TOWNELEY PARK the changing landscape_11937

CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE 1900-2014

TOWNELEY PARK

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tHE CHANGING LANDSCAPE

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Education, Industry, Housing and Sport

oin us to discover how each generation of the Towneley family made their mark on this fascinating parkland.

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Deer Park Development

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Unity College was built 2008-2010 and is 1metre above the playing fields, with a reservoir under the school and a swale at the end of the grounds, to avoid flooding. The traditional footpath from Fulledge, was redirected, and fences erected 8 metres from the River Calder so the public can use the path without trespassing on school land.

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The sites of the former Co-op Dairy, Laundry and Bakery were replaced by a carpet making firm, and then by Coloroll wallpapers factory, which was demolished in the late 1990s and replaced by the houses of Mary Towneley Fold. Throughout the 20th Century the marshland of Towneley Gardens, was known as the “Co-op Fields”, but by the 21st Century it had become a natural wetland providing an excellent haven for birds and insects.

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Co-op Dairy

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Fulledge recreation ground has often been the venue for the Burnley Fair in July, and local bonfires in November. The Fair now often takes place on the Woodgrove carpark when Fulledge is too wet.

The area has been designated as a “flood retention area” for the River Calder. In 1993 the Fulledge play area was refurbished. A “Burnley Bonfire” started as a town bonfire in 2013, and is now held on Higher Towneley playing fields.

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Note smallholdings in the distance

Smallholdings House

The garden centre was developed initially from a smallholding

by Mr Vincent, who then sold his fruit and vegetables on Burnley market. He built a bungalow and a house behind the nursery, before it was sold to Phil Calvert. It is now part of the British garden centre network.

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Wilson’s Smallholdings Wood was created in 2000 as part of the Forest of Burnley and Trees for Burnley millennium project. In 2010 a Smallholdings Trail was established. The wood has many native trees, and now includes 102 trees and a Royal Oak, planted in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The wood is a special place for sighting butterflies, orchids and the occasional deer.

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In 1959 one of the gatehouses at Hanbrig, the Todmorden Road entrance, was demolished, with only the arch remaining as a pedestrian walkway. A new vehicular entrance created in 1979 incorporated stone gate posts from the former Clifton Colliery 15 .

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The Deer pond became the first Local Nature Reserve in Burnley in 1995. In 2013 it was drained and the dam remade and the area was re-established as a nature reserve.

In the late 1980s part of the former smallholdings area was sold to developers with the money being used to finance a new golf course at Towneley. In 1988 this became the 9 hole golf course, with a small reception and car park tucked away, out of sight from Deer Park Road, while the housing development became Applecross.

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The former Towneley school was built in 1941, on land that had been allotments. Before its demolition in 2011, a new bat house had to be built. The whole area could then be developed as parkland, including the Woodgrove car park and the Fit4All fitness equipment.

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Located on what is now the edge of the 18 hole golf course, the Speedway and Greyhound Track existed for over eight years from 1927, with a crowd of 12000 at the opening. The speedway only held six meetings over four months, but the Towneley Stadium for greyhound racing continued until November 1935.

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Towneley Speedway

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In 1927 Burnley Corporation bought land along Towneley Holmes, and Thanet Lee Wood. At first a 9 hole Golf Course was opened in 1931, and the golf course was gradually extended, having 15 holes by 1963. New charges were applied for in 1967, suggesting the 18 hole golf course was then complete 2 3 .

George Barret, Senior, View of Towneley 1778

In 1909 the Deer Park and Lodge Farm were purchased from the Lady O’Hagan by Burnley Corporation, to build 31 smallholdings, with a house and 1½ acres for each plot. In 1973 these were demolished by the council. Only one of the smallholdings houses remain.

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A story of change that continued under Burnley Corporation throughout the 20th Century and is still happening today.

The People’s Park

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Leisure and Pleasure The Triangle and event field have had a wide range of uses. The Agricultural Show, the Balloon festival, the Classic Car and the Welsh Ponies’ annual shows, the Race for Life, and the weekly 5k run have all used these areas.

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The Pavilion and playing fields were opened in August 1931, as part of a National Playing Fields Council initiative and have been used ever since for football and cricket leagues. New paths were laid round the edges of the fields in 2012-14.

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(By courtesy of Burnley Civic Trust)

As part of the 2.5million pound Lottery improvements to the Park (2005-2010), the Riverside Car park and the Rotunda cafe and toilets were built, with parking for 400 cars.

