Burnley

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Coordinates: 2°14′53″W / 53.789°N 2.248°W / 53.789; -2.248

Burnley

St James Street, Burnley

Burnley

 Burnley shown within Lancashire
Area  15.82 km² (6.11 sq mi) [1]
Population 73,021 (2001 Census)
    - Density  4,616 /km² (11,960 /sq mi)
OS grid reference
    - London  181 mi (290 km) SSE 
District Burnley
Shire county Lancashire
Region North West
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BURNLEY
Postcode district BB10-12
Dialling code 01282
Police Lancashire
Fire Lancashire
Ambulance North West
EU Parliament North West England
UK Parliament Burnley
Website Burnley Borough Council
List of places: UK • England • Lancashire

Burnley is a large market town in the borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies 11 miles (18 km) east of Blackburn and 25 miles (40 km) east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun. It began life in the early medieval period as a small market town, but its main period of expansion came during the Industrial Revolution, when it became one of the world's largest producers of cotton cloth. Today, Burnley has lost much of its industry, and is increasingly a dormitory town for Manchester, Leeds and the M65 corridor[2]. The public sector is now the town's largest employer^{[citation needed]}.

History

Origins

Burnley's origins are prehistoric, as shown by Stone Age flint tools and weapons that found on the moors around the town[3]. Local place names Padiham and Habergham show the influence of the Angles, suggesting that some had settled in the area by the early 7th century[3], but there is no definitive record of settlement until 1122, when a charter granted the church of Burnley to the monks of Pontefract Abbey[3]. In its early days, Burnley was a small farming community, gaining a corn mill in 1290^{[citation needed]}, a market in 1294, and a fulling mill in 1296[3]. At this point, it was within the manor of Ightenhill, one of five that made up the Honour of Clitheroe, then a far more significant settlement, and consisted of no more than 50 families[3]. Little survives of early Burnley – the name means ‘meadow by the River Brun’[3] – apart from the Market Cross, erected in 1295, which now stands in the grounds of an annexe of Burnley College[3]. Over the next three centuries, Burnley grew in size to about 1,200 inhabitants by 1550, still centred around the church, St Peter’s, in what is now known as "Top o’ th’ Town". Prosperous residents built larger houses, including Gawthorpe Hall in Padiham and Towneley Hall, and in 1532 St Peter's Church was largely rebuilt[3]. Burnley’s grammar school was founded in 1559, and moved into its own schoolhouse next to the church in 1602 [3]. Burnley began to develop in this period into a small market town. It is known that weaving was established in the town by the middle of the 17th century[3] and in 1617 a new Market House was built. The town continued to be centred on St Peter’s Church until the market was moved to the bottom of what is today Manchester Road at the end of the 18th century[3].

Industrial Revolution and after

In the second half of the 18th century, the manufacture of cotton began to replace that of wool. Burnley’s earliest known factories – dating from the mid-century – stood on the banks of the River Calder close to where it is joined by the River Brun, and relied on water power to drive the spinning machines, but by 1830 there were 32 steam engines in cotton mills throughout the rapidly expanding town[3]. By 1866, the town was the largest producer of cotton cloth in the world.[4] The 18th century also saw the rapid development of coal mining: the drift mines and shallow bell-pits of earlier centuries were replaced by deeper shafts meeting industrial as well as domestic demand locally, and by 1800 there were over a dozen pits in the centre of the town alone[3]. The first turnpike road through Burnley was begun in 1754, linking the town to Blackburn and Colne, and by the early 19th century there were daily stagecoach journeys to Blackburn, Skipton and Manchester, the last taking just over two hours.[3]. For the transportation of goods in bulk, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal arrived in 1796, and in 1848 the East Lancashire Railway Company’s extension from Accrington linked the town to the nation’s nascent railway network for the first time[3]. By 1851, the town’s population had reached almost 21,000[3].

Burnley became incorporated as a municipal borough in 1861, and became, under the Local Government Act 1888, a county borough outside the administrative county of Lancashire. But from a population of over 100,000 in 1911, the town's population has declined to today's figure,[5] mirroring the decline in its traditional industries of textiles, mining and engineering. The Queen paid an official visit to the town in summer 1961, marking the 100th anniversary of Burnley's borough status. Under the Local Government Act 1972 Burnley's county borough status was abolished, and it was incorporated with neighbouring areas into the non-metropolitan district of Burnley.

In June 2001, the town received national attention following a series of violent disturbances arising from racial tension between elements of its white and immigrant communities.[6]

Governance

Burnley has three tiers of government, Burnley Borough Council and Lancashire County Council ("local"), the United Kingdom parliament ("national") and the European Parliament ("Europe"). While the town itself is unparished, the rest of the borough has one further, bottom tier of government, the parish or town council.[7]

Local

Composition of Burnley Borough Council (as of May 2008)
Party Group Leader Seats Change (on 2007)
Liberal Democrat Gordon Birtwistle 23 +5
Labour Julie Cooper 12 -5
Conservative Peter Doyle 6 0
British National Party Sharon Wilkinson 4 0
Total Seats 45

Burnley Borough Council has been governed since 2008 by the Liberal Democrats, led by Gordon Birtwistle. The mayor – a ceremonial post, which rotates annually – is currently Ida Carmichael (Conservative). The borough comprises 15 wards, 12 of which – Bank Hall, Briercliffe, Brunshaw, Coal Clough with Deerplay, Daneshouse with Stoneyholme, Gannow, Lanehead, Queensgate, Rosegrove with Lowerhouse, Rosehill with Burnley Wood, Trinity, and Whittlefield with Ightenhill – fall within the town itself.[8]

Lancashire County Council was controlled by Labour from 1981 until the Conservative Party won control in the local council elections in June 2009.[9][10]. The borough is represented on the council in 6 divisions: Burnley Central East, Burnley Central West, Burnley North East, Burnley Rural, Burnley South West, and Padiham & Burnley West.[11] In 2009 Liberal Democrats won five of the six county seats and the British National Party has a single councillor.[12] The election of BNP candidate Sharon Wilkinson to the council seat of Padiham and Burnley West made her the BNP's first County Councillor.[13]