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Location

Norman Rd
Rochdale
Greater Manchester
OL11 4HS

Contact Information

Phone number: 01706 924915

Email: local.studies@yourtrustrochdale.co.uk

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Opening Times

    1. Wednesday – Saturday: 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
    2. Wednesday – Saturday: 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm

Road resurfacing work will take place outside the Local Studies Centre from 5 October – 3 November, resulting in full road and car park closure on Saturdays and Sundays.

Whilst the Centre will remain open on Saturdays, access is limited to on foot only. We kindly ask visitors to plan accordingly and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.


The Local Studies Centre at Sparth holds the main Local Studies and Archives collection for Rochdale Borough. This includes a wide range of material relating to the Rochdale area including Castleton, Littleborough, Milnrow, Wardle and Norden. Local Studies material for Heywood and Middleton is held at Heywood and Middleton Libraries.

The formation of the Local Studies Collection dates to the late 1800s when, having realised the value of early administrative companies and family records, the borough librarian began to store material of this nature in deed boxes – one of the earliest items in the Collection is a land grant in Todmorden dating from 1318.