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The children’s playground was unfenced until 1993/4, with mainly pieces of wooden equipment available. It was then fenced and refurbished, including the pan pipes and bell tower, and the original sandworks. By 2006 many new pieces had been added, including the sand diggers with back rests, and the water feature. In 2008 the free standing slide, which had originally been installed at the rear of Towneley Hall, was relocated to the Riverside playground. The spacenet (2006), aeroskate (2008), typhoon (2012), and cableway (2013) all contribute to the 59 individual pieces of equipment in 2014, in this “flagship” playground.

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© Burnley Council 2016. Job_11937. creative-council.net

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55 Foldys Cross

Barwise, Bandstand, Boulder and Brewery

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1901

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In 1902 Foldys Cross was situated on the back lawn, but by 1911 it had been renovated and moved to the top of the Lime Avenue.

Through HLF funding it was again cleaned and restored in 2008 16 .

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Magpie in the making

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Barwise Car Park was named after Joseph Barwise , who, from 1915 until his death in 1965, ran an internationally famous nursery renowned for dahlias. Barwise car park was opened in 1979 and the car park and children’s play area improved in 2009. Barwise dahlias were used in the Italian garden in 2013.

Thanks to all the researchers involved, especially the staff at Burnley Library, and the many other people who have contributed in any way.

For more detail of the History of Towneley Park visit:

www.fotp.btck.co.uk

or follow our blog at towneleypark.wordpress.com

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Stocks Massey Music Pavilion, built with money from the Stocks Massey Bequest fund, cost £1700 in 1928. Its stage held 50 bandsmen or a choir of 100. It seated 2000, with 1500 standing. When it was partially demolished in 1963 following a fire, the tiered seating area was allowed to “return to nature”.

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In the early 1900s High Royd was used by Sunday schools for their annual picnics and the Co-op and other organisations for local sports activities, but by 1967 it had become an 18 hole pitch and putt course, open in the summer months.

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Thanet Lee Wood and the Wilderness

Thanet Lee Wood was bought by Burnley Corporation in 1927, and opened as “Towneley Pleasure Grounds ” .

In the 21st Century it has been managed, to remove non-native sycamores and beech, and rhododendron have been pruned and removed. It includes memorial trees and the Sculpture Trail, which was started in 1997, with many pieces made around 2000. By 2014 several pieces had returned to nature, but with new pieces made at the Heritage and Woodland festival, and displayed at Offshoots and around the park, there is still a significant sculpture trail to be seen. From the 1930s it was thought that “Monk’s Well” had been a folly, but in 2003 Blackburn College students’ studies concluded it was a reservoir for use in droughts 12 .

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The Bird Reserve enclosed 3½ acres of land in 1966 and aimed to help the birdlife already living there, whilst encouraging other birds to come into the Wilderness. The area had become overgrown in 1989 and Burnley Conservation Trust volunteered to improve it. In 2010 the fencing was replanted with a hedging of holly and hawthorn and the “Stone Bird Box” sculpture was placed among the trees, with a wicker viewing area for the public to observe the birds. 11

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35 The Hall and Gardens Towneley Hall and 62 acres of land were sold to Burnley Corporation by Lady O’Hagan (Alice Mary Towneley) for £17500 (equivalent to 2 million pounds in 2017) in 1901, to be used by the people of Burnley. The Park opened in 1902. The hall, which had been emptied of its content by Lady O’Hagan was opened in 1903. Items have since been bought or donated to refurbish the hall as a museum and art gallery. The sundial on the south buttress of the Hall commemorates Richard Towneley’s (1629-1707) setting up of a weather station at Towneley.

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The Higham Boulder, in the Park since 1907, states “…Volcanic Boulder found in Higham…” This gave its name to Boulder Walk from the back lawn, to Boggart Bridge. Also Clifford Oakes’ Bird Bath can be seen on the corner of back lawn.

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The building used by the Towneley family as a brewhouse and laundry, had to be restored in 1970, and was opened to the public in 1971 as the Museum of Local Crafts and Industries, with a collection of tools and other artefacts relating to local social history.

Based upon the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings.

Burnley Borough Council. Licence No. LA-077364 2014

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The Friends of Towneley Park were awarded a Heritage Lottery Grant in 2013 to research and record the changing landscape and produce a leaflet to make information readily available to everyone. This leaflet has been reprinted in 2017, using the Friends’ funds and is complemented by a blog which is much more detailed and illustrated, and has been added to over time.

