From 1673 to 1819, the majority of Burnley Wood was glebe land in the ownership of St Peter's Church, and as such could not be developed. However, by 1825, as Burnley began to expand rapidly as a burgeoning cotton manufacturing town, spurred on by the completion of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1801, back-to-back cottages and mills began to develop along the canal at Lane Bridge around Finsley Gate. Between 1825 and 1844 Spring Gardens Mill, together with back-to-back housing were built between Plumbe Street and Eastgate (now Yorkshire Street) and coal mining also began to take place on the north bank of the River Calder between Plumbe Street and Oxford Road.