Rishton is a town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England, about west of Clayton-le-Moors and north east of Blackburn. It was an urban district from about 1894 to 1974. The population at the census of 2011 was 6,625. History Its name means “village (or farmstead) where rushes grow”. In late 1776, a handloom weavers shop in Rishton, belonging to Thomas Duxbury may have been the first place that the cotton cloth calico was woven for sale in Great Britain. Rishton Colliery on the Burnley Coalfield was begun by P.W. Pickup Ltd in late November 1884 and mining continued until 1941. A tramroad from the pit connected to a coaling wharf on the canal. The National Coal Board used it as a pumping station from 1955 until 1970. Governance The two tiers of local government are Hyndburn Borough Council (a non-metropolitan district with borough status) and Lancashire County Council. Prior to the creation of Hyndburn district in 1974, Rishton had been an urban district, with its own council. It is not within a civil parish. Rishton currently has five elected representatives on the local authorities, all of whom are Labour: two County Councillors (Miles Parkinson and Jenny Molineux) and three Borough Councillors (Michael Miller, Jeff Scales, Kate Walsh). Rishton is represented in the House of Commons as part of the Hyndburn constituency. Geography Rishton is situated in an area of low moorland north east of Blackburn and north west of Accrington. Its elevation above sea level varies from in the east, where Norden Brook flows into the River Hyndburn, to on Rishton Height, north west of the town. Geology Around 0.7 miles from the town is a former sandstone quarry, known locally as Star Delph Quarry. Its use as a sandstone quarry ended in 1897. Part of the quarry contains rocks formed around 314 to 315 million years ago in the Carboniferous period, These rocks contain an imprint from where the roots of a Lepidodendron, which are known as Stigmaria. This quarry is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and so it is protected by law with those that damage the site facing fines. The exposed rock layers are Fletcher Bank Grit, this is a subgroup of the Millstone Grit. Demography The 2001 census recorded a population of 7,350, in 2,973 households. 97% of the population were in the White British ethnic group. The 2011 census recorded a population of