18th Century Burnley.
During the 1700s Burnley grew into a small market town. By 1800 the population had reached almost 5,000. The woollen industry became increasingly important and the first mills were built. By the end of the century cotton cloth was also being manufactured. Transport was improved by the building of turnpike roads.
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Plan of St. Peter’s after 1789. As the town developed, the church had to accommodate a growing
congregation. In 1737 a gallery was added to the west end and in
1789 the south aisle was re-built with a gallery. |
A Towneley Jacobite.  Francis Towneley supported Bonnie Prince
Charlie in the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. He was executed and
his head placed on Temple
Bar. It was eventually brought back to Towneley Hall and was finally
buried in the Towneley Chapel in St. Peter’s in 1947. |
 This plan shows the earliest
known factories in Burnley. They included a dye house, cloth mill
and fulling mill, built near the Rivers Calder and Brun. Later
in the century several handloom factories were opened and a number
of spinning mills built. |
Keighley Green Chapel.  This was the Burnley’s first Wesleyan Chapel, opened in 1788. In that year John Wesley visited Burnley for the third time. Between 1851 and 1888 the building served
as the town’s
police station and court. |
