If you do, look up number 483 in the series. It was published on March 11th. That article was about a long-forgotten building which stood in Church Street between what is now the Talbot and the river. Those of you who have not kept the article may recall the photo was a particularly interesting one, not only because of the property but also because of a steam-powered tram which appeared in the picture.

A few of you have contacted me about the tram. One correspondent wanted to know about the advert which appeared on the side of the vehicle – it was for Smith & Co., tailors and outfitters at 9 Manchester Road, Burnley – but most of you were interested in what might have been in the small truck being hauled by the tram. In this case, your guess is as good as mine but it looks to me as if the truck might have contained soil or building rubble.

The photo for article 483 was taken in the late 1880s and it is likely the one I publish today comes from the same period. There is, though, a connection between today's picture and the one used a month or so ago.
Both pictures are of Church Street but they are of property on either side of the Brun. In the picture you see before you, the bridge, which carries Church Street, can be seen on both the right and left of the photo. The March picture was taken from the bridge itself, the photo looking towards the town centre, rather than away from it.

Many readers will know exactly where we are this week because the larger of the two buildings shown is still standing. I always refer to it as "1837" – the year Queen Victoria came to the throne – because that date is visible on the pediment high above the door. The address of the building with the datestone is 83 Church Street though, originally it would have been in Fenkin Street, a name I would like to see re-introduced.

In 1914 the property was occupied by Mrs Isabella Shaw who was a confectioner. Next door (number 85) lived a Mrs Wood and, next to her, a Mrs Frances Pollard. At 89, Mr John Hicks, a joiner, lived. The last property (91) was occupied by Mr George Sutcliffe who was one of Burnley's many basket-makers. Some of you will remember this house as the Dog & Sardine, short-lived restaurant, which, unfortunately, I did not get round to visiting.

Mr Sutcliffe lived at 6 Dawson Square only the top of which you can see in the photo. Dawson Square is the short street which runs to the right, off Church Street. The name is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, still in use in Burnley. It derives from a Walter Dawson who owned property "between the grange and the cross" in the 15th Century.
What became the Square originally gave access to Walter's house, parts of which may remain in the building (still used as a house) at the top of the square. Shorey Well was also accessed from Dawson Square by stepping stones, though this route is now no longer in use. There is, however, compensation in the attractive and unexpected garden in this location.

The low building in front of Dawson Square was in fact a row of about six small cottages some of which, in the past, have been occupied by handloom weavers. There is a drawing of this area as it was circa 1880 and the cottages are shown as being of two storeys at the Dawson Square elevation but three on the riverbank. Each of them, it appears, had small outhouses at the back and steps on to the river where the women are assumed to have done their weekly washing.

I am afraid I cannot be precise about the date the cottages were built. They were certainly not built all at the same time, the change in the roof-line confirms this, but they look to be older than the "1837" cottages on the other side of the square. The fact they appear in Fishwick's map of 1827 and they could be, perhaps, 15 to 20 years older than that.

Similarly, I cannot be sure when the cottages were pulled down. They were certainly there in the later 1880s and, according to maps of 1896 and 1909, they were unaltered. But, in 1910, they had been replaced by the buildings on the site at the present time. However, I am not sure the present buildings are as late as 1910.

The last thing to tell you about is the bridge. At first one would assume there was some sort of crossing, a ford, perhaps, but again, it is not known when the first bridge was built. There is a mention of a bridge, at roughly this location being in a poor state of repair in 1648. In 1737 a new bridge was constructed on a slightly different site (some yards nearer to St Peter's Church) and in 1873 this latter bridge was widened into the one that you can see in the picture.

Notice that there is only one track for the trams across the bridge and there are low walls at either side of it. These latter, along with the tramlines, have gone but enough remains in this area to remind us of its interesting past.

The photo is published by kind permission of Mr and Mrs T. and S. Sutcliffe, of Briercliffe.