Mill museum receives £800k from government fund

The mill's original machinery has made it a popular filming location, including for the 2004 drama North and South

A Lancashire mill museum, which featured in the Oscar-winning film The King's Speech, has been allocated more than £800,000 of government funding.

Queen Street Mill Textile Museum in Burnley is the only surviving 19th Century steam-powered weaving mill in the world but closed in 2016 for three years due to financial constraints.

It is among hundreds of heritage and cultural venues nationwide to have been granted cash as part of the government's Arts Everywhere Fund.

The money will be used for repairs to the mill's northlight roof to protect its collection of more than 300 historic looms and machinery, Lancashire County Council has said.

The government has described the creative industries as "one of the eight growth-driving sectors in the government's industrial strategy - with the potential to boost economic growth throughout communities in the UK".

The mill museum has been granted £813,115 by the government's Arts Everywhere Fund

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the fund would "allow the arts to continue to flourish across Britain, creating good jobs and growth by fixing the foundations in our cultural venues, museums, libraries and heritage institutions".

Queen Street Mill will receive the highest grant awarded in north-west England, where other recipients include Furness Abbey in Cumbria and the Fusilier Museum and Learning Centre in Bury.

Library reopening

The mill started operating in 1895 with a thousand looms weaving calico cloth, which was the main type of cotton cloth made by Lancashire's industry.

Following the decline of the manufacturing sector, it became a museum in 1986 and is now owned by Lancashire County Council.

Some of the mill's original machinery has provided a backdrop for the BBC dramas North and South and Life on Mars.

Colin Firth, who won an Oscar for his performance in the 2010 film The King's Speech, described it as "a thing of beauty" in the visitors' book.

The museum, which is open for pre-booked visits during the winter, will reopen to the public in the spring.

Its entrance will also accommodate the former Briercliffe Library, which shut in 2016 due to council savings.

Rebecca Ball, north area director at Arts Council England, said the government grant "comes at a vital time for our region's museums".

Lancashire County Council added that it would also contribute funds for the museum's upkeep.