The town began to develop in the early medieval period as a number of farming hamlets surrounded by manor houses and royal forests, and has held a market for more than 700 years.

During the Industrial Revolution it became one of Lancashire's most prominent mill towns; at its peak, it was one of the world's largest producers of cotton cloth and a major centre of engineering.

It has been claimed that the nearby earthworks of Ring Stones Camp (53°47′35″N 2°10′26″W / 53.793°N 2.174°W / 53.793; -2.174),[6] Twist Castle (53°48′00″N 2°10′16″W / 53.800°N 2.171°W / 53.800; -2.171)[7] and Beadle Hill (53°48′11″N 2°10′08″W / 53.803°N 2.169°W / 53.803; -2.169)[8] are of Roman origin, but little supporting archaeological information has been published.

Local place-names Padiham and Habergham show the influence of the Angles, suggesting that some had settled in the area by the early 7th century;[4] sometime later the land became part of the hundred of Blackburnshire.

The town continued to be centred on St Peter's Church, until the market was moved to the bottom of what is today Manchester Road, at the end of the 19th century.

[4] The arrival of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1796 made possible transportation of goods in bulk, bringing a huge boost to the area's economy and the town of Burnley was born.

Victoria Crosses were awarded to two soldiers from the town, Hugh Colvin and Thomas Whitham, along with a third to resident (and only son of the chief constable) Alfred Victor Smith.

In 1926 a memorial to the fallen was erected in Towneley Park, funded by Caleb Thornber, former mayor and alderman of the borough to ensure the sacrifice of the men lost was commemorated.

[25] During the Second World War, Burnley largely escaped the Blitz, with the only Luftwaffe bomb to known to have fallen within the town landing near the conservatory at Thompson Park on 27 October 1940.

On the night of 12 October the control shelter at the Starfish site near Crown Point suffered a direct hit, killing Aircraftman L R Harwood, and severely injuring four other men.

New construction projects included the Charter Walk shopping centre, Centenary Way and its flyover, the Keirby Hotel, a new central bus station, a large scale housing development known as Trafalgar Gardens, and a number of office blocks.

Although the route, next to the railway and over the former Clifton colliery site, was chosen to minimise the clearance of occupied land, Yatefield, Olive Mount and Whittlefield Mills, Burnley Barracks, and several hundred more terrace houses had to be demolished.

Unusually this route passed close to the town centre and had a partitioning effect on the districts of Gannow, Ightenhill, Whittlefield, Rose Grove and Lowerhouse to the north.

[34] The millennium brought some improvement projects, notably the "Forest of Burnley" scheme,[35] which planted approximately a million trees throughout the town and its outskirts, and the creation of the Lowerhouse Lodges local nature reserve.

[36] In June 2001, during the 2001 England riots, the town again received national attention following a series of violent disturbances arising from racial tensions between some of its White and Asian residents.

The borough comprises 15 wards, 12 of which – Bank Hall, Briercliffe, Brunshaw, Coal Clough with Deerplay, Daneshouse with Stoneyholme, Gannow, Lanehead, Queensgate, Rosegrove with Lowerhouse, Rosehill with Burnley Wood, Trinity, and Whittlefield with Ightenhill – fall within the town itself.

[60] A series of high-profile regeneration schemes, including: a direct rail link to Manchester,[61] an aerospace supply village[62] and multimillion-pound investment in the former Victorian industrial heartland through a project called 'On The Banks' [63] are radically transforming the economy of the Lancashire town.

The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable, said in 2013: "Burnley in the north of Lancashire is currently now booming economically on the back of manufacturing and proximity to the aerospace industry.

[86] The site is now earmarked for a cinema and restaurants and is due to open in 2016[87] As well as Woolworths, the Great Recession led to the closure of T J Hughes, Miss Selfridge, and HMV but the project gained new high street names in large retail units including Next and River Island.

The area has been identified as being of significant historical interest as the cotton mills and associated buildings encapsulate the social and economic development of the town and its weaving industry.

From the town centre, the A646 runs to Todmorden, the A679 to Accrington, the A671 to Clitheroe, and the A682 (a nearby rural section of which has been classified as Britain's most dangerous road)[98] south to Rawtenstall and north east to Nelson and the Yorkshire Dales.

This provides a direct route to Manchester Victoria for the first time in over fifty years with the construction of a short section of track at the Hall Royd Junction of the Caldervale Line (known as the Todmorden curve).

They field three senior sides, with teams at most junior age groups, and play at Holden Road, the site of Belvedere and Calder Vale Sports Club.

In 2001, the private Crow Wood Leisure Centre was established in countryside on the edge of the town, offering a combination of fitness facilities, racquet and equestrian sports.

A greenway route linking Burnley Central Station along a former mineral line and incorporating the former Bank Hall colliery and reclaimed landfill site at Heasandford extends out of the town towards Worsthorne at Rowley Lake.

[130] Local charities, organisations, youth groups and trade unions were in attendance at the parade which was led by RuPaul’s Drag Race UK contestant, Elektra Fence.

[132] In 1971 the granting of a licence to the town's first gay club, The Esquire, caused considerable controversy, with Tory deputy council leader, Alderman Frank Bailey, suggesting that the building be bought by the corporation to stop the plan.

[133] A rainbow plaque was unveiled at Burnley Library on 30 July 2021 marking the 50th anniversary of a meeting organised by the Campaign for Homosexual Equality regarding the gay club.

[154] Other actors born in the town include J. Pat O'Malley, Mary Mackenzie, Irene Sutcliffe, Julia Haworth, Richard Moore,[155][156] Jody Latham, Kathy Jamieson, Hannah Hobley, Natalie Gumede and Lee Ingleby.

Crime writer Stephen Booth is another native of the town,[163] as are journalist and broadcaster Tony Livesey and author and documentary maker Stewart Binns.