| Nelson | |
|---|---|
| Town and civil parish | |
 Clockwise from top left:Nelson Town Hall;St Mary's Church; Skyline of Nelson; Nelson Central Mosque; Scotland Road | |
  Nelson Shown within Pendle Borough Show map of the Borough of Pendle | |
| Area | 4.64 km2 (1.79 sq mi) [1] |
| Population | 33,617 [2] |
| • Density | 18,780/sq mi (7,250/km2) |
| OS grid reference | SD856376 |
| • London | 182.74 miles (294 km)SSE |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | NELSON |
| Postcode district | BB9 |
| Dialling code | 01282 |
| Police | Lancashire |
| Fire | Lancashire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Pendle Borough Council |
| |
Nelson is a town andcivil parish in theBorough of Pendle inLancashire, England, it had a population of 33,617 in 2021.[2] Nelson is 3 miles (5 km) north ofBurnley and 2 miles (3 km) south-west ofColne. Nelson developed as amill town during theIndustrial Revolution.
AnIron Agehillfort calledCastercliff is on a hill to the east of the town.[4] The modern town spans the two parts of thetownship of Marsden in theancient parish of Whalley.[5][6] Little Marsden was on the south-west ofWalverden Water, its lands considered part of themanor of Ightenhill and Great Marsden to the north-east, part of the manor of Colne.[7][4] Great Marsden included the southern parts ofColne,[a] and Little Marsden included all of modern-dayBrierfield.[7][4]
Walverden Water joinsPendle Water next toNelson & Colne College, with that river forming the boundary of theForest of Pendle. Both the manors and forest were parts of theHonour of Clitheroe. Thelord of Clitheroe had a mill on the river in 1311, thought to have been sited near the confluence with Clough Head Beck, where Scholefield Mill now stands. There is also evidence of an ancientfulling mill further upstream. A small chapel is thought to have been built during the reign ofHenry VIII on the site of St Paul's Church.[4]
The forest of Pendle was made famous by thePendle witch trials of 1612. One of the accused in the less well-known witch trials of 1634, Margaret Johnson, confessed that she first met herfamiliar in Marsden.[4]
A small mill had been established by the Ecroyd family at Edge End as early as 1740,[8] and they started Lomeshaye Mill as a water-poweredspinning mill in 1780.[9] The coming of theLeeds and Liverpool Canal in 1796, followed by theEast Lancashire Railway Line in 1849,[10] spurred its development as an industrial town, with an economy based mainly upon cottonweaving. The firstOrdnance Survey map of the area, published in 1848, shows three small villages: Marsden (around St Paul's), and Hebson and Bradley, both on Walverden Water in the modern-day centre of town. Also apparent are theestates of Marsden Hall to the east and Carr Hall acrossPendle Water to the north-west,[7] as well as theturnpike roads of the Marsden, Gisburn and Long Prestontrust (Scotland Road) heading north, and the Blackburn, Addingham and Cocking End trust (Manchester Road) heading east.[7]
Brierfield railway station was originally called Marsden, andNelson railway station was known as the Nelson Inn station, Great Marsden, after the adjacentpublic house, the Lord Nelson Inn (named afterAdmiral Lord Nelson). As the villages developed into a town, the name Nelson was chosen to differentiate it fromMarsden across thePennines in the neighbouring (West Riding of Yorkshire).[11]
There was aworsted mill at Lomeshaye close to a "cotton factory" and another cotton mill along the canal at Reedyford by 1848.[7] Walverden Mill in Leeds Road was built in 1850,[12] and it was soon followed by others. From 1862, Phoenix Foundry, thesteam engine factory ofWilliam Roberts, stood at the site of the shopping centre's car park, and has been called "Nelson's most significant engineering site". By 1891, there were 57 cotton spinners and manufacturers listed in Nelson. The largest had 1,950 looms and the smallest only 8.[13]
The cotton industry was the most important in the town, and by 1910, more than 12,000 local workers were members of theNelson and District Power-Loom Weavers' Association.[14]
Nelson is considered part of theBurnley Coalfield. There is evidence of oldbell pits and surface mining at Swinden Clough and Castercliff,[9] and as early as 1465 there was a complaint of people unlawfully digging coal in the area.[4] Clough Head Colliery, also known as Town House Pit, was on Clough Head Beck on the eastern edge of the town and it had a troubled history. While under construction in 1845, an accident during assembly of the steam pumping engine resulted in the death of one worker. On 12 April 1850, six men were working in the pit when one man went to check for gas with asafety lamp, but before he had signalled it was safe, another man opened his lamp causing an explosion that killed them all. Another explosion in November 1856 resulted in two fatalities. A surface tramroad connected it to railway sidings at Bradley Lane Head. It is uncertain when the colliery closed, but it was possibly in the late 1880s.[15][16][7]
The town became associated in the 20th century with the production of confectionery, includingJelly Babies andVictory V, and it was where thepackage holiday companyAirtours (formerly Pendle Travel and now part ofThomas Cook) began life as an independent travel agent. The textile industry, in particular, has now sharply declined, leaving the town with low property prices and higher than average unemployment.
