Blackpool is England's most tenacious seaside resort — a place that survived the railway age, the package holiday, cheap flights to Spain and every economic downturn the 20th century threw at it by sheer force of popularity. But behind the illuminations and the tower, a second Blackpool exists: one of derelict Victorian guesthouses, closed hotels and the rusting infrastructure of a leisure economy that has been contracting since the 1970s. Blackpool ranks among England's highest densities of abandoned buildings per capita, and its urbex landscape is correspondingly rich. Here are 5 of the best abandoned places in Blackpool, selected from our Abandoned Places Map UK — 640+ GPS locations across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Why Blackpool Is a Hidden Gem for Urban Exploration
Blackpool's urbex density is exceptional for a living resort town — the sheer volume of Victorian and Edwardian guesthouses, hotels and entertainment buildings that have been progressively emptied as the resort market contracted makes it one of the most consistently rewarding urban exploration destinations on the north-west coast. The 28DaysLater Lancashire community documents new Blackpool sites regularly; the Blackpool Gazette's own reporting on the town's dereliction provides a useful record of what is currently abandoned.
1. Blackpool Police Station – Bonny Street, Blackpool — 1968 Brutalist Station, Divisional Headquarters of Lancashire Police, Abandoned, Documented on 28DaysLater and Derelict Places (Known Location)
Blackpool Police Station on Bonny Street was designed by Roger Booth in 1968 in the Brutalist style — the third Blackpool police station and Lancashire's divisional headquarters, built to an ambitious modernist brief. Abandoned in the early 2020s as policing operations consolidated, the building stood empty and deteriorating with falling masonry forcing the installation of security fencing. Documented on 28DaysLater and Derelict Places as one of the most characterful abandoned Brutalist police stations in England — a building that was never loved by Blackpool but is now missed in the way that all Brutalism is missed when it goes.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – Blackpool Police Station
2. St Annes Pier – St Annes-on-Sea, Lancashire — 1885 Victorian Pier, Broken by Storm in 1983, Central Section Collapsed, Truncated Structure Still Standing (Known Location)
St Annes Pier opened in 1885 as a 914-foot Victorian pleasure pier built for the St Anne's-on-the-Sea Land and Building Company — a full pier with landing stage and entertainment facilities. A severe storm in 1983 broke the pier and collapsed the central section; the truncated remains of the landward end and the isolated seaward head have stood in various states of atmospheric dereliction since. Documented on 28DaysLater as one of the most distinctively broken Victorian pier structures on the Lancashire coast — a deliberate reminder of what the sea does to human confidence in coastal engineering.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Abandoned Places in England →
3. Blackpool Derelict Seafront Hotel – Victorian or Edwardian Seafront Hotel, Original Ballroom and Grand Staircase, North Shore, Documented in Blackpool Gazette (Known Location)
Blackpool's North Shore and South Shore are marked by derelict Victorian and Edwardian seafront hotels — large boarding houses and full hotels that served the resort's peak decades but have been progressively closed as the budget accommodation market contracted. The Blackpool Gazette has documented over thirteen significant abandoned buildings in the resort; the derelict seafront hotel with its original ballroom, grand staircase, and sea-facing bedrooms is the most characteristically Blackpool piece of faded resort grandeur, documented as one of the most consistently discussed derelict buildings on the Lancashire coast.
🔗 Learn more: Blackpool Gazette – Derelict and Abandoned Blackpool
4. Lancashire Victorian Tram Depot – 1890s-1900s Electric Tram Depot, Original Inspection Pits and Overhead Wire Infrastructure, Lancashire Coast (Only on Our Map)
An 1890s-1900s electric tram depot on the Lancashire coast — the original inspection pit channels still cut in the depot floor, the overhead wire mounting brackets still attached to the ceiling and the characteristic red-brick carbarn construction of Edwardian municipal transport infrastructure. Blackpool ran Britain's longest continuously operating tramway; the closed depots and maintenance facilities of the network's earlier operation left a distinctive layer of abandoned urban transport heritage across the resort. GPS coordinates available with our England Urbex Map.
5. Fylde Coast Edwardian Pleasure Gardens – 1900s-1920s Pleasure Ground, Bandstand Foundations and Garden Terracing Still Visible, North Lancashire Coast (Our Map Exclusive)
An Edwardian pleasure garden on the Fylde Coast — the original bandstand foundation platform still standing above the surrounding shrubbery, the garden terracing walls and the ornamental ironwork gates of a leisure landscape built for the resort's Edwardian peak. The Fylde Coast's pleasure garden culture was an extension of the resort economy; when the gardens closed progressively through the mid-20th century, the landscape infrastructure remained. Included in our England collection — 400+ locations.
Safety Tips
- Pier safety: never attempt to access the collapsed central section of St Annes Pier — the structure is in the tidal zone and structurally compromised; photograph from the beach only
- Falling masonry: derelict Blackpool hotels have significant falling masonry risk — always assess overhead structures before entering any covered section
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person
The urbex code: "Leave it as you found it — the next explorer deserves the same experience."
❓ FAQ
What is the most famous abandoned place in Blackpool?
Blackpool Police Station on Bonny Street — a 1968 Brutalist building designed by Roger Booth as Lancashire's divisional headquarters, abandoned in the early 2020s with falling masonry forcing security fencing. Documented on 28DaysLater and Derelict Places as one of the most characterful abandoned police stations in England.
What happened to St Annes Pier?
The 914-foot Victorian pier opened in 1885 was broken by a severe storm in 1983 that collapsed the central section. The truncated remains of the landward end and the isolated seaward head have stood in atmospheric dereliction since — a distinctive piece of broken Victorian coastal engineering on the Lancashire shore.
Why does Blackpool have so many abandoned buildings?
Blackpool reached peak occupancy in the 1950s-1970s when it attracted up to 17 million visitors per year. The rise of cheap foreign holidays from the 1970s onwards progressively hollowed out the resort economy; thousands of guesthouses and hotels became unviable and were closed, leaving Blackpool with one of the highest densities of abandoned buildings per capita of any English resort town.
🎯 Summary
Blackpool's abandoned places range from a 1968 Brutalist police station with falling masonry to a Victorian pier broken by a 1983 storm and a seafront hotel whose ballroom is still intact behind boarded windows. Each of these 5 derelict buildings in Blackpool captures a different layer of a resort that was built for 17 million visitors a year and is still reckoning with what happened when they stopped coming.
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