Weaver's Triangle Visitor Centre

Who we are

The Weavers' Triangle is the name for an area astride the Leeds and Liverpool Canal that was once at the heart of Burnley's textile industry. Based at Burnley Wharf by the canal, the Visitor Centre tells the story of the canal, cotton and the industrial heritage of the area. At the Visitor Centre, pupils can take a trip back in time and visit the Victorian schoolroom and weaver's dwelling, find out how cotton was made and have a go at weaving. There are fun trails and quizzes, a working model fairground and gift shop. Around the Visitor Centre there are many buildings from the days when the town led the world in the production of cotton cloth. A whole sequence of weaving sheds and spinning mills enclosing the canal makes this one of the finest surviving Victorian industrial landscapes in the country. The buildings include foundries, warehouses, domestic buildings, a school and Slater Terrace, an unusual row of eleven houses above a canal-side warehouse. Nearby is Oak Mount Mill, built in 1830 and continuing to produce cotton until 1979, making it one of the last steam-powered mills to close in Burnley. Pupils can see the original 1887 mill engine in motion by arrangement, recently restored and now operated by an electric motor. The Canal itself is of major significance too. Built between 1770 and 1816, its route through Burnley includes the Burnley Embankment known locally as "the straight mile," one of the seven wonders of the British waterways system. Cotton mills line the canal, which not only provided transport for cotton and coal but also water for the steam engines that powered the machinery. Pupils can look around the Burnley Toll Office where tolls for the canal were paid, which has been restored to how it looked when it was in operation. The Weaver’s Triangle gives students a wide experience for the study of life in the past and the displays are appropriate to many aspects of the National Curriculum, particularly history, geography and science as well as an exciting stimulus for creative and arts based projects.