Spindles: Archive centre

Oldham Archives has moved to a new and fully accessible facility at Spindles.

Previously the archive collections were stored at three separate locations, in spaces that were not fully for purpose. This dispersed storage meant that not all collections were available to researchers as the items were offsite are not readily accessible.

The new Oldham Archives brings all the collections together for the first time, in a safe and accessible environment that allows for full public access. The new storage also meets the requirements of The National Archives accreditation scheme.

The acquisition of Spindles Town Square Shopping Centre has provided an opportunity to locate the new collections in a town centre location which is accessible to the public.

The Archive Centre will form part of the new build at Parliament Square and act as a search room, similar to the current local studies offer at 84 Union Street. In the new facility people will be able to access the archives, look at maps, photographs and documents, research family history, access census information and more.

Archives can be booked in advance, ideally online. Our current Calmview system would enable people to do this. This database brings together the archives and museum collections, and there are over 170,000 records on there at present.

The Archive Centre is open Monday to Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday 10am-1pm.

Guided tours

Access to the lower levels would likely be on scheduled guided tours.

This could include public tours, school parties, community organisations – or anyone who wants to find out more.

The store would be created in a repurposed area within a level of Town Square car park.