Burnley Wood - History

History

In the sixteenth-century, as the name suggests, the area was mostly covered by rough moorland and woodland, with a scattering of farmsteads on the outskirts of the Burnley. These included Whittaker Farm, at the junction of the present day Hufling Lane and Todmorden Road; Mosely Farm in what is now Glebe Street; Hollingreave House, at the junction of Brunswick Street and Hollingreave Road; and Hufling Hall. This late seventeenth century farmhouse still remains and is a grade II listed building and is sandwiched between late nineteenth century housing. Todmorden Road, became a turnpike road in 1817 and became a route of the Burnley Corporation Tramway in 1910. From 1673 to 1819, the majority of Burnley Wood was glebe land in the ownership of St Peter's Church, and as such could not be developed. However, by 1825, as Burnley began to expand rapidly as a burgeoning cotton manufacturing town spurred on by the completion of the Leeds and Liverpool canal in 1801, back-to-back, cottages and mills began to develop along the canal at Lane Bridge around Finsley Gate. Between 1825 and 1844 Spring Gardens Mill, together with back-to-back cottages, were built between Plumbe Street and Eastgate (now Yorkshire Street) and coal mining also began to take place on the north bank of the River Calder between Plumbe Street and Oxford Road.

Several large houses in extensive grounds were built along the western side of Todmorden Road together with a Roman Catholic chapel, at that time outside the boundary of the township of Burnley, and a small hamlet developed around the Woodman Inn at the junction of Todmorden Road and Hufling Lane; whilst further along Hufling Lane, west of 'Hufflen Hall' a row of cottages known as 'Organ Row' were built near the Towneley railway station.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, widespread development occurred in Burnley Wood, the residential elements having two distinct characters: large stone-built houses in spacious grounds, flanking Brooklands Road and Todmorden Road and largely providing accommodation for wealthy mill or mine owners and senior employees, and high density terraced housing. Burnley Wood also saw the developed an extensive number of cotton mills and associated buildings, largely built between 1860 and 1890. This was brought about by increased pressures within Burnley to expand beyond the canal as the town grew rapidly and allow the development of more factories and mills along the course of the Calder with housing and other facilities to meet the living needs of their workers. Large scale urban development therefore took place on both sides of the river whereby by the 1880s, Burnley Wood and the district of Fulledge just north of the river between Plumbe Street and Todmorden Road had developed into a densely populated area of terraced housing laid out in a classic grid iron pattern of horizontal and vertical rows of mainly identikit two bedroomed houses. The majority of houses built in this period benefitted from rear yards accessed directly off back alleyways, whilst some, particularly on the edge of the district along Hollingreave Road, Emily Street, Dall Street and Reed Street were provided with an additional enclosed space at the front of the houses separate from the pavement, some even with bay windows and basements. These houses essentially form today's housing stock in the area, many of which were adapted during the 1960s and 70s to accommodate bathrooms, modern kitchen extensions whilst there has also been some limited modern infill housing.

The mills that largely provided employment for Burnley Wood and Fulledge residents were centred close to the banks of the Calder around Parliament Street and Oxford Road and included Spa Field Mill, Fulledge Mill, Hand Bridge Mill, Pentridge or Partridge Mill), Burnley Wood Mill, Oxford Mill and Springfield Mill. Plumbe Street Shed, a largely single storey cotton weaving shed was located close to the canal. Most day-to-day needs of local residents were met through wide network of corner shops built on most streets, particularly those running on an east-west axis including Springfield Road and Brunswick Street, whilst Parliament Street and Oxford Road developed into specific shopping areas.

The area remained poorly connected for a number of years after due to inadequate bridge crossings over both the canal and river Calder which led to a concerted campaign to see improved links with the rest of the town and led to the replacement of the Turn swing Bridge at Finsley Gate and the Plumbe Street and Oxford Road bridges with iron structures.

The emerging community were well served with places of worship and education. Late nineteenth century schools included Burnley Wood School located between Glebe Street and Branch Road; Todmorden Road Council Schools; and St. Stephen's Church of England School in St. Stephen's Street located between Oxford Road and Tarleton Street. St. Stephen's remained as the infant school but was closed in 1969 when it joined the junior school overlooking Towneley Holmes in Woodgrove Road which had been built in the 1950s. Burnley Wood School was partially demolished in the mid 1980s when dry rot was discovered and the remaining buildings have been converted into apartments. That school relocated to a new site on cleared properties in the area of Waterloo Road and in the mid 2000s merged with Todmorden Road School, which itself was demolished, the site of which is now the location of the Burnley Register Office. The main place of worship in Burnley Wood continues to be St. Stephen's Church on Oxford Road and Smalley Street, which is now a Grade II listed building. The religious needs of non conformists were also met in the district, including the Rehoboth Mission on the corner of Waterloo Road and Springfield Road which was demolished in the 1970s, although its Sunday School, built in 1881 on the corner of Springfield Road and Crowther Street still remains and was for a time used as a community centre for the district. There was a Congregational Church on the corner of Kirkgate and Hollingreave Road with its adjacent Sunday School on the corner with Brunswick Street, demolished in the 1980s and now replaced by a sheltered housing development, whilst the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Brooklands Road just south of Stoney Street still remains.

Burnley Wood has managed to retain most of its historic public houses despite seeing significant urban clearance of much of the area around Waterloo Road and Russell Street in the 1970s followed by a later clearance in the last decade around May Street, Duke Street and Hirst Street. These include the Brittania Inn at corner of Springfield Road and Oxford Road which was saved from demolition in the 1970s, The Stanley in Oxford Road, The Royal Butterfly in Huffling Lane, The Rifle Volunteer on the corner of Tarleton Street and Smalley Street and the historic Woodman Inn in Todmorden Road. There was also a lively political scene in Burnley Wood during the late nineteenth century which led to the founding of both a Conservative Club and Liberal Club both on Brunswick Street. Both buildings still remain in use, although the Liberal Club, after a period of being a Gospel Hall is now apartments.