DATE OF COUNCIL ACQUISITION

Towneley Hall

In the Italian garden the bird bath fountain was installed in 1945, with two bronze deer acquired from Lowther Castle in 1948. Through HLF funding the garden was re-laid in 2009, with the fountain working once again and wicker deer on site in 2013 4 .

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Lady O’Hagan

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The Stables Cafe in the coachhouse was established in 1903 with the cafe refurbished in 1951 and a veranda added, when the stables in front of it were demolished. The fire escape was added by 1976 to allow private functions on the 1st floor. During HLF funded improvements to the Park (2005-10) the verandah became a conservatory.

In 1929 the servants quarters, attached to the hall, were finally demolished, and the stone from them used to build three cottages in the woodland along the Causeway. 2001/02 saw a new block built on the footprint of the servants quarters, including a shop, toilets and offices.

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Along the Causeway the Ice House was made safe in 1963, with improved access in 1975, but it has become a bat roost. As bats are a protected species, only people with special permits can enter the former ice house 19 .

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Within the walled garden a bowling green was built on part of the site in 1902, and the remainder of the site was used as the works depot for the council’s parks department.

By 1997 this depot had become derelict, and so a group of enthusiasts introduced ideas of permaculture to the area, and Offshoots was founded, with recycling at the heart of all its activities 9 .

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Following World War 1 (1914-1918) the War Memorial was bequeathed by Caleb Thornber, (see the inscriptions on the front and back of the sculpture for more detail), while the Garden of Remembrance was provided by the people of Burnley at a cost of £1154.9s10d , including the crazy paving, and the reflective pond.

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historians believe that Castle Hill was the site of the first house OWNERSHIP 1200 Some or hunting lodge at Towneley (1) 1379 - John Towneley 1

1399 - Richard Towneley 1455 - John Towneley 1472 - Sir Richard Towneley 1482 - Sir John Towneley of Hapton 1540 - Richard Towneley 1555 - Mary Towneley 1607 - Richard Towneley “The Builder” 1628 - Richard Towneley 1635 - Charles Towneley “The Cavalier” 1644 - Richard Towneley “The Virtuoso” 1707 - Charles Towneley 1712 - Richard Towneley “The Jacobite” 1735 - William Towneley 1742 - Charles Towneley “The Collector” 1805 - Edward Towneley Standish 1807 - John Towneley of Chiswick 1813 - Peregrine Edward Towneley 1846 - Colonel Charles Towneley 1876 - Colonel John Towneley 1878 - Alice Towneley, Lady O’Hagan 1902 - Burnley Corporation

Thought to be First mention of 2 1350 the time when 1491 1535 gardens in a rental the first Hall House was built 70 acre park book of Sir John Towneley on the site of the present Hall

was enclosed

1661

James Hamilton surveyed the lands for Richard, possibly to protect them at the time of the Restoration

1716 Richard “cut

down a fine wood of oaks near to the mansion” 3 to pay the expenses incurred in his defence againstTreason.

1726

Robert Thornton of York was employed to create a new entrance hall

Ralph Thoresby 1702 (1658-1725), antiquary, visited Towneley. His diary recorded spending time in the “garden house in the midst of the fishpond in the garden

bred a sucessful herd of shorthorn cattle

by Zoffany.

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to

1900

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South Lodge Lodge Farm

(now private houses)

Castle Hill Cottages built.

1869 Joseph Culshaw who managed the shorthorn cattle lived here 22

Temperance Cricket Ground 1875 was obtained from Colonel Charles by the Corporation for Fulledge

Towneley Lodge 5

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Towneley Demesne lands were allotted to 1878 Alice Towneley, Lady O’Hagan on the death of Colonel John, the last male member of the Towneley

family.The estate was divided between the seven daughters of John and Charles Towneley by private act of Parliament (Towneley Estate Act of 1885)

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An athletics track was created adjacent to the Fulledge recreation ground 26

Café and Lady O’Hagan offered the Hall and 62 acres of land to Burnley Corporation in 1902 1896.The reduced size of her holding was insufficient to maintain the hall and lands. 1903 bowling green opened Because of lengthy delays over securing mineral rights the sale was not completed until 1902

1911

Foldys Cross moved to top of Lime Avenue

Boundary of the parkland registered in 1986

by English Heritage as a Historic Park and Garden of Special Historic Interest

courts and bowling green built 1925 Tennis at Causeway End 1926 War memorial site developed.

