{{Short description|Coal mine in Burnley, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} [[File:Towneley Colliery coke oven 1.jpg|thumb|right|150px|A re-built coke oven at the Towneley Colliery site.]]

'''Towneley Colliery''' or '''Towneley Desmesne''' was a [[coal mine]] on the [[Burnley Coalfield]] in [[Burnley]], Lancashire, England. Sunk in the late 1860s, it was linked to the [[Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway]]'s Burnley to [[Todmorden]] line which became known as the Copy Pit route and, by tramway, to the [[Leeds and Liverpool Canal]].

Towneley Colliery was sunk next to Brooks and Pickup's [[fireclay]] works less than a half mile from [[Towneley railway station]] which served [[Towneley Hall]]. Brooks and Pickup began coal production from the main shaft, the Alice Pit in late February 1869.<ref name="CPS">{{citation |title=Copy Pit Summit and the collieries formerly served by the Copy Pit route |publisher=Disused Stations|url=http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/features/copy_pit_route_colleries/index.shtml|accessdate=2 April 2018}}</ref> For 75 years coal was extracted from the Arley, Dandy, King and Yard mines.{{efn|In this part of Lancashire a coal seam is referred to as a mine and the [[coal mine]] as a colliery or pit.}}<ref name="TC">{{citation |title=Towneley Colliery |publisher=Northern Mine Research Society|url=https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/lancashire-coalfield/the-burnley-coalfield/towneley-desmesne-colliery/|accessdate=1 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |url=https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/384772/430962/12/100674 |publisher=[[Ordnance Survey]]|title=Lancashire and Furness |series=County Series |scale=1 : 2,500 |year=1893}}</ref> The colliery had sidings on either side of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's Burnley to Todmorden line, the Copy Pit route. A half-mile long tramway linking it to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal had four tunnels. Boggart Brig Pit beside the A671 Todmorden Road was linked by a tramroad and was also linked underground. The pit was also linked underground to [[Bank Hall Colliery]] a half mile distant.<ref name="CPS"/>

In 1923 the colliery was owned by Brooks & Brooks Collieries and employed 770 men working the colliery which included the Towneley Drift.<ref>{{citation |title=Brooks & Brooks Collieries Ltd. |publisher=Durham Mining Museum|url=http://www.dmm.org.uk/company/b1059.htm|accessdate=2 April 2018}}</ref> In 1933 the Towneley Coal & Fireclay Company employed 672 men, 480 of them underground. The colliery produced fireclay as well as coal used for household and manufacturing use, coking and for producing gas.<ref>{{citation |title=Towneley Coal & Fireclay Co. Ltd |publisher=Durham Mining Museum|url=http://www.dmm.org.uk/company/t1013.htm|accessdate=2 April 2018}}</ref> The colliery was nationalised in 1947 after which the [[National Coal Board]] worked the Yard, Dandy and Lower Mountain mines. Its satellite pits, Dyneley Knoll (<small>{{coord|53.754|-2.213|type:landmark|format=dms|name=Dyneley Knoll}}</small>), Boggart Brig (<small>{{coord|53.771|-2.228|type:landmark|format=dms|name=Boggart Brig}}</small>) and Park Pits (<small>{{coord|53.772|-2.210|type:landmark|format=dms|name=Park}}</small>) closed in 1947 and were abandoned in 1949. The colliery closed on 6 March 1949. Its shafts were used for pumping until 1971 when Bank Hall Colliery closed.<ref name="TC"/> Little remains of the colliery, a residential development occupies a small part of the site and the rest comprises steep, mossy hillocks and woodland. A small replica brick kiln was built on a hillock to commemorate the colliery's brickworks.<ref name="CPS"/>

<gallery> Image:The Kilns, Habergham Eaves.jpg|The Kilns residential development, covering part of the site. Image:Towneley Colliery 1.jpg|This greenspace was the location of the pithead buildings. Image:Boggart Brig 2.jpg|Shaft markers at Boggart Brig. Image:Park Pit, Towneley.jpg|The remains of Park Pit in an ancient field called the Long Ing. </gallery>

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{{Borough of Burnley culture|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Coal mines in Lancashire]] [[Category:Mining in Lancashire]] [[Category:Underground mines in England]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Burnley]] [[Category:History of Burnley Borough]]