THE use of an iconic Burnley mill in a television documentary about the cotton industry may not come as a surprise to proud people in the town.

But it’s where it will be aired that will raise a few eyebrows with one or two residents.

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Viewers in South Korea will soon be learning about East Lancashire’s industrial past after a film crew visited Queen Street Mill Textile Museum (QSM) in Queen Street.

The South Korean crew were there to record footage for a new TV documentary called ‘Empire of the Sea’.

The mill was chosen to showcase the importance of ‘King Cotton’ and will feature in the four-part series highlighting how goods, including cotton, influenced world trade. Other goods covered in the series include tea, sugar and black pepper.

The series is currently being shown on South Korean television.

Sarah Taylor, Lancashire County Council’s museum manager at the mill, said: “The documentary producers were really keen to film a Lancashire loom working to give viewers a feel of a time when QSM was a thriving cotton-weaving mill and cotton was an important commodity around the world.

“It was a pleasure to welcome the crew and to have the opportunity to show them around. Lancashire’s industrial heritage is something we’re all very proud of, and it’s great to think that people in South Korea will get to see our historic mill in action.”

QSM is the world’s last surviving 19th century steam-powered weaving mill. Visitors can relive the days when cotton was king and see the magnificent steam engine, Peace, driving over 300 looms in the weaving shed.

This documentary is also not the mill’s only brush with fame as it was also used for scenes in Oscar-winning movie The King’s Speech starring Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Gambon, Guy Pearce and Geoffrey Rush.

Admission is £3 for adults, £2 for concessions. Accompanied children and Burnley residents go free.

The museum opens in March until the end of November.

For more information please phone 01282 412555 or email queenstreetmill@lancashire.gov.uk.