Nursery established

by Joseph Barwise

Ice House interior 19

CHARLES TOWNELEY

“THE COLLECTOR” (17371805). Records of his work to improve Towneley survive as do some of his mother, Cecilia, who managed the Towneley Estate from 1742 until 1758 when he came of age. A contract between Cecilia and her gardener in 1742 lists his duties and gives an indication that the garden contains fruit, herbs, roots, greens, gravel paths, hedges and green walks. In 1750 Cecilia also created a brick fruit wall.

Ha-ha Sketch by Charles 1800 13 Although Charles made his home in London and toured Italy several times collecting his marble sculptures until the late 1770s, he still employed architect John Carr ofYork to make alterations to the house.

He also made improvements to the garden around the house, diverting Copy Stream and removing part of the old garden wall to create a new walled garden between 1771 and 1798 9 (9).

57 Planting began in walled garden in 1785 and there are records of the fruit trees acquired. A greenhouse was built in 1791.

There are also records of Charles’ tree planting works. In 1772 a plantation containing oaks, larches, beech, ash, English elm, Lord Weymouth pine, scotch firs and balm of gilead was created in the Chapel Lee area 10 . A letter of 1781 records the planting of 50 weeping willows, mainly in the Wilderness area and Thomas Whittaker in his History of the Parish of Whalley states that Charles created a picturesque Wilderness from the oak woods behind the house 11 50 . Later in the 1790s when, due to ill health, he spent more time at Towneley he planted Thanet Lee as plantation and as ornamental walks 12 49 . In 1798 he planted walnuts, Spanish chestnuts, red poplars, snake barked viburnums, purple beeches, purple alders, weeping ash, broad leaved ash, laburnums, sweet scented ash and American mountain ash in the new front borders and gardens in Thanet Lee. In 1800 he wrote to his steward describing the ha-ha 13 to be built to separate Thanet Lee from Broad Ing and recorded measurements of the ‘Grand Tour’ walks from the house to the Wilderness and Thanet Lee. Charles made other significant changes. The sweeping coach road from the hall to Hanbridge in 1786 14 and in 1797 he employed the notable architect John Nash to create a Gothick style lodge, known as Hanbrig Castle, at the Hanbridge entrance 15 30 - it was intended for Charles’ land agent,Thomas Forshaw, and became the estate office. It was demolished in 1958 although the arch remains. Charles was responsible for rescuing Foldys’ cross from St. Peter’s Churchyard in 1789/90.

It was placed to the rear of the hall 16 34 but re-sited to its present position in 1911.The brewhouse and laundry were built in 1790 and in 1794 Charles employed Joseph Elkington to carry out a new and innovative land drainage system. A new entrance at Broad Ing Cliviger 17 was created in 1801 and Charles records planting oaks and horse chestnuts near the new pilasters and gates and oaks and elms by the old walled up entrance.

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1927

Greyhound track opened 3rd Sept. Burnley Corporation bought 174 acres along Holmes Road & Thanet Lee Wood

1928 Stocks Massey Music

Pavilion built and opened.

A fire in 1963 lead to the superstructure being demolished

Speedway track opened and closed.

1929 Servants quarters demolished and stone used to build three cottages near High Royd Thanet Lee opened as “Towneley 1930 pleasure grounds” with the official opening August 1931. Poplars planted along the The Municipal Golf Course, the 1931 Playing Fields and Pavilion and Thanet Lee Wood were officially opened

Pond and Enclosed Garden 4

Well re-discovered in Thanet 1932 “Monks” Lee Wood track Fountain birdbath Deer acquired from 1935 Greyhound was closed down 1945 inaugurated in Italian garden 1948 Bronze Lowther Castle for Italian Garden. Removed in 1965 after vandalism Vincent’s Garden Centre 1959 1951 1960 bungalow built. Fountain Demolition Hanbrig Castle installed in the hall pond. Sports Pavilion at of theStables

demolished

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Holmes

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1967 High Royd

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UpperTowneley extended and rebuilt

1966 1971 Bird Sanctuary Local Craft established.

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Museum opened in former brewhouse

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Foldys’ Cross 16

became Pitch and Putt course

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1973 1979 Barwise car park and picnic area created Offshoots created in Smallholdings Shop, toilet block and 1997 walled garden and 2000 Wood created 2001 offices built on former sculpture trail began (later called Wilson Wood) servants quarters site Smallholdings to be used as public open space with part to be developed for housing

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HLF funding to restore fountain, build Rotunda, improve Riverside and Barwise car parks, 2005 £2.5m create clearway, lay golden gravel pathways, restore Foldys cross, Monk’sWell and Italian garden

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PEREGRINE EDWARD TOWNELEY

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2007 2008 2010

2011

Friends of Towneley Park and Woodgrove pond, local school children planted wildflower garden, 2000 daffodil bulbs annually till 2013 car park. Fit4All fitness equipment replaced Towneley School 2000 snowdrops Pathways created planted annually on Lime New Unity round playing fields Avenue until 2013 College built

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2013

Through HLF funding, Bird Bath Fountain in Italian Garden restored.Two wicker deer sited to replace former bronze deer.

