Preston is one of Lancashire's great cotton towns — a city that grew on the textile industry, the railways, and the docks of the River Ribble that connected it to the world. Its abandoned places carry that industrial weight: a grand 1883 railway hotel that welcomed Victorian first-class passengers, a railway tunnel bored through the Preston sandstone in 1840, and the derelict cotton mill infrastructure of a city that was one of the heartlands of Lancashire's textile revolution. Here are 5 of the best abandoned places in Preston, selected from our Abandoned Places Map UK — 640+ GPS locations across England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
Why Preston Is a Hidden Gem for Urban Exploration
Preston sits at the center of the Lancashire urbex corridor — within easy reach of Blackburn, Burnley, and the Ribble Valley's derelict farmsteads. The city itself carries the full range of Lancashire industrial typologies: cotton mills, railway infrastructure, Victorian civic buildings, and the social housing legacy of a workforce that built the empire's textiles. The 28DaysLater Lancashire community documents Preston sites that appear nowhere on national urbex lists.
1. Park Hotel Preston – Fishergate, Preston — 1882 First-Class Railway Hotel, Owned by Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, Derelict, Grade II Listed (Known Location)
The Park Hotel on Fishergate Hill opened in 1882 as a first-class railway hotel built to serve passengers arriving at Preston station — jointly owned by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and designed to accommodate royalty and dignitaries passing through one of Victorian England's most important rail junctions. In its prime, the hotel entertained royalty; it now stands derelict and Grade II listed, with the ornate Victorian facade and grand interior decaying together on Preston's main commercial street. One of the most significant and most visible abandoned Victorian hotels in the northwest.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – Park Hotel Preston
2. Miley Tunnel – Preston — 1840 Railway Tunnel, Preston and Longridge Railway, 600 Metres Through Preston Sandstone, Documented on 28DaysLater (Known Location)
The Miley Tunnel in Preston was bored in 1840 as part of the Preston and Longridge Railway — a 600-metre tunnel through the Preston sandstone that carried passengers and goods between Preston and the Longridge quarries. Closed and abandoned, the tunnel is one of the earliest surviving railway tunnels in Lancashire and one of the most atmospheric abandoned railway infrastructure sites in the north-west. Documented by the 28DaysLater Lancashire community as one of the most consistently accessible derelict railway tunnels in the region.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Abandoned Places in England →
3. Tulketh Mill – Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston — Victorian Cotton Mill, Derelict, Cast-Iron Columns and Weaving Floor Intact, Ribble Valley Setting (Known Location)
Tulketh Mill in Ashton-on-Ribble is a Victorian cotton spinning mill in the Ribble Valley — the original multi-storey brick mill with cast-iron structural columns, the overhead lineshaft drive system and the weaving floor still largely intact in atmospheric dereliction. One of the most documented and most consistently visited abandoned textile mills in the Preston area, regularly reported by Lancashire urbex photographers on 28DaysLater. The Ribble Valley setting and the completeness of the original Victorian mill interior make Tulketh one of the most rewarding abandoned mills in Lancashire.
🔗 Learn more: 28DaysLater – Lancashire Urbex Reports
4. Victorian Ribble Valley Farmstead – 18th-Century Longhouse, Barn and Shippon Under One Roof, Drystone Walls and Field Patterns Intact, Rural Lancashire (Exclusively on Our Map)
An 18th-century Ribble Valley farmstead — the original longhouse with its combination of living quarters and shippon under one continuous roofline, the field barn with hay loft and the drystone wall boundaries of the original enclosed pastures still defining the farm's geography. Lancashire farming consolidation progressively emptied smaller holdings through the 20th century; the gritstone construction preserves them. GPS coordinates available with our England Urbex Map.
5. Lancashire Kirkbride Asylum – 1860s-1880s Psychiatric Campus, Gothic Tower and Chapel, 400-Metre Ward Corridor, Airing Courts Intact, Rural Preston Fringe (Only on Our Map)
An 1860s-1880s Kirkbride-plan psychiatric hospital campus on the Preston fringe — the Gothic administrative tower, the ornate chapel with original stained glass and the long ward corridor with its airing courts still enclosed by original brick walls. The self-sustaining farm campus and the Lancashire countryside setting complete a Victorian institutional landscape closed by deinstitutionalisation. Find it on our map — with access rating and condition report.
❓ FAQ
What is the most famous abandoned place in Preston?
The Park Hotel on Fishergate Hill — a Grade II listed 1882 first-class railway hotel built for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, which entertained royalty in its heyday and now stands derelict on Preston's main commercial street.
What is the Miley Tunnel?
A 600-metre railway tunnel bored in 1840 for the Preston and Longridge Railway — one of the earliest surviving railway tunnels in Lancashire, now abandoned and documented by the 28DaysLater Lancashire urbex community.
Why did Preston's cotton industry decline?
Preston's cotton mills faced the same forces that ended Lancashire's textile dominance — cheaper production in India and the Far East, the post-WWI slump in demand and the inability to modernise at competitive cost. The decline accelerated after WWII and was largely complete by the 1980s.
Safety Tips
- Railway tunnels: the Miley Tunnel is a confined, dark space with uneven floor and possible water ingress — always use a head torch, never enter alone and always check the exit is clear before entering
- Asbestos: endemic in pre-1980 Preston cotton mills and Victorian institutional buildings — FFP2 mask mandatory in any enclosed space
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person
The urbex code: "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints."
🎯 Summary
Preston's abandoned places range from a Grade II listed 1882 railway hotel that entertained royalty to an 1840 railway tunnel bored through the Preston sandstone and a Victorian cotton mill whose cast-iron columns are still intact above the Ribble Valley. Each of these 5 derelict buildings in Preston captures a different layer of one of Lancashire's great industrial cities.
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