The map shows Burnley at an important transition in its history, transforming itself from small market town into one of the major British industrial centres of the 19th Century. With evidence of the many cotton factories there is no doubt about the dominant industry of the time, although a woollen mill can be seen along with a print works and two foundries. Coal mining was also an important occupation, with collieries and pits scattered closely around the town centre. Originally connected to both Leeds and Liverpool by canal, the town has recently entered the railway age which is to ensure the town's future industrial development.
Despite the burgeoning industry which, over the next fifty years, will turn Burnley into a grimy northern mill town, in 1848 there is still a feeling of rustic charm and space, with open countryside and a race course still only a few hundred yards from the town centre. The parkland of a gentleman's residence, Bank Hall, is seen within half a mile of the market house. By the end of the century this area will be dominated by serried rows of terraced housing and smoky large scale industry.
