The town is famed for manufacturing the hardest and densest building bricks in the world, " The Accrington NORI " ( iron ), which were used in the construction of the Empire State Building and for the foundations of Blackpool Tower ; famous for its football team and for having Europe's largest collection of Tiffany Glass.

Accrington is commonly abbreviated by locals to " Accy ".

What is known is that there was a chapel in Accrington prior to 1553 where the vicar of Whalley was responsible for the maintenance of divine worship.

One well-known association the town has is with the ' Accrington Pals ', the nickname given to the smallest home town battalion of volunteers formed to fight in the first world war.

Strictly speaking, the ' Accrington Pals ' battalion is properly known as the ' 11th East Lancashire Regiment ': the nickname is a little misleading, since of the four 250-strong companies that made up the original battalion only one was actually composed of men from Accrington.

The town's shopping centre is called the Accrington Arndale Centre.

Accrington is a hill town located at the western edge of the Pennines within a bowl and largely encircled by surrounding hills to heights of 300-400m.

The trackbed from Accrington to Baxenden is now a linear treelined cycleway / footpath. As of November 2011 Hyndburn borough council has plans to re-open the rail link to manchester.

Accrington is represented in parliament as a part of the constituency of Hyndburn.

Due to its size Accrington is represented by a number of wards in the Borough of Hyndburn.

* Accrington and Rossendale College ( also known as Across ) is a further education college for 14 – 19 year olds.

The local hospital is Accrington Victoria Hospital however, as it only deals with minor issues, A & E is provided by the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

The town's other famous association is with Accrington Stanley F. C., the butt of many ( largely affectionate ) jokes.

Accrington is the smallest town in England and Wales with a Football League club.

One of the most important pieces of the regeneration jigsaw for the Borough is reviving Accrington town centre.

The major towns of Burnley and Accrington are to the north and northwest respectively ; Todmorden, Walsden and the county of West Yorkshire are to the east ; Rochdale and the county of Greater Manchester are to the south ; Rawtenstall, from where Bacup is governed, is to the west.

Accrington Stanley Football Club is an English football club based in Accrington, Lancashire.

The town we now call Accrington covers two townships which were established in 1507 following disafforestation ; those of Old Accrington and New Accrington which were merged in 1878 with the incorporation of the borough council.

There have been settlements there since the medieval period, likely in the Grange Lane and Black Abbey area, and the King's Highway which passes above the town was at one time used by the kings and queens of England when they used the area for hunting when the Forest of Accrington was one of the four forests of the hundred of Blackburnshire.

The Industrial Revolution, however, resulted in large changes and Accrington ’ s location on the confluence of a number of streams made it attractive to industry and a number of mills were built in the town in the mid-eighteenth century.

The 2001 census gave the population of Accrington town as 35, 203.

As well as motor dealerships from Ford ( Greyhound ), Vauxhall & Chevrolet ( Accrington Garages ), the town was home to a Arnold Clark car dealer which closed down in 2010.

The Hyndburn or Accrington Brook flows through the centre of the town.

The town has strong local travel links as Accrington railway station lies on the East Lancashire Line serving trains running locally and trains running from Blackpool to York.

Accrington Stanley Football Club has officially had its own pub in the town, the Crown, since July 2007.

The town of Accrington thus has the unique " distinction " of having lost two separate clubs from league football.

The Haworth Art Gallery in Accrington contains an outstanding collection of Tiffany glassware presented to the town by Joseph Briggs, an Accrington man who had joined Tiffany ’ s in the late 19th century and eventually became art director and assistant manager.

The Council using funding from the Single Regeneration Budget appointed URBED ( Urban, Built, Environment Design ), consultants based in Manchester to help the Council, our partners and the local community develop a new vision for Accrington town centre.

* Accrington Web Accrington forum and town information

* A 3D map of Accrington You can see the town of Accrington and parking

Later in the year, the East Lancashire Regiment was rebuilt with new volunteers — in all, 865 Accrington men were killed during World War I.

The small minibus operator M & M Coaches and its main competitor Transdev Lancashire United provide service in Accrington, with routes to places such as Blackburn, Oswaldtwistle, Rishton, Burnley and Clitheroe.

The chief publications in the area are the Accrington Observer, part of MEN media, and the Lancashire Telegraph.

Pals: the 11th ( Service ) Battalion ( Accrington ), East Lancashire Regiment.

Accrington Football Club were an English football club from Accrington, Lancashire, who were one of the founder members of The Football League.

Following the collapse of the club a new Accrington team did not join the league until in 1921-22 the Lancashire Combination league's Accrington Stanley, which was originally a local rival, joined in.

Between these two seasons, Bradman seriously contemplated playing professional cricket in England with the Lancashire League club Accrington, a move that, according to the rules of the day, would have ended his Test career.

Jon Anderson was born John Roy Anderson in Accrington, Lancashire, England, to Albert and Kathleen Anderson.

Birtwistle was born in Accrington, a mill town in Lancashire some 20 miles north of Manchester.

Manchester raised fifteen specific ' Pals ' battalions ; one of the smallest was Accrington, in Lancashire, which raised one.

She grew up in Accrington, Lancashire, and was raised in the Elim Pentecostal Church.

Mina Anwar ( born 20 September 1969 in Church, near Accrington, Lancashire, England ) is an English actress.

Also in the UK, a custom-made bat ' leth was seized in 2009 in Accrington, Lancashire.

In 1848 the East Lancashire Railway Company's extension from Accrington linked the town to the nation's nascent railway network for the first time.

250 volunteers, known as the Burnley Pals, made up Z Company of 11th Battalion, the East Lancashire Regiment, a battalion that as a whole became known by the far more infamous name of the Accrington Pals.

* John Harwood, Mayor of Accrington 1912 – 1915, raised the Accrington Pals ( 11 Battalion East Lancashire Regiment )