Collections

Towneley Hall, which dates from the 14th Century and has been open as a public museum since 1903, contains an extremely varied collection of around 30,000 individual objects. These include artworks, natural history specimens, costume, ancient Egyptian artefacts, historic furniture and social history collections.

Through the collections we explore the many stories held within Towneley. To help our visitors navigate these varied and inter-connected themes we have developed our ‘Ten Towneley Stories‘.

Collectors & Benefactors

The collections at Towneley have grown through generous personal donations, public funding applications and the support of numerous organisations such as the Towneley Hall Society. Some of the earliest collections came to Towneley via local people who’s wealth and ability to travel enabled them to support Burnley’s first public museum and art gallery, these include the Sir Herbert Wright, Edward Stocks Massey and Alice, Lady O’Hagan.

Visual Arts

The visual arts collection comprises oil paintings watercolours, book illustrations, sculpture and ceramics. Renown artists such as John William Waterhouse, Margaret Deborah Cooksley and Joseph Mallard William Turner as well as local artists are represented within the fine art art collection. The ceramics collection include pieces by Susie Cooper and Clarice Cliff as well as over 200 examples of Pilkington’s Royal Lancastrian pottery.

Ancient Egypt

Towneley is home to over 400 ancient Egyptian artefacts. The collection includes everyday items such as mirrors, vessels and jewellery as well as funerary goods and sacred items. Towneley also cares for the mummified remains of a young man who lived during the Ptolemaic dynasty, around 2,400 years ago.

Faith & Political Thinking

This history of religious persecution, refuge and political action is represented throughout Towneley Hall, both in the collections and the building itself. The Towneley family’s commitment to Catholicism during the Reformation of the 1500’s can be seen in the existence the Priest Hide and the survival of the Whalley Abbey Vestments. The collection includes badges, banners and commerortive pottery made in support of women’s suffrage, employment rights and political movements.

Social History

This is the largest and most diverse of the collections at Towneley, representing many different aspects of life in Burnley through objects such as tools, machinery and domestic items, photographs, letters, costume and textiles. This is also the collection we are most keen to grow and develop to ensure we continue to tell the stories of Burnley’s past and changing communities.

Furniture & Clocks

Towneley cares for more than 300 items of regional English oak furniture and clocks dating from the 1600’s. The collection includes tables cabinets, chest and beds, as well as over 80 chairs, and is considered among the best in the country. Burnley clock makers such as Robert Davis and Henry Blakeborough are represented in the collection.

Natural History

This collection comprises taxidermy examples of local wildlife, pressed flowers and botanical specimens, fossils, shells, minerals and insects. The collection includes rare examples of ‘leucistic’ birds collected by the taxidermist George Booth showing unusual patterns of pigmentation.

Towneley People

The Hall was home to the Towneley family and their staff for over 600 years before becoming a public museum and art gallery in 1902. Traces of the many people who lived and worked at the Hall can still be felt in the architecture of the building, the worn steps of the servants quarters and the collections which have been gifted, loaned and purchased for the collection.

Military People

The contribution and sacrifice made by many Burnley people in Britain military past is represented through around 1000 objects which includes weaponry, uniforms, memorials and medals. The Victoria Crosses awarded during the First World War to Second Lieutenant Victor Smith and Private Thomas Whitham can be viewed in the Burnley Room.

Architecture

The oldest parts of the Hall date back to 1380, but would be unrecognisable today to the people who knew it then. In response to their changing status and the needs of the age in which they lived, the Towneley family made a series significant changes to Hall. During its 600 year history as a home the Hall grew from a simple single story dwelling to the grand building it is today. When Towneley became a museum the Hall changed again, making transforming its domestic spaces into galleries. The recent restoration works have revealed more the Hall’s history.

View Collections Online

You can explore some of the items in our online collection.

The art gallery boasts a spectacular collection of oil paintings including works by Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema, John William Waterhouse and Johan Zoffany.

A programme of exhibitions in the galleries cover a wide range of arts and crafts. There is always something new to see.

Explore our collection on Art UK, the online showcase for art in every UK public collection.

If you have a collections enquiry, or would like to know how to donate to the collection, please visit our Contact Us page.

Explore our online collections

Online Exhibition

 

100 Stories

100 stories from the Great War - over 100 years ago

Just over 100 years ago the world order was shattered by the start of a war that had an impact like no other, before or since. A large percentage of...

Online Exhibition

 

Fifty Years of Burnley Youth Theatre

2023 marks 50 years since Burnley Youth Theatre opened its doors and became a second home to so many people. Turning 50 means we have quite the story to tell....

Online Exhibition

 

Jewish Refugees in Burnley

This is a story of refugees. Refugees who escaped segregation, isolation, persecution, hatred, violence and extreme danger from many in their home country. The time is the late 1930s. Whilst...

Online Exhibition

 

Parkinsons’ Kilkof and Kures

150 years of cures and cooking explored through these vibrant labels.

The manufacturing chemist firm established by Richard Parkinson lasted nearly 150 years. Richard was born in Salterforth near Colne c1816 and spent much of his early life around that area....

Online Exhibition

 

The Bones of Towneley Hall

The team at Towneley Hall have been working with the University of Lancashire since 2024, providing opportunities for their archaeology students to gain experience of working in a museum environment...

Online Exhibition

 

The Towneley Collection

A treasure trove of objects from around the world, here at Towneley

A treasure trove of objects from around the world, brought together, here at Towneley as part of our collections.

Online Exhibition

 

Towneley 120

A selection of images celebrating 120 years of Towneley opening as a public park

In 2022, Towneley Park celebrates 120 years being open as a public park. When opened by the Corporation in June the park was much smaller than now. Over the 120...

Online Exhibition

 

Victory in Europe Day: May 8th 1945

A beautiful handwritten book in Towneley Hall reveals the toll taken on Burnley by the Second World War. The Roll of Honour records the names of nearly 700 local service...

Online Exhibition

 

Wish You Were Here

A collection of Towneley's vintage postcards and the stories behind them

Postcards had been around since the late 1800s and collecting was already carried out before the ‘divided back’ was introduced. The new layout meant the front was used for the...