LOOKING Back's glimpse a fortnight back at the huge wealth enjoyed a century ago by the land-owning Feilden family, of Blackburn's Witton Park, blew away the bewilderment over these 'mystery' pictures found covered in dust in a town-centre attic only recently.

The photographs were among items discovered during re-wiring work at the offices in Richmond Terrace of the Blackburn Partnership economic regeneration body. Yet staff there hadn't a clue about what they showed.

But when our feature included a picture of the 1888 visit by the Prince and Princess of Wales, later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, to the Feildens' home and also mentioned that the Witton Estate's offices were in Richmond Terrace, facts suddenly fell into place.

For it was immediately realised that the building pictured right was the Witton House mansion where the royal couple were guests.

And the revelation to the Partnership employees that their offices were formerly those of the Feilden estate -- something they were unaware of despite the family's crest being over the doorway and above a fireplace inside -- explained why the photograph had come to be in the building.

The mansion, built in 1800, was demolished in 1954, seven years after the Town Council paid the Feilden family £64,000 for 485-acre Witton Park, in which the by-then-decaying structure stood.

But what was the story of the other picture (inset) showing a street in Victorian times?

It is, in fact, a view of Church Street in town-centre Blackburn in 1874, taken from where the uppermost of the old Pavilion buildings still stands on the now vastly-altered thoroughfare. The buildings shown are those which were demolished for the erection of Thwaites Arcade which opened in 1883 and was itself pulled down in 1971 to make way for the third phase of the town's shopping precinct.

The Feilden connection with the photograph -- and the evident reason for it being in the Richmond Terrace offices -- lies in the prominent building then occupied by drapers Dickson and Nuttall whose sign is at roof level.

For though it had been a draper's for nearly 150 years when it was demolished, it was originally the town house of the Feildens. It was erected in 1728 as a residence for Henry Feilden and his wife, Elizabeth, whose combined initials were on the datestone above the main entrance.

The row of shops includes watch and clockmakers R.H. and J. Sagar, a Blackburn business that dated from 1810 and which remained in Church Street until the 1971 demolition of its premises.

Next was the butcher's shop of James Bradley, inside whose open-fronted property can be seen joints of meat hanging up.

Next door, at No 21, was the premises of painter and decorator W.H. Cunliffe one of whose signs proclaimed : "Woods and marbles imitated to nature."

At the right of the block is the shop of boot and shoe maker William Whittaker who, like Dickson and Nuttall next door, advertises sale bargains on window posters .

Among the other items discovered in the Partnership's attic were old wages bills and an architect's drawing of the Primrose railway viaduct on the outskirts of Clitheroe.

The drawing, which together with the photographs is being donated to the local studies collection at Blackburn Library, will be of particular interest to rail historians as it shows the viaduct as it looked when the Blackburn-Chatburn line opened in 1850 -- with its 120ft centre span constructed of timber as an economy measure.

For the company building the line hit a financial difficulty as trade depression undermined the era's ventures for new railways -- to the extent that the line from Blackburn was reduced to a single track that ended at Chatburn, instead of Gisburn as originally planned, and, wherever possible, timber being used instead of iron to cut costs.

It was not until 1869 that the Primrose Viaduct's wooden span was replaced by the addition of three stone arches to its original seven.

The line itself remained single track until 1872 and was not extended until 1880.

It was no doubt because Henry M. Feilden was among the wealthy landowners and industrialists who were directors of the railway company in 1850 that the drawing was deposited in his Witton Estate's offices.