Former Burnley Cooperative Society Premises

The former Burnley Cooperative Society premises, dated 1885, 1889, and 1899, are located on Hammerton Street, Burnley. The 1885 and 1889 sections were designed by G.B. Rawcliffe of Burnley, while the 1899 section is attributed to Thomas Bell, also of Burnley. The building is likely steel-framed, with a cladding of sandstone ashlar and hipped slate roofs, and is constructed in a Renaissance style. It presents as a long, continuous facade with an irregular plan divided into three sections.

The exterior features three tall storeys over a basement, with 3+5+3 bays. All sections share features including banded pilasters and a cornice at ground floor, a panelled band between the first and second floors, a plain frieze, and parapets with central pediments, though the specific details differ between sections. The northernmost section has a wide, central three-window bay with arcaded, round-headed windows on the first floor and segmental-headed windows on the second. The outer bays feature large, transomed six-light windows. A central plaque bears the inscription "1885/ BURNLEY/ CENTRAL/ CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY/ STORES." The central section has a doorway in the first bay, designed in the Venetian style with Ionic colonnettes. Upper floor windows are coupled and round-headed, with set-in colonnettes of polished pink granite (Tuscan at the first floor and Corinthian at the second floor). A frieze between the upper floors reads "CENTRAL / 1889 / STORES," and a balustraded parapet incorporates a pedimented central feature with a carved beehive and the words "SWEETS OF INDUSTRY." The southern section mirrors the northern one but includes a balustraded parapet with a central pediment and the inscription "1899/ BURNLEY/ CENTRAL / CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY / STORES." A return wall features large, transomed windows, and the rear of the building displays cross-windows at ground floor, mullioned windows above, and a tall square chimney stack.

The interior includes a staircase lined with decorative glazed tiles, and a former meeting hall and boardroom located on the first floor. This building forms a group with numbers 10, 12, and 14 on the opposite side of the street and collectively represent the growth of the Burnley Cooperative Society between 1862 and 1905.