Hameldon Community College, Coal Clough Lane, Burnley: Archaeological Evaluation

Planning permission has been granted for the demolition of Blessed Trinity RC College, off Coal Clough Lane, Burnley, Lancashire (NGR SD 8243 3148), which is to be replaced by Hameldon Community College as part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme. In June 2008, Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was commissioned to undertake a desk-based assessment of the site for the purpose of the planning application, to consider the impact any work would have on potential surviving archaeological remains. The report found that there were a number of sites in the vicinity of the proposed development, two of which would be directly affected by any proposed construction works, a colliery and associated tramway, or ginney (Sites 01 and 07). Cherry Fold Colliery was located at the centre of the development site and is known to have been established in the early nineteenth century. It was connected to two other collieries, Habergham in the west and Bareclay in the north, via a tramway which led to the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. This tramway was a chain haulage system, known as a chain ginney, which was generally driven by a horizontal engine powered by steam formed by boilers at the base of the shaft. No records survive for Cherry Fold, and above ground evidence for the pit is limited so, consequently, a programme of archaeological evaluation was required as a condition to the planning permission to locate any remains and assess their nature and extent. The work was undertaken in March 2009.