Oldham
Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...
is a town in the
Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is named after its largest town, Oldham. The borough had a population of in , making it the sixth-largest district by population in Greater Manch ...
,
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
, England, and it is
unparished. The town and the surrounding countryside contain 102
listed buildings
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
that are recorded in the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...
. Of these, four are listed at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade.
Until the coming of the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
, Oldham was a small settlement in an agricultural region. By the early 19th century, it had become an important centre for handloom weaving. The cotton spinning industry grew, initially though small firms, and later by large mills. By the late 19th century, "Oldham was the leading mill town in the world". In the town were the factories of
Platt Brothers, who were the largest manufacturers of cotton processing machines in the world. Many of the cotton mills were designed by members of the firm of
Stott and Sons. Since the decline of the cotton industry, many mills have been demolished, and others have been converted for other uses.
The listed buildings reflect this history, the oldest ones being houses, farmhouses and farm buildings. Then came houses with facilities for domestic weaving, with workshop windows on the upper storeys, and later the large cotton mills. As the wealth of the town grew, so did the buildings, including churches, civic buildings and commercial buildings. Local philanthropists contributed to some of the buildings, and they are commemorated in memorials.__NOTOC__
Key
Buildings
References
Citations
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oldham
Lists of listed buildings in Greater Manchester
Listed