Church and Oswaldtwistle station serves Church a suburb of Accrington and Oswaltwistle a small village five and a half miles from Blackburn. The station sits comfortably between the two and is served by Northern Rail’s East Lancashire Line.

Oswaldtwistle takes its name from Oswald and twistle. Twistle is an old English word meaning where brooks meet and it is rumoured that St. Oswald, King of Northumbria passed through, giving the area its full title of Oswald’s Twistle, which in time came to be Oswaldtwistle. However, it is more likely derived from the name of an Anglo-Saxon who farmed the land.

Oswaldtwistle, as most East Lancashire towns, was heavily involved in cotton manufacture and featured in the power loom riots of 1826 when local cotton mills were attacked in riots that lasted four days. The famous Oswaldtwistle Mills shopping outlet, based in Moscow Mill, is situated within five minutes walk of the station.