HISTORIC homes and landmarks across East Lancashire are set to throw open their doors this weekend to share the secrets of their longevity.

Events are taking place in Blackburn today and tomorrow with the town's market open all weekend for the first time in its history, other than Christmas.

Key attractions in Burnley will include the grade II* listed parish church of St Peter, which already features its own heritage centre and will be open from 1.30pm to 4.30pm today.

And any tour of the town’s storied past would not be complete without a walk through the Weavers’ Triangle, with guided tours setting off from the visitors’ centre, off Manchester Road, from 2.15pm tomorrow. The visitors centre itself will also be open throughout the weekend.

One important surviving element of the former cotton heartland, Oak Mount Engine House, on Wiseman Street, will be open from 2pm to 4pm on both days.

For one day only as well, Gawthorpe Hall will be free to all guests, from the Victorian Kitchen to the Housekeeper’s Quarters.

Earby’s Birch Hall Lane youth hostel, named after Katherine Bruce Glasier, a founder member of the Independent Labour Party, should prove popular in Pendle, alongside the nearby Yorkshire Dales Mining Museum. Just down the road in Barnoldswick is the Bancroft Mill Engine, on Gillians Lane.

Meanwhile in Rossendale the Quaker Meeting House in Co-operation Street, Crawshawbooth, is taking part on both days, as is Grane Mill in Haslingden and St Nicholas CE Church, Newchurch, where historic vestments will be on display.

And over in Todmorden, the Unitarian Church in Honey Hole Road, a gothic-style edifice built in memory of philanthropist and MP John Fielden in the 1860s.

Coun Bea Foster, Burnley Council’s executive member for leisure and culture, said: “This year’s Heritage Open Days will allow the community to find out more about local history, see lots of interesting things, and get a glimpse of corners and aspects of the town that aren’t often seen.”