| Brierfield | |
|---|---|
 Brierfield Town Hall | |
  Brierfield Shown within Pendle Borough  Brierfield Location within Lancashire | |
| Population | 8,193 (2011) [1] |
| OS grid reference | SD850361 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | NELSON |
| Postcode district | BB9 |
| Dialling code | 01282 |
| Police | Lancashire |
| Fire | Lancashire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
Brierfield (/ˌbraɪ.ərˈfiːld/) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle Lancashire, England. It is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north east of Burnley, 1 mile (1.6 km) south west of Nelson, and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) north east of Reedley. It has a population of 8,200,[2] reducing marginally to 8,193, at the census of 2011.[1]
History
The building of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the Blackburn to Addingham turnpike road, and the railway from Preston to Colne, led to the town developing during the beginning of the 19th century.
Before the new transport links were constructed, the town was just a scattering of farmhouses forming part of the township of Little Marsden, which also covered a large part of what was to become Nelson. The construction of the first cotton mill in 1832, off Lob Lane (now Clitheroe Road) close to the Marsden coal pit, led to the massive growth of the settlement, during the mid nineteenth century.
New mills were established along the banks of the canal and people flocked to the area to work in the cotton industry, many coming from the lead mining areas of the North Riding of Yorkshire as the lead seams were worked out. The town’s small cinema, Unit Four, closed down on 3 July 1997. It was showing Batman and Robin, The Fifth Element, Con Air, and Beavis and Butt-Head Do America.[3]
The last film shown was Con Air, that day at 8.20pm. One reason it closed down was due to the opening of the new cinema in Burnley, Hollywood Park, which opened one month prior.[4] It was later replaced by the branch of Dixy Chicken, as well as Maria's World Food Store.[5]
The cotton industry continued to be the main employer, until well into the 1960s, and in October 2006 that BSN (formerly Smith & Nephew) ceased production of woven cloth, at Brierfield Mills. After years of disuse, Pendle Council purchased the mills in March 2012, intending to use it as the flagship regeneration project.[6][7]
The town's war memorial features a large roaring bronze lion. The town is known for its part in the movement of the Quaker. A meeting house is still in use on the south eastern boundary of the town, and the bridge over Pendle Water at the foot of the town is called Quaker Bridge.
Governance
Brierfield was once part of the area of Marsden township known as Little Marsden in the ancient parish of Whalley, which became a civil parish in 1866.[8] The area around Brierfield was made an urban district in 1894.[9]
In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Brierfield became part of the Borough of Pendle. Initially Brierfield formed part of an unparished area, in 1992 a new civil parish was created covering a similar but smaller area than the old urban district.[10][9]
After boundary changes in 2020 which reduced the number of wards in the borough to 12, two cover parts of Brierfield parish – Brierfield East & Clover Hill and Brierfield West & Reedley.[11][12] The town is represented on Lancashire County Council in two divisions: Brierfield & Nelson West and Pendle Hill.[13]
The Member of Parliament for Pendle, the constituency into which the town falls, is Andrew Stephenson (Conservative), who was first elected in 2010.
Demography
The United Kingdom Census 2011 showed a total resident population for Brierfield civil parish of 8,193.[1] The town forms part of a wider urban area, which had a population of 149,796 in 2001.[14] A similar but larger, Burnley Built-up area defined in the 2011 census had a population of 149,422.[15]
The racial composition of the town in 2011 was 60.2% White (58.9% White British), 38.0% Asian, 0.4% Black, 0.2% Mixed and 1.2% Other. The largest religious groups were Christian (44.4%) and Muslim (36.2%). 59.5% of adults between the ages of 16 and 74 were classed as economically active and in work.[1]
| Year | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1939 | 1951 | 1961 | 2001 | 2011 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 7,288 | 8,259 | 8,341 | 7,696 | 6,862 | 7,009 | 7,018 | 10,047 | 8,193 | ||||||||||||
| [9][14][1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
Education
There are three primary schools, and one secondary school in Brierfield. The primary schools are Reedley Primary School, Pendle Primary Academy (formerly known as Walter Street) and Holy Trinity. The secondary school is Marsden Heights Community College. There is also one Nursery School (Woodfield Nursery School)
Facilities
The town is served by Brierfield railway station.
Pendle Community Radio commenced broadcasting on 103.1FM in September 2005. Licensed by Ofcom as a distinct community radio service, it aims to target the borough’s Muslim population, a large number of which reside in Brierfield.[16]
Notable people
- Saj Karim, European Parliament member
- Mohammed Afzal Khan, Lord Mayor of Manchester (2005–06)
- Several members of the celebrated pop group of the 1960s, The Hollies, came from Brierfield, including long time bass guitarist, Bernie Calvert.
- Alan Buck, drummer with The Four Pennies of the fame of “Juliet”
- Lee Ingleby, actor
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Brierfield Parish (1170215078)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
- ^ "Parish headcount" (PDF). Lancashire County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2006. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
- ^ "Last picture show". Lancashire Telegraph. 26 June 1997. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ^ "ANDREW Smith, manager of Apollo Leisure's new nine-screen Hollywood Park cinema in Burnley, says the". Lancashire Telegraph. 19 June 1997. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ^ H J Hill (21 October 2014). "Unit Four Cinemas Burnley Road, Brierfield, BB9 5HY". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^ Kirsty Weakley (21 March 2012). "Islamic Help sells building to local authority for £1.5m". Civil Society. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ^ "Pendle Council buys Brierfield Mill for £1.5m". BBC Lancashire. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ^ "Little Marsden Tn/CP through time". visionofbritain.org.uk. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ a b c "Brierfield UD through time". visionofbritain.org.uk. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ "The Pendle (Parishes) Order 1991" (PDF). Lgbce. 13 November 1991. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ "The Pendle (Electoral Changes) Order 2020". Lgbce. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ "Wards and parishes map". MARIO. Lancashire County Council. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ "County Councillors by Local Community". Lancashire County Council. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ a b Table KS01 Usual resident population, Office for National Statistics, archived from the original on 23 July 2004, retrieved 9 August 2014
- ^ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Burnley Built-up area (E34004743)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ "Ofcom & Community Radio". Archived from the original on 1 December 2008.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brierfield. |
This page was last edited on 8 March 2021, at 20:55