Barnoldswick, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Barnoldswick is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in the county of Lancashire, England. It lies near the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Stock Beck, a tributary of the River Ribble, runs through the town.

Barnoldswick and the surrounding areas of West Craven were previously part of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, but in 1974 local government was reorganised; West Riding County Council and Barnoldswick Urban District Council were abolished and the area transferred to the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire.

On the lower slopes of Weets Hill in the Pennines, astride the natural watershed between the Ribble and Aire valleys, Barnoldswick is the highest town on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, lying on the summit level of the canal between Barrowford Locks to the south west and Greenberfield Locks just north east of the town, 30 miles (48 km) from Leeds, Manchester and Preston.

Nearby towns include Skipton to the east, Clitheroe to the west, Burnley to the south, and Keighley to the east southeast.

Local industry Since 1854, Barnoldswick has been the home of Esse stoves, one of the country's oldest standing stove manufacturers. The company have manufactured in the town since 1854 and clients have included Florence Nightingale, Shackleton and Scott, Alan Hinkes and River Cottage. Esse have their head office at the Ouzledale Factory in the town and distribute all their stoves through a close link of specialist stove retailers.

Barnoldswick is also home to Silentnight Beds, the United Kingdom's largest manufacturer of beds and mattresses. Silentnight, part of the Silentnight Group, has its head office and manufacturing premises in the town. Silentnight is noteworthy in trade union history (in this case Furniture, Timber and Allied Trades Union) as having the longest ever strike, from 1985 to 1987.

Rolls-Royce plc is a large employer based in the town. It was originally Bankfield Shed, a cotton weaving mill that Rover used to produce the production version of Whittle's gas turbine and was purchased by Rolls-Royce in 1943. The model number of many Rolls-Royce jet engines start with the initials RB (e.g. RB199) which stands for Rolls Barnoldswick, as Rolls-Royce aero's design centre was situated in Barnoldswick.

Hope Technology, a manufacturer of mountain bike parts such as disc brakes, hubs, and headsets, is based in Barnoldswick. Albert Hartley Textiles is the last remaining textiles mill in the town and is a big employer for the local area. Originally, there were thirteen mills in the town, the last being constructed in 1920. There are currently plans to renovate the mill and create a local apprenticeship scheme.

Put in place by Manchester-based property developers, Capital & Centric Plc the scheme would involve construction of a new factory, and a medium-sized supermarket. The plans were approved over two other competing schemes in August 2012, the council citing that, in addition to adhering with planning policy, the site on Harley was favoured, because of the job creation for the town.