Formerly known as the Oldham Art Gallery, Gallery Oldham dates back to 1883. Over the past 120 years the gallery has established itself as the cultural focus of a town built around the cotton and engineering industries. The current collections include over 12,000 social and industrial history items, more than 2,000 works of art, about 1,000 items of decorative art, 15,000 photographs and a large number of books, pamphlets and documents. It is one of the largest and most varied collections in the North West of England.