Spread over three galleries, the social history collection at Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, tells a history of the town and surrounding area.

The museum tells the history of the town from its earliest roots through to the great industrial era. Showing the history of the wealthy elite, the common worker, the famous and infamous the galleries have something for everyone. The galleries are the ‘Cottontown’ Gallery which looks at the industrial history of the town, the ‘Skill and Labour’ gallery which focuses on the social history of the town after 1750 and the ‘Early History Gallery’ which looks at the history of Blackburn from the Iron Age until the 1750’s.

The Local history collection containing over 15,000 items contains items on the industrial history of Blackburn and the Social History of Blackburn. Highlights include the Kathleen Ferrier collection, items from Mrs Lewis’s Temperance Mission and the collection of Blackburn built looms.