Corporation Park is a Grade II listed park on the English Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. The park and its surroundings are also a conservation area. Blackburn with Darwen Council has been awarded a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore this important Victorian park, and restoration work is ongoing.
The former cannon battery, situated on a prime site at the top of the park, was installed for the park’s opening in 1857 to house two Russian cannons captured from Sebastopol during the Crimean War and presented to the town as a trophy by Lord Panmure, Secretary of War. The site enjoys widespread views of the park below, with the town beyond and distant views out towards Lytham, Southport and Fleetwood.
The design and construction of ‘Colourfields’ has enabled the base of this important structure and its associations with Blackburn’s history to be preserved rather than dismantled, as would otherwise have been necessary owing to deterioration.
