Altham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Hyndburn, in Lancashire, England. It is the only parish in the borough - the remainder is an unparished area. The village is 4.3 miles (6.9 km) west of Burnley, 2.9 miles (4.7 km) north of Accrington, and 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of Clayton-le-Moors, and is on the A678 Blackburn to Burnley road. The River Calder passes to the north of the village, and forms part of the parish boundary. In the south west corner of the parish is Altham West, a suburb of Accrington.
The 2001 census recorded a population of 897, increasing to 1,137 at the 2011 Census.
The Ham class minesweeper HMS Altham was named after the village.
Coal mining was the major industry in Altham in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After the Leeds and Liverpool Canal was opened in the 1810s, pits were located near the canal, and supplied coal to the industries of East Lancashire. Later in the century Altham Colliery (later renamed Moorfield Colliery) was opened. The colliery closed in 1949, and Moorfield Industrial Estate is now on the site. An explosion at the colliery in 1883 resulted in the deaths of 68 people.
Altham is now home to two industrial estates, Altham Industrial Estate within the village and Moorfield Industrial Estate in the southwest of the parish near Clayton-le-Moors.
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