Saddleworth Museum & Art Gallery

The Museum opened in 1962 and is situated in one of the outbuildings of the 19th century Victoria Mill. Saddleworth Museum is full of intriguing objects from the past and tells the story of the people who have created Saddleworth’s landscape and character:

• The prehistoric summer visitors who hunted on the hill tops
• The soldiers who shivered on duty at Castleshaw Roman Fort
• The farmers who scraped a living from the hills by weaving cloth in their homes
• The merchants and businessmen who brought prosperity to Victorian Saddleworth
• The men, women and children who endured long hours in the woollen mills
• The men who tunnelled through the Pennines to take the canal and railway eastward
• The brass bands who fill the Saddleworth air with music
• The Morris Men carrying on the old tradition of rushcart building

Our museum displays change regularly and we have two major exhibitions a year, making use of material stored in our archive.

Our Art Gallery exhibitions change every six weeks and showcase the best local and regional contemporary art. Admission to the art gallery is free and most of the artwork is for sale.

On our Textile Working Days you can see, hear and smell the textile machinery in action, and talk to our volunteers about life and work in the mills.