Oldham Council and Historic England

The Mills Strategy was commissioned in order to develop a positive strategy for the sustainable future of the subject textile mill stock across Oldham, which forms a fundamental part of the town’s historic environment and gives the landscape of Oldham a clear distinctive character.  The project focused on 74 non-listed mills across Oldham and sets out a robust strategy to ensure their sustainable future, which considers their potential for future development for residential, employment and other uses.

The Study was underpinned by an assessment of the heritage significance of each individual mill undertaken by ELG Heritage based on archaeological interest, historic interest and its architectural / aesthetic interest, as well as the contribution of each mill to the sense of place experienced within that area.  The findings in relation to the heritage value of the individual mills were combined with separate assessments of landscape value and viability undertaken by the project team to categorise each of the mills as high, medium of low priority with policy recommendations put forward for the conservation of the non-designated mills within each level of priority, as well as setting out a number of key actions to support Oldham Council in ensuring the sustainable future of the mill stock.