BURNLEY was one of, if not the, leading manufacturing towns of cotton goods in the 20th century.

The town has a long history. Set in the valley of the River Brun and Calder it was a collection of small settlements but rapid growth came with the development of the textile industry in the 19th Century. Cotton weaving came to dominate the trade.

But Lowerhouse village was an exception. The village was, and in many ways still is, separate to Burnley. Two factories dominated it.

One was called Lowerhouse Mill, the second Lowerhouse Printworks.

The two most prominent families who ran the print works were the Dugdales and Drews.

Under them, it developed into one of the largest calico works (where designs were printed onto cotton cloth) in Lancashire.

In later times Bob Lord, chairman of Burnley Football Club, owned it. The site is now occupied by housing.

A painting showing the works was bought at auction by Towneley Hall museum in 1992.

It can be seen hanging in the Old Burnley room at Towneley.

The style suggests a professionally trained artist. It is free style and there is great attention to topographical detail. It was painted from a place called Schole Bank, looking south. By using various sources we can put the date of the painting sometime between 1829-1835.

The frame also suggests the 1830s. This makes it one of the earliest industrial views we have of Burnley.

As well as acquiring the painting, Towneley Hall also received a large number of photographic negatives taken by Daniel Drew. By using these and other sources the history of the site can be told.

The oldest part of the site was a water powered cotton mill built and owned by Peel, Yates & Co in 1797. This was extended twice.

The site was sold to the Dugdale family who set about developing Lowerhouse as a mill village with housing, a shop, church, school and other amenities.

Housing was built in Lowerhouse Fold, Lowerhouse Gate, Lower Water Street, Habergham Street as well as in the factory area. In Long Row (re-named Bear Street between 1882-1890) census returns show some workers had migrated from other print work areas such as Church, Ireland, Barrow (Lancashire) and Scotland.

The Dugdales introduced calico (cotton) printing by the 1820s. Dugdale's would have used cloth made in the factory. Cotton was spun on site and then 'put out' to be woven by hand loom weavers. The firm also built a new mill to the east in 1836, adding a weaving shed a few years later.

From 1860, the Dugdales concentrated their business in this new mill.

The print works was leased to a firm called Grafton and Lightfoot. In 1872, the Drew family from Scotland occupied the works. Daniel Drew took the lead in developing the firm. A new lodge was built (the top lodge) from 1876-1878. Worldwide markets developed with cloth being sent to the near and far East, Africa and South America. The firm continued running as Alexander Drew & Sons until the 1960s when it was forced to close.