The archive is extensive and we aim to make many of these images available online.
*SEPTEMBER 2025 UPDATE*
There are now more than 17,553 images on the website including those on our Other Collections section. There are more images to see if you View our Articles section to read longer articles written by our volunteers on a range of historical subjects.
We have received a donation of Burco Dean archive material which has not yet been digitised for the website but you will find information about Burco Dean and a small selection of images on our Articles page.
We are now operating without the benefit of Heritage Lottery Funding and welcome donations to enable us to continue scanning negatives and making them available on the website. Donations can be made directly to us or via JUSTGIVING
Or scan our Just Giving account QR Code
BCTHIC is most thankful for the generous donations made by:
Burnley Rotary, Burnley Pendleside Rotary, Stocks Massey Bequest Fund, Celeste & Kevin (in Canada) and other donors who have contributed to our funds to enable this project to continue after our Heritage Lottery funding ceased.
All funding contributions are gratefully accepted
We WELCOME NEW VOLUNTEERS and have vacancies on our Wednesday and Thursday afternoon sessions. If you can spare a couple of hours why not contact us and arrange a visit to the archive. All that is needed are some basic computer skills and an interest in local history. PENDLE AND WEST CRAVEN images can be found in the Surrounding Districts pages and we would welcome volunteers from the Pendle area to digitise images and stories about this area as we have no volunteers working on this area at the moment.
We have produced a short history about the project which you can download.
50 years Ago
The old Baptist chapel now cocooned in scaffolding.
One of the Burnley area's most historic buildings, the old Baptist Chapel at Goodshaw, has been saved from the ravages of time and the vandals. Indeed the building, believed to be one of the oldest of its kind left in the country, is only standing now because the former owners, the trustees of the present Goodshaw Baptist Church, could not raise the money to demolish it. The chapel, built in 1753, has been handed over to the Department of the Environment, who are spending thousands of pounds restoring it to its former glory.
Local Baptists, who hold their anniversary services at the building every July, will be able to continue with this tradition, except that for the first time in years they will be able to go inside the building instead of merely using the graveyard. The Rev. Andrew Linnell, minister of the present Baptist Church said: "We are very pleased that the old chapel is being saved. The cost of doing this is so high that it was well beyond the means of our members. In fact we couldn't even afford to demolish it. The Department of the Environment was interested in the building because of its age and the fact that it has remained virtually unchanged. There were older Baptist chapels in the area, but these have been pulled down."
The old chapel was built with loving care by the hand loom weavers and farmers of the 18th century. It replaced an older chapel at Lumb, and the pews were carried across the moors from Lumb to Goodshaw.
