Northcote coming to Blackburn Cathedral

The team behind Northcote, the Michelin-starred restaurant in Langho, Lancashire, are to open a café in Blackburn Cathedral’s £8.5m Cathedral Court.

Chef Nigel Haworth and business partner Craig Bancroft are behind the venture, to be called Café Northcote. The cafe is due to open during the week beginning 6 June.

The 78-cover café will face Cathedral Square, within the £30m Cathedral Quarter development. The deal to bring the operator to the town centre includes a partnership with Blackburn College to provide work placements and training opportunities.

Cathedral Court is under construction and will also provide accommodation for cathedral staff in what is claimed to be the first new complete set of Cathedral domestic buildings to be built for 600 years.

There will be offices, conference rooms and a library surrounding a landscaped cloister as well as the newly named Walsingham Hall from which Café Northcote will look out on to the large square built for outdoor events and festivals.

Nigel Haworth, Northcote, said: “We are delighted to finally be working in partnership with Lancashire’s cathedral to create a new and vibrant café concept, championing local produce and Blackburn’s heritage. We look forward to new exciting times expanding the Northcote brand into Blackburn and being part of bringing this incredible Cathedral Quarter development to life.”

Cathedral Quarter is a development by Blackburn with Darwen Council, Maple Grove Developments, Blackburn Cathedral and the Homes & Communities Agency. The project is partly funded by the European Union.

The agents are Knight Frank, Bradys, Trevor Dawson.