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Jubilee Tower, Darwen



OS Grid ref:- SD678215

Jubilee Tower, DarwenThe octagonal shaped Jubilee Tower, a well known landmark on the West Pennine Moors and also known as Darwen Tower stands proudly on Darwen Hill overlooking the town of Darwen in Lancashire.

As its name suggests, it was built to commemorate Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria and was completed in 1898. It also marked a local victory for the right to access the moors.

The moorland paths around Darwen where often used by the populace of the area, to go about their daily business, but in the 1870s the Lord of the manor of Over Darwen, the Reverend William Arthur Duckworth, blocked ancient rights of way over the moor preventing people access to it.

William Thomas Ashton, the manager of Eccles Shorrock's mines at Dogshaw Clough and Entwistle Moss used the moorland footpaths to deliver coal to farmers. Accordingly, whenever the Rev. Duckworth's gamekeepers blocked the way Ashton cleared the paths. The dispute finished in court where Duckworth lost the case and in September, 1896, people again had access to the moorland footpaths.

Rising to 85 feet (25.9 metres) in height, visitors can climb to the top of the landmark tower via an internal staircase to admire the expansive views which on a clear day encompass parts of North Yorkshire, Morecambe Bay, Blackpool Tower, the Lake District mountains, the Isle of Man, North Wales, Derbyshire, elsewhere in Lancashire, and the surrounding moorland.

The tower dome was blown off in strong winds 80mph winds on 11th November 2010. A replacement powder-coated stainless steel dome made by WEC Group of Darwen, which cost more than £35,000.

Admission to the tower is free, although it may only be accessed by a series of footpaths from Darwen.



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