Towneley Colliery
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. For 75 years coal was extracted from the Arley, Dandy, King and Yard mines. 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. In 1923 the colliery was owned by Brooks & Brooks Collieries and employed 770 men working the colliery which included the Towneley Drift. In 1933