Nelson was granted itscharter of incorporation as amunicipal borough byQueen Victoria in 1890.[10][17] Radicalleft wing politics in the early 20th century led to it being labelled "Little Moscow" by both the local and national press; indeed, theNelson Leader ran the headline "Moscow calling" during thelock-out of 1928. There was significantCommunist Party influence in the town between the wars. When theLabour Party came to power in the town, they responded to local political feeling by placing utilities such as gas and water under the control of the municipal council, anticipating by decades thenationalisation of such utilities afterWorld War II. The council refused, moreover, to participate in celebrations forKing George V'ssilver jubilee in 1935, saying that they would rather spend public money on free dinners for school children and the jobless.
Under theLocal Government Act 1972, the town became part of the non-metropolitan district ofPendle on 1 April 1974. Initially forming part of anunparished area, a new Nelsoncivil parish was formed in 2008, covering a similar area to the old municipal borough.[18] It currently has three tiers of local government,Lancashire County Council,Pendle Borough Council and atown council, with 24 councillors, which was elected for the first time on 1 May 2008.[19] Nelson Town Council and the wider Pendle Borough Council are situated atNelson Town Hall on Market Square.
After boundary changes in 2020 which reduced the number ofwards in the borough to 12, four cover parts of Nelson parish – Bradley, Brierfield East & Clover Hill, Marsden & Southfield and Whitefield & Walverden.[20][21]Pendle Borough Council is currently under 'No Overall Control' and governed by a coalition of independents andLiberal Democrats, led by Councillor Mohammed Iqbal. The mayor is a ceremonial post, rotated annually.
Lancashire County Council was governed from 1994 to 2009 byLabour, at which point it switched to Conservative control, then to no overall control in 2013, and back to Conservative in 2017. The town is represented on the council in threedivisions: Brierfield & Nelson North, Nelson South, and Pendle Central.[22]
The Member of Parliament forPendle and Clitheroe, the constituency into which the town falls, isJonathan Hinder (Labour), who was first elected in2024.
 | This section needs to beupdated. The reason given is: missing information from2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(July 2025) |
| Year | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1939 | 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 2001 | 2011 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 39,479 | 39,841 | 38,304 | 34,803 | 34,384 | 32,292 | 31,286 | 28,998 | 29,135 | ||||||||||||
| References:[17][23] | |||||||||||||||||||||
In the2011 Census the Middle-layer Super Output Areas (MSOAs) of Nelson East, Nelson West and Nelson Bradley, making up the bulk of the town of Nelson, had Asian populations of 4,615, 6,818 and 4,489 respectively, compared to White populations of 5,370, 2,216 and 2,891. In total, the Asian population of the three MSOAs came to 57.5% of the total population, with the White population making up 37.8% of total population.[24]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(August 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The town centre contains the largest number of high street multiples of any town in the Borough of Pendle. Stores currently include:Boots,Specsavers,Home Bargains,Peacocks,Greggs,Post Office, andMartin McColl.[citation needed]
ThePendle Rise Shopping Centre has been the focal point of the town centre for over 50 years. It opened as theArndale Centre in June 1967[25] and was rebranded as theAdmiral Shopping Centre before taking its current name.Nelson Market (previouslyAdmiral's Market) is a covered market below thePendle Rise Shopping Centre.The Victory Centre opened on the site of the former Salem Chapel in 1993. Of the 12 units only one remained occupied in 2017, by a branch ofWilliam Hill.
