The station west of Clitheroe road was opened in 1872 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and until 1879, was at the end of the line from Blackburn.

There was at one stage a turntable,[2] it was situated east of Clitheroe road on the flat ground in the area of the existing station building.

The bigger replacement station east of Clitheroe Road closed to passengers after ninety years, shortly before the publication of the Beeching Report.

There was a crane, a weighing machine and a signal box, which would be shared with Dixon Robinson's Bold Venture Lime Works, with points on the opposite side of the main line.

The original Victorian station masters house is still in situation at the side of the Clitheroe road, and was used as the weighbridge and offices for the Bold Venture Lime Works for many years, but was reoccupied in 1995 by a local Computer business and remains in use to this day.