prior to commencement as written scheme of investigation for archaeological monitoring has been prepared. Any bodies excavated will be reburied under the supervision of the Blackburn Diocese of the Church of England.

It reveals: “Any human burials encountered will be excavated in their entirety, even if parts of the inhumations lie outside the required area for the ground works. This is to allow for the re-interment of the whole of the burial rather than of partial remains.

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“No osteological analysis will be undertaken as all remains will be re-interred immediately at the end of the programme of ground works. Any excavated remains will be securely stored at suitable council premises in agreement with the Diocese until the end of the ground works ready for reburial.

“An area for re-interment will be selected within the existing graveyard so as to potentially avoid disturbing any further burials and will also be subject to archaeological monitoring as the reburial plot is excavated. The excavation of any human remains/intact burials will be carried out by the project archaeologist with assistance from Blackburn and Darwen Borough Councils’ grave digging team.”

In 2016 archaeologists discovered almost 2,000 bodies, including 800 children, in more than 400 graves on the site of a new Wainwright Way road which finally linked up Blackburn’s Wainwright Bridge to the rest of the town’s highway network. And in 2014 several bodies were found during works on Blackburn Cathedral’s new clergy court and cloister garden.

The St John’s churchyard contains the remains of Daniel Thwaites, founder of the famous Blackburn brewery, his wife Betty and several members of their family.

A spokeswoman for Blackburn with Darwen Council said: “Moving human remains is only ever done as a very last resort, and is always done with the upmost respect and sensitivity. In this case we’ve worked hard to limit the possibility of having to do so, but given the history of this site, it’s something we are preparing for and we are closely linked in with the Coroner’s Office and the Diocese to ensure the right processes are in place, should they be needed.

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“There is a huge amount of investment planned for the historic St John’s Church – one of the oldest buildings in the town – which was sadly devastated by a fire in 2019. The transformation will see the building brought back in to use as an important part of Blackburn’s new Tech Innovation District, which also includes plans for a new Education and Cyber Skills Campus and the proposed extension of The Making Rooms.

“Saving historically important buildings like this and including them in our ambitious plans for the future is incredibly important to the council.”

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