The main road through the town centre,pedestrianised in the early 1990s, was reopened to traffic in August 2011, to help boost trade.[26] In 2012, Nelson was among twelve English towns chosen to participate in thePortas Pilot Areas initiative, receiving £100,000 to help rejuvenate the shopping area.[27]
The largest business park in the town is located at Lomeshaye, by Junction 12 of theM65. The original 15-hectare site was designated as anEnterprise Zone on 7 December 1983. The estate currently occupies 53 hectares and is home to more than 80 businesses. Between them they employ approximately 4,000 people on the estate. A 31-hectare site was taken out of the Green Belt when the council's new Local Plan was adopted in December 2015, to facilitate a further extension to the west and north. The Lomeshaye Business Village, a refurbished former cotton mill to the east of the estate, contains a further 151 units, principally occupied by small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in office and light industrial uses.[citation needed]
Nelson is served by Junction 13 of theM65 motorway, which runs west toBurnley,Accrington,Blackburn andPreston, and north-east toColne. From the town centre, theA56 runs southwest to the M65 atBrierfield and north-east to Colne and beyond, while theA682 – Britain's most dangerous road[28] – heads north into theYorkshire Dales.
In November 1969, amulti-storey car park with space for 350 cars was opened in Nelson.[29] The car park was demolished in 2019 to make way for aMcDonalds.[30]
In December 2008, the town's newbus and rail interchange was opened at a site which used the existing railway station.[31] The new interchange facility cost £4.5 million and included enhancements such as cycle stands, taxi and car drop-off facilities, electronic information displays, a direct link to the railway station including a passenger lift and an enclosed passenger concourse with 10 bus stands.[32]
Rail services to and from Nelson are provided byNorthern. The Interchange has an hourly stopping service 7 days a week west toBlackpool South via Blackburn and Preston, and east toColne.
The main bus operator in Nelson isBurnley Bus Company, although Tyrer Bus, Boomerang and Holmeswood operate some services.National Express operates one coach service to LondonVictoria Coach Station each day from the Interchange. The town has good bus links into Burnley with peak hour services on toManchester: X43Witch Way service (operated by Burnley Bus Company) runs from Burnley andRawtenstall toManchester city centre, using a fleet of specially brandeddouble-decker buses with leather seats and WiFi. Some early morning X43 journeys to/from Manchester start and end at Nelson instead of Burnley.[citation needed]
Nelson F.C. wereFootball League members from 1921 until 1931 and played in the lower semi-professional leagues until resigning from the North West Counties League in 2010 (returning in 2011).Nelson F.C were the firstEnglish team to beatReal Madrid inSpain, in 1923.[33]
Nelson Cricket Club was established in 1861 and was a founding member of theLancashire League in 1892.[34] Nelson Cricket club has a significant success record, with 21Lancashire League championship titles to its name.[35] During the inter-war period, when the club enjoyed the services ofLearie Constantine, theWest Indiancricketer; when in 1969 Constantine became the first person ofAfrican descent to be given alife peerage, he chose to be gazetted as Baron Constantine, ofMaraval in Trinidad and Tobago and of Nelson in theCounty Palatine of Lancaster.[36] Nelson field three senior teams in theLancashire League[35] and an established junior training section that play competitive cricket in the Lancashire Junior League.[37]
Speedway racing was staged at Seedhill Stadium from 1967 to 1970.[38][39] TheNelson Admirals were founder members of theBritish League Division Two.[40] The team later moved en bloc toOdsal Stadium,Bradford. The track was also used for stock car racing.
The town also has two golf clubs. Marsdon Park Golf Club on Townhouse Road in an 18 hole municipal, par 70 parkland golf course that opened in 1968.[41] Nelson Golf Club, founded in 1902, is private club with an 18-hole moorland golf course in Kings Causeway.[42]
Nelson Wrestling Club is affiliated the British Wrestling Association.[43]
The town is home to several parks the most notable of which are Victoria Park and Marsden Park. TheHeritage Trust for the North West have numerous campaigns and projects in the area. One has resulted in the restoration and conservation of a whole street of Victorian workers housing, a former primary school and cotton mill, as it was feared that the industrial heritage of the town was at risk.[44] St Mary's Church is also another major project in the town, which is planned to open as an exhibition centre in Summer 2012.[45]
Nelson along with the neighbouring town ofColne are mentioned in the 1991 songIt's Grim Up North by the bandKLF.
Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC North West andITV Granada. Television signals are received from theWinter Hill TV transmitter and the local relay TV transmitter located in theForest of Pendle.[46][47]
Local radio for Nelson is currently provided byCapital Manchester and Lancashire formerly2BR andBBC Radio Lancashire, and – since September 2007 – by community radio servicePendle Community Radio, aimed primarily at the localAsian community. There are two local newspapers: theNelson Leader, published on Fridays, and the dailyLancashire Telegraph, which publishes a local edition for Burnley and Pendle.
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Media related toNelson, Lancashire at Wikimedia Commons
