Bygone Burnley: Towneley Park, with historian Roger Frost MBE

Burnley Express

Bygone Burnley: Towneley Park, with historian Roger Frost MBE 31-3-25

Transcript

00:00Today we're in Townley Park, and we're going to visit Townley Park a few times.

00:06I'm standing in front of the remains of Handbridge Castle, which people in Birmingham used to

00:12call Handbridge Castle.

00:14It's on the Tobinham Road end of the park, and you can see that a substantial amount

00:19of the building is there.

00:20But it wasn't a castle, it was built in the late 18th century by Charles Stanley as the

00:28formal entrance to the park.

00:31And in our programmes on the park, I want to dispel a few misconceptions about the park.

00:41For example, directly in front of me is the old Pulleys Recreation Ground.

00:48That is the only part of the park that the Townley family granted to Burnley.

00:54All the rest of it, Burnley Council has bought over the years, starting in the very early

01:0020th century, in 1902.

01:04They bought not this land, but the land nearer the hall and behind the hall, as their first

01:11purchase with the hall itself, which was converted into a museum and art gallery.

01:16So as we go around the park, I'll be dispelling a few misconceptions about the park that are

01:25held by Burnley people, because, for example, they always think that the Townleys gave the

01:32hall and gave the land, but Burnley spent well over £150,000 purchasing the park.

01:45We mentioned that we're going to talk about a few anomalies.

01:49Well, we're standing now at the site of the Townley family's fish ponds.

01:56They date back to the medieval times, and of course in those days, fish was a very important

02:04part of the diet of people.

02:07However, the fish ponds, which we've not got photographs of clearly, were replaced by Townley

02:15School.

02:16The plan was to build it in the years immediately before the Second World War, but it wasn't

02:24completed until after the war, when it became Townley High School.

02:28It wasn't a grammar school, it wasn't a secondary modern school, it was in between the two.

02:33It was a technical high school, which after the 1944 Education Act became a significant

02:42new development in education, boys and girls, but it was built in the park, which of course

02:50I wasn't allowed in those days, but I objected to the school being built in the park.

02:56Today, we're looking at some of the most important features of the park, and one behind

03:02me, this long avenue of trees, is one of two in the park, three if you include the avenue

03:11of trees through which we've just driven, and this goes back virtually 250 years to

03:19the days when Charlestown wanted to improve the park.

03:23He not only improved the park by adding this avenue of trees, but he also improved the

03:30hall itself, and the trees were planted to make this a feature of the park.

03:39He was very keen on improving the visual appearance of the park from the hall itself.

03:49In the background, you can see the avenue of trees, which we talked about before, and

03:55you can see it makes a good feature of the park.

03:59In the foreground is the pond, another feature, and then in between the two is the ha-ha wall,

04:08which we've already looked at.

04:10The ha-ha wall is a wall which is tall on one side and then constructed at the same

04:17level as the land on the other side, and it gives the appearance of making the park look

04:23a complete entity, one entity rather than divided up into several areas, and that's

04:30what Charlestown wanted.

04:31He wanted a country view.

04:34Little did he know that within a few years of constructing these features, Birmingham

04:41would become embroiled in the industrial revolution, and of course, although the features have

04:48remained, the industrial town has come close to the park, and some people would say that

04:55the industrial town has impinged on the beauty of the park, but it's still a splendid area,

05:03Town Hall, and we're very fortunate to have both the hall and the park.

05:10Any country gentleman, and Charlestown was certainly that, had to have his horses, and

05:17we're fortunate here at Town Hall that the stables have survived, and they've been put

05:23to good use.

05:24They've been made into the main cafe in the park, and now it is a good experience going

05:34to the stables cafe, and of course there are other venues, but this is the main one, and

05:44it's also preserved a historic building as well.

05:48One of the less appreciated gems of the park is this building behind me.

05:56Now it is only about 250 years old, but it's probably the oldest brewery still left in

06:05the county.

06:06It is still in use because it is a local history museum, but it's not open at the moment, but

06:15the Townley family brewed all their own beer.

06:20None of the original breweries in Permacento are still there, with the exception of one

06:27on Stanley Street, but this is an example of an estate brewery where members of the

06:37family were served with beer most meals of the day.

06:42You've got to remember a lot of the water that everybody used was polluted, but beer

06:49wasn't because it had to be boiled, so you got rid of most of the pollutants, and surrounding

06:56the building there are also little memorials from the history of Burnley, gate stones from

07:03buildings that have been demolished and churches that have been pulled down, and they're probably

07:10worth a little bit more explanation than they've got.

07:14So it's an interesting little spot, and when the museum reopens and this place reopens

07:20with it, it'll be well worth a visit.

07:23We're standing behind a hall which we'll return to in a future program, but I've brought

07:29you here which is very close to where Townley was going to be extended in the 18th century

07:36across the lawns to my right.

07:40What Charles Townley intended was to build a sculpture gallery which would have contained

07:46many of the things which are now in the British Museum in the Townley galleries, but there

07:51is something here of minor interest.

07:55There is an erratic stone, and erratic stone is a stone which has been carried by glaciers

08:03during the ice age.

08:05This one probably came from the Lake District, and it was found in Readley and brought to

08:11Townley more than 100 years ago, and it is here today.

08:17Of course, there are lots of erratics, but very few of them get as prominent a position

08:22as this.

08:23Another feature of the park is the war memorial.

08:28It was first erected in about 1920 to commemorate those Burmese men who lost their lives in

08:37the First World War, but it was also, after the Second World War, re-inscribed to record

08:45the Burmese men who died at that period as well.

08:48Now, Burnley has three war memorials.

08:52It's got a war memorial at the cemetery where most of the men who died in the First

08:58World War have had their names inscribed.

09:01There's a small memorial in the Time Centre near the library, and there's this one.

09:07This is the main war memorial.

09:11Every November 11th, or the day Sunday nearest to it, the Mayor of Burnley, and I was Mayor

09:19once, comes to the site to lay a wreath.

09:28I remember a lot of people were here.

09:31I expect so many people to be present.

09:34And we didn't really have a service, just a few short words, but it is a pretty good

09:44example of a proper war memorial, and it recalls the Army, the Navy, and the Royal Flying Corps,

09:56not the RAF, because it hasn't been created.

09:59Okay.

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