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Oldham Leasing

Did You Know?

Oldham became the world's manufacturing centre for cotton spinning in the second half of the 19th century. In 1851, over 30% of Oldham's population was employed within the textile sector, compared to 5% across Great Britain.

It is named for the Oldham family, who lived in Werneth Hall during the Middle Ages. The town was the centre for an agricultural district with a woolen industry until the 19th century, when it became a major cotton-spinning and weaving town.

This fantastic event 'On the Shoulders of Giants' takes its inspiration from a local legend – the Oldham Giant – who is buried in the crypt at Oldham Parish Church. This was a man called Joseph Scholes who died in 1814 and is said to have been around 6ft 7in tall and weighed 37 stones when he died.

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.

Eric Sykes was born in Oldham on May 4 1923. He lived on Horsedge Street, Oldham, and attended Ward Street School. His first job was as an office boy in a cotton mill, but his big break came in 1945 at Oldham Coliseum following his demob from the services.

"On October 22, 1954, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Oldham Town Hall and textile mills in Shaw as part of a two-day tour of Lancashire and on July 17, 1992, Queen Elizabeth enjoyed a party at Alexandra Park with 3,000 guests.

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.

At 700 feet (213 m) above sea level and with no major river or visible natural resources, Oldham had poor geographic attributes compared with other settlements for investors and their engineers. As a result, The town played no part in the initial period of the Industrial Revolution.

Cotton spinning and milling were introduced to Oldham when its first mill, Lees Hall, was built by William Clegg in about 1778, the beginning of a spiralling process of urbanisation and socioeconomic transformation. Within a year, eleven other mills had been constructed, and by 1818 there were nineteen.

The name ‘Oldham’ stems from the area where a large horde of rebels from the North were famously captured during the reign of Henry Viii. The mass decapitation of the perceived cowards that followed also derived the term ‘headless chickens’.