Coordinates: 53°41′56″N 2°17′28″W / 53.699°N 2.291°W / 53.699; -2.291

Rawtenstall ( /ˈrɒtənstɔːl/ or local /ˈrɒʔənstɔːl/) is a town at the centre of the Rossendale Valley, in Lancashire, England. It is the seat for the Borough of Rossendale, in which it is located. The town lies 17.4 miles north of Manchester, 22 miles east of Preston and 45 miles south east of the county town of Lancaster. Nearby towns include Bacup, Haslingden and Ramsbottom.

The name Rawtenstall has been given two possible interpretations. The older is a combination of the Middle English routen (‘to roar or bellow’), from the Old Norse rauta and the Old English stall ‘pool in a river’ (Ekwall 1922, 92). The second, more recent one, relates to Rawtenstall’s identification as a cattle farm in 1324 and combines the Old English ruh ‘rough’ and tun-stall ‘the site of a farm’ (Mills 1991, 269), or possibly, ‘buildings occupied when cattle were pastured on high ground’ (Mills 1976, 125).

The earliest settlement at Rawtenstall was probably in the early medieval period, during the time when it formed part of the Forest of Rossendale in the Honour of Clitheroe, and consisted of simple dwellings for forest servants and animals. More substantial buildings may have followed in the 15th and 16th centuries with corn and flour mills.

Mary Portas aka Mary Queen of Shops (born 28 May 1960), is an English businesswoman, retail expert, and broadcaster, best-known for her retail and business related television shows, and most recently for her appointment by the British prime minister to lead a review into the future of Britain's high streets.

Portas was born and brought up in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, in a family of five children. She was educated at St Joan of Arc Catholic School, Rickmansworth. Her mother died of meningits when Portas was aged 16, and her father, a sales director of Brooke Bond, the tea manufacturer, died of a heart attack two years later forcing Portas, aged 18, to turn down a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in order to look after her younger brother.

Portas started her career in retail with a Saturday job in John Lewis. She then had a part-time, and later a full-time, job with Harrods where she was responsible for window displays for about three years, before joining TopShop as display manager. While in this job, she was spotted by Burton Group chairman Sir Ralph Halpern.