History Trail established

Map c.1841

LOVAT’S COPY OF LANG’S SURVEY

of 1735 shows changes in the landscape since 1661. It is recorded that in 1716 Richard Towneley cut down an oak wood near to the hall to pay legal fees relating to his treason trial.This may have been the former woodland west of the house, in 1735 shown as fields called ‘Old Park Wood’ 3 (3).

33 The orchard is now named Chapel Lee and a new enclosed ‘L’ shaped formal garden can be seen to the east of the Hall 4 52 . The pond that exists today can be seen in front of the hall, as can the ‘The Avenue’ which extends beyond the river, passing the deer pond, to a lodge within ‘Townley Park’ (5).

5 There are also some new buildings shown - low barn near the river (6) 6 and home farm, then named Mitchael Earth (7).

8 (now home to a crocodile).

7 To the east of home farm is a fish pond (8) There is no record of when any of these features were created or whether some may have been added to the map after 1735 when Lovat made a copy. Although the enclosed formal garden and possibly the straight avenue may have been created earlier it seems likely that some of the features date from the 1720s when Richard Towneley “The Jacobite” created the Baroque frontage of the main hall and opened up the view to the River Calder and wider landscape by removing the east wing.

Nationally the English Landscape Style developed during the 18th Century and Richard’s changes began the process of creating this style at Towneley.

Towneley Timeline Deer Park and 1915 1909 Lodge Farm Barwise bought for smallholdings

is the first known detailed map of Towneley and gives an indication of the landscape around Towneley Hall. As with all maps, it was commissioned for specific purposes and may not show all details. Ancestors of the Towneley family were granted hunting rights in 1200 and in 1491, after the establishment of the hall on its present site, a 70 acre park was enclosed, possibly N within the site of the present golf course 1661 Map - drawn with north facing down.

(2) 2 33 . The first record of a garden is in a rental book of Sir John Towneley in 1535 when ‘orcherds and garthyns’ and three enclosed parks are mentioned. The 1661 map shows gardens and orchards and the woodlands and fields around the hall. It also shows the roads to Cliviger, Habergham and Burnley passing close to the hall.

Visit www.fotp.btck.co.uk for a link to “The Story of Towneley Park in maps 1661-2007”.

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recreation ground, moved in 1895 to current site 24 . Monks Well discovered 25

1896

Towneley Demesne Parkland

THE 1661 HAMILTON MAP

Hanbrig Castle 15

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1731 map produced at Richard’s death, an 1735 Lang’s 1801 copy taken for Charles Towneley survives.

Charles, “The 1849 1771 Collector” in his 1858 Colonel Charles Two new lodges built: Sculpture Gallery was painted William Lang surveyed Towneley lands.

CREATING THE LANDSCAPE

Based upon the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings.

Burnley Borough Council. Licence No. LA-077364 2014

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continued Charles’ planting and improvement works, working at first with his father who succeeded Charles to the estate. In 1812 the notable architect Jeffry Wyatt was employed to remodel the south wing and enhance the appearance of the hall including creating the new side access to the garden now known as the Italian Garden. In 1812 3,055 oaks, scotch firs and larches were planted in a new plantation in the park and the following year a further 5,500 trees were added to the plantations.

Peregrine may also have been responsible for the creation of the tunnel bridge along the pathway from the Wilderness to Thanet Lee 18 .

It is thought that Peregrine was responsible for introducing early 19th Century Rhododendron ponticum hybrids to the Towneley woodlands, some of which can still be seen along the path margins in Thanet Lee, the Wilderness and Causeway End Wood.Their form and flowers are superior to R.ponticum.

Although no plans exist for the Ice House 19 it may have been built in the early 19th Century about the time of Jeffry Wyatt’s improvements to the hall.

In 1831, following the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829 which allowed Roman Catholics to hold public office, Peregrine was appointed High Sheriff of Lancaster and on his appointment on the 5th March Towneley was thrown open to the entire neighbourhood for celebration as he set off to meet the Judges at the Assizes of Lancaster.