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Oldham Leasing

Did You Know?

Starting out with the most obvious point – or, at the very least, the most prominent – Oldham is famed for having taken full advantage of the cotton trade explosion in the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century. Before this, Oldham was experiencing some success in the form of local cloth and textile production. But this was nothing in comparison to the gigantic shift the cotton trade would contribute to the area and the history of Oldham as a whole.

As you can imagine, the growing cotton trade in Oldham brought with it great opportunity in the manufacture and sales of cotton spinning and weaving technology. The Platt Brothers, who became essential in the success of the cotton industry in Oldham, developed and revolutionized machines in cotton spinning and manufacture, eventually becoming the largest manufacturers of their kind in the world.

Thanks to his contributions to the economic and social success Oldham felt during this period, a statue of Platt was erected in Oldham town centre.

As well as several other notable social movements with links to the area, the rise of the Suffragette movement can find roots in Oldham in the form of Annie Kenney. Kenney, originally from Springhead and who worked in Oldham’s cotton mills, was a prominent figure in the Suffragettes and actually co-founded the very first branch of the Women’s Social and Political Union Party in London.

On Greaves Street in Oldham Town Centre, you’ll find a building which undoubtedly stands out from the rest. Appropriately titled the “Old Oldham Town Hall” it was formerly the base of all major decision-making in the area.

Not far from the Old Oldham Town Hall lies what is known as the Oldham War Memorial. A monument to those brave Oldham souls who lost their lives in the violence of the First World War, the bronze statue atop a carved block of granite depicts soldiers heading over the tops of the trenches into battle.

Oldham seems to imply "old village or place" from Eald (Saxon) signifying oldness or antiquity, and Ham (Saxon) a house, farm or hamlet. Oldham is however known to be a derivative of Aldehulme, undoubtedly an Old Norse name. It is believed to be derived from the Old English ald combined with the Old Norse holmi or holmr, meaning "promontory or outcrop.

Evidence of later Roman and Celtic activity is confirmed by an ancient Roman road and Bronze Age archaeological relics found at various sites within the town. Although Anglo-Saxons occupied territory around the area centuries earlier, Oldham as a permanent, named place of dwelling is believed to date from 865, when Danish invaders established a settlement called Aldehulme.

 Winston Churchill began his political career in Oldham, and was elected Parliamentary Representative in the 1900 election.