Saddleworth Museum & Art Gallery

Saddleworth Museum and Art Gallery 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 farmers who scraped a living from the hills by weaving cloth in their homes;
- the men, women and children who endured long hours in the woollen mills;
- the brass bands who fill the Saddleworth air with music;
- the soldiers who shivered on duty at Castleshaw Roman Fort;
- the men who tunnelled through the Pennines to take the canal and railway eastwards;
- the Morris Men carrying on the old tradition of rushcart building;
- the Diggle coal merchant and his family whose story brings to life Victorian Saddleworth.

There is something to appeal to everyone at Saddleworth Museum and Art Gallery. Fill your visit with discovery by borrowing a Family Box with lots of things to do and touch. Get to grips with history in our hands-on Activity Area for children of all ages.

Exhibitions of paintings, photography and textiles in the Art Gallery change every few weeks. We create new displays highlighting different aspects of Saddleworth's history three or more times a year. You can see, hear and smell the textile machinery in action on our special Working Days, when you can talk to our volunteers about life and work in the mills. There are demonstrations of crafts, behind the scenes and other events throughout the year.

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