Belmont and Belthorn Lancashire Paintings by Rob Miller RSA



St Peter and Blue Lagoon, Belmont
Ink, Pastel and watercolour



Belthorn from acrioss the Grane
Ink, pastel and watercolour

Two moorland villages which owe their existence to the Cotton industry, in Belmont the lake was installed to provide water for the bleach mill, and the church was installed to provide a path way to heaven, over the moor in Belthorn the village sits high above the valley in fact its one of the highest lancashire villages. "In this era there was a thriving handloom industry evident by the style of the older cottages in the village. With the industrial revolution the main industry became coal and fire clay mining with many small drift mines being established at the foot of the escarpment and later, much larger and deeper shaft workings linking mines as far away as Oswaldtwistle. Despite this grim sounding industrial heritage there is little to see with most of the mine surface workings overgrown or  leveled and returned to a natural state, grazed by sheep and cattle." Belthorn History society see Belthorn Village Society  and cotten town history of mining in Blackburn