Bid to give our past a future...

The area includes the site of a former 12th century Cistercian abbey as well as the beginnings of the town's industrial heritage. Mills, examples of early farmhouses and handloom weavers' cottages and some of the town's most attractive countryside and parkland will be preserved if the proposed conservation area gets the go- ahead.

Land between Calf Hall Beck and Gillians Beck including Manchester Road and Gillians Lane, Letcliffe Park and Butts Beck will be included in the scheme.

Pendle Borough Council's conservation project officer Rosemary Lyons said: "The landscape forms a highly attractive setting for the town and bears much of earlier settlement such as the dry stone walls and the cobbled tracks and simple stone bridges used by mill workers and handloom weavers.

"Mature hedgerows and groups of trees set within the steeply sloping fields contribute much to the character and appearance. The proposed boundary also includes the presumed site of the former Cistercian abbey at Monkroyd and Letcliffe Park which was laid out in the early 1900s and provides panoramic views across to the Dales."

The proposed Calf Hall and Gillians Conservation Area lies to the south and west of the existing Barnoldswick Conservation Area which was extended in 2003 to include Corn Mill and Valley Gardens.

Those behind the project hope the new conservation area will help moves to create the Stream and Steam heritage trail and tap into grants from the Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme which can only be given to designated properties in conservation areas.

Two Grade II listed buildings Lower Calf Hall, a 17th century farmhouse, and Newfield Edge, built in 1770 for the Mitchell family and later bought by prominent local industrialist William Bracewell, are included in the conservation area.

West Craven councillors are expected to approve one month's consultation with residents, businesses and interested groups about the scheme when they meet on April 5.