A MUSEUM has turned back time to display an iconic piece of Burnley’s history.

A segment of a landmark clock which used to stand on the side of John Watts’ Clock Tower Mill can now be seen by people in the Weavers’ Triangle Visitor Centre at Burnley Wharf.

It was the only piece of the mill to have remained in tact after a fire in 1987 ripped through a large part of the building.

Cllr Jeff Sumner, mayor of Burnley, said he would urge people to go and see the clock that once meant a lot to the town.

He said: “Back in the 1800s people could not afford clocks and the Watts’ Mill clock was how people in the top end of town knew what time it was.

“It’s been kept by a historian until now and I think it’s a great piece of memorabilia to have in the centre.

“The centre is a fantastic place to go because it just takes you back in time to how Burnley has looked over the years.

“Everything was smashed to smithereens in the fire and this was the only thing that was salvaged.

“The mill was what really set Burnley off in the textile industry so it is iconic.

“I would urge people to come down and take a look.”

The Weavers’ Triangle is a modern name for the area on the banks of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal that was once at the heart of the town’s textile industry.

At the visitor centre people can take a look at a Victorian schoolroom, Edwardian bathroom and weaver’s dwelling and find out how cotton was made.

The Clock Tower Mill, which was situated within the Weavers Triangle complex, was built in the 1840s by George Slater and was demolished in 2004 after being left empty following the fire for 17 years.

Burnley Council and English Heritage fought to save the Grade-II listed structure but the effects of the fire eventually proved too much and it was in danger of collapse.

Work has now started on the site of the mill off Sandygate for an ambitious new apartment complex on behalf of Barnfield Construction.

A total of 16 apartments, also overlooking the new Sandygate public square, will be offered to first-time buyers as starter homes, with a minimum 20 per cent discount on their market value, under the joint HCA scheme.

People have not lived in the former cotton industry heartland of the town for decades.