Brierfield

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brierfield

Coordinates: 53.8216° N 2.2293° W
Population	8000
OS grid reference	SD850361
District	Pendle
Shire county	Lancashire
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NELSON
Postcode district	BB9
Police	Lancashire
Fire	Lancashire
Ambulance	North West
European Parliament	North West England
List of places: UK • England • Lancashire

Brierfield is a small town (population approx. 8,000) situated in Lancashire, England, in the district of Pendle. It is located two and a half miles north-east of the town of Burnley, one mile south-west of the town of Nelson, and half a mile north-east of Reedley.

There are three primary schools, and one secondary school in Brierfield. The primary schools are Reedley Road, Walter Street and Holy Trinity. The secondary school is Mansfield High School. However, there are plans for the amalgamation of the secondardy school, funded by the UK Government's Building Schools For The Future [1] project, under the alias of Marsden Heights Community College which is planned to open in September 2006, under the headmastery of Michael Tull.

The building of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, the Blackburn to Addingham Turnpike road and the railway line from Preston to Colne led to the town of Brierfield developing during the early 19th century. Before these new transport links were constructed, there was just a scattering of farmhouses forming part of the township of Marsden, which also covered what was to become Nelson. The construction in 1832 of the first cotton mill just off Lob Lane (now Clitheroe Road) close to the Marsden Coal Pit led to the massive growth of the settlement during the mid-1800s. New mills were quickly established along the banks of the canal and people migrated into the area to work in the cotton industry, many coming from the mining areas of North Yorkshire as the lead seams were worked out. The cotton industry continued to be the main employer until well into the 1960s, and it was only in 2006 that BSN (formerly Smith & Nephew) finally ceased production of woven cloth at Brierfield Mills.

The town is quite well known for its war memorial, featuring a large pewter lion roaring. The town is well known for its part in the Quaker movement. A Quaker meeting house can still be found today in Brierfield.

The town used to have a small cinema, but it was shut down and replaced by a branch of Dixy Chicken. The town is home to a cyber cafe [2], which is apart of the Brierfield Action In The Community iniative which aims to improve the social and economical wellbeing of Brierfield residents.

Mordor, the evil town in The Lord of the Rings, was reportedly based on the town of Brierfield. J. R. R. Tolkien would often visit the neighbouring town of Fence, where there is a clear aerial view of Brierfield. At the time he was writing the book, Brierfield would have been covered by a large amount of thick, black smoke coming from the factory chimneys. He realised that this was how he envisaged Mordor, and therefore based it on Brierfield.^{[citation needed]}

Several members of celebrated 60's pop act The Hollies came from Brierfield, including long-time drummer Bernie Calvert.