HELMSHORE Museum and Queen Street Mill will receive £60,000 from the Culture Recovery Fund.

The Textile Industry Collection is one of 1,385 cultural and creative organisations across Lancashire receiving urgently needed support from the Government's £1.57 billion pot to save the arts.

An investment of £257 million has been announced as part of the very first round of the Culture Recovery Fund grants programme being administered by Arts Council England, with further rounds of funding in the cultural and heritage sector are due to be announced over the coming weeks.

Lancashire County Museum Service has been awarded £65,000 as part of the CRF to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure they have a sustainable future.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “This funding is a vital boost for the theatres, music venues, museums and cultural organisations that form the soul of our nation. It will protect these special places, save jobs and help the culture sector’s recovery.

“These places and projects are cultural beacons the length and breadth of the country. This unprecedented investment in the arts is proof this government is here for culture, with further support to come in the days and weeks ahead so that the culture sector can bounce back strongly.”

The collections held at Helmshore Mill, Higher Mill Helmshore, Queen Street Mill in Burnley, and additional archive material held by LCC Record Office, are together recognised by the Arts Council as a Designated Collection.

County Councillor Peter Buckley, Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for community and cultural services, said: "Lancashire is rich in its heritage and culture, and our collections and venues reflect that diversity and uniqueness.

"Our Mills are an important part of this heritage and their unique appeal is that they are cotton and wool manufactories operating with original machinery in original locations.

"Preserving and developing specialist skills required to run this equipment is vital, and this grant from Arts Council England will help us to do that."

This scheme identifies and celebrates outstanding collections, of national or international significance, which deepen our understanding of the world and what it means to be human. Together the collections cover the story of the industrial revolution, of British invention and innovation, of colonialism and a world dominating industry.

Helmshore is a site dating from 1789 powered first by water, then steam and finally electricity, charting 200 years of industrial development.

Queen Street Mill is a different industrial story, a weaving shed built in 1896 and operated by the Queen Street Manufacturing Company until closure in 1982, it was located away from the valley floor on a hill between Burnley and Nelson a location made possible by the advent of steam power.

Chair, Arts Council England, Sir Nicholas Serota, said: “Theatres, museums, galleries, dance companies and music venues bring joy to people and life to our cities, towns and villages. This life-changing funding will save thousands of cultural spaces loved by local communities and international audiences. Further funding is still to be announced and we are working hard to support our sector during these challenging times.”