Site Event/Activity record ECH6773 - Retirement Living Development On Land of The Blackburne Arms, Orford Green, Warrington, WA2 8PL: Heritage Statement

A heritage statement was produced in 2019 in support of proposed re-development of land of The Blackburne Arms, Orford Green, Warrington. The application includes demolition of the Blackburne Arms Public House which is a locally listed heritage asset. The site of the Blackburne Arms is in an area known as Orford meaning ‘upper ford’ which until the early twentieth century was little more than a small hamlet. The site lies to the north of Orford Park which in the 17th century was the estate to an impressive country house, Orford Hall which was demolished in the 1930’s. The original Orford Hall dated back to 1232 but was later rebuilt and then extended by the Blackburne family who purchased the property in 1638. The last owner Colonel Robert Ireland Blackburne allowed the hall and 18 acres of surrounding parkland to be gifted to Warrington Council as a War memorial after which it was opened to the public and a bowling green added in 1924. Likely named after the Blackburne family, the Blackburne Arms was built between 1928 and 1937 and is a classic example of the ‘inter-war pub’. After the end of the first world war there was a rejection of the Victorian era pub synonymous with drunk and disorderliness and breweries began to rebuild or build new pubs to attract a new type of clientele. Many included games rooms, ballrooms, sperate smoking rooms and large gardens to encourage women and children. The detached buildings were often on prominent corner sites and set back from the highway with plenty of space for cars to pull-up and park. Approximately 5,000 inter-war pubs were built between 1918 and 1939. (1)