Editing Colne (section)

==History==
Settlement in the area can be traced back to the [[Stone Age]]. A [[Mesolithic]] camp site, a [[Bronze Age]] burial site and stone tools from the Bronze and Stone Ages have been discovered at nearby [[Trawden]]. There are also the remains of an [[Iron Age]] [[fort]], dating from the 6th century BC, above Colne at [[Castercliff]].{{cn|date=September 2024}}

Although a [[Roman road]] passes through nearby [[Barnoldswick]], and some Roman coins have been discovered, there is no conclusive evidence of the [[Roman Britain|Romans]] having occupied the area. There is, however, some debate among local historians{{who|date=September 2024}} as to whether the Romans may have stayed at Castercliff.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

From the early 6th century to the late 10th century, Colne came under [[Northumbria]]n and then [[Viking]] rule, finally coming firmly under [[Normans|Norman]] control in the 11th century. Then, from the 1090s until 1311, the area was controlled by the [[de Lacy]]s of [[Pontefract]] from their outpost at [[Clitheroe Castle]]. Pendle Forest and [[Trawden Forest]] date from this period; forests in those times being hunting grounds for royals and other nobles. [[St Bartholomew's Church, Colne|St Bartholomew's Church]] dates from before 1122 when the town's market was located in the churchyard. The churchyard used to house the market cross and wooden [[stocks]] on wheels and people were placed in these on market days.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thornber.net/famhist/htmlfiles/colne.pdf |title=Memories of Colne |author=Mrs. Cryer (formerly Miss Margaret Jane Wars of Colne) |publisher=Thornber.net |access-date=6 August 2014}}</ref> The stocks are now located in the nearby library. The market cross is in Market Street.

The town developed in two parts: Colne, on top of the ridge; and Waterside, at the base of the southern slope, next to [[Colne Water]]. By 1296, a [[corn mill]] and a [[fulling]] mill had been established down by the river. By the 15th century, Colne had become the main market town in the area with markets (latterly held on Tuesdays) and a major centre for the [[wool]]len trade, in particular for the production of lightweight [[Kersey (cloth)|kersey]]. With the [[Industrial Revolution]], cotton manufacturing became the main industry in the town, fuelled by the completion of the [[Leeds and Liverpool Canal]] in 1816, and by the arrival of the railway in 1848.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pendle.net/Colne/ |title=Colne |publisher=Pendle.Net |date=19 August 2004 |access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Colne and Pendle in Lancashire|url=http://www.theturf.demon.co.uk/colne/main.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970117114901/http://www.theturf.demon.co.uk/colne/main.htm|archive-date=17 January 1997|access-date=5 August 2014|publisher=Theturf.demon.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aboutbritain.com/towns/colne.asp |title=Colne, Lancashire Tourist Information on |publisher=Aboutbritain.com |access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref>

The cross allows a market to be held there and dates back to the 15th century. The market cross was originally at the junction of Colne Lane and Church Street. It was first moved to the grounds of The Gables on Albert Road, the location of Colne Library until around 1970.{{cn|date=September 2024}} It has now been relocated to outside the Market Hall on Market Street, part of the main road through the town centre.

The rise of [[Chartism]] saw riots here over the imposition of the 'new' police force in April and August 1840. John Halstead, a [[special constable]], was killed by a mob armed with sharpened iron rails during the second. In both cases troops marched from [[Burnley Barracks]] and the violence ceased with their arrival.<ref>{{citation| last=Bennett| first=Walter| title=The History of Burnley| volume=three| publisher=Burnley Corporation| year=1949 |pages=288–89}}</ref><ref>{{citation| last=Carr| first=James| title=Annals and stories of Colne and neighbourhood| url=https://archive.org/details/annalsstoriesofc00carriala/page/94/mode/2up?view=theater| publisher=Thomas Duerden| year=1878|page=94 |access-date=6 March 2021}}</ref>

Colne is on the edge of the [[Burnley Coalfield]] and coal was being mined at Fox Clough, to south of the town, from the early 17th century. Fox Clough Colliery also known as Engine Pit, was started by the Executors of John Hargreaves company, probably around 1832. By the 1840s a surface drift was located at the foot of the clough, on the south side of [[Colne Water]], and a [[tramroad]] crossed the river connecting the colliery to a coal yard in the town. It seems the coal here was not of a high quality, as during the winter of 1860 a local newspaper reported that the frozen canal and diversion of railway wagons had forced the inhabitants of Colne, to resort to town's coal pit. Fox Clough Colliery was abandoned in 1872, but Trawden Colliery (1874 - 1890), located about 200 metres up the valley, continued production from the same workings. The tramroad was marked as disused in 1893.<ref>{{citation |first=Jack |last=Nadin |title=British Mining No. 58 The Coal Mines of East-Lancashire |publisher=Northern Mine Research Society |year=1997 |pages=74-76, 143-144 |isbn=0901450480}}</ref><ref name=OS1848>{{cite map |url=https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/389324/439311/10/101393 |publisher=Ordnance Survey |title=Lancashire and Furness |series=County Series |scale=1 : 10,560 |year=1848}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |url=https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/389451/438922/12/101394 |publisher=Ordnance Survey|title=Lancashire and Furness |series=County Series |scale=1 : 2,500 |year=1893}}</ref> By 1891 there were 30 [[cotton mill]]s listed in Colne with more in the surrounding areas of [[Trawden]] and [[Laneshaw Bridge]]. The largest had 2,400 looms and the smallest 56.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/1891_Cotton_Mills_in_Colne|title=Cotton Mills in Colne | website=Grace's Guide to British Industry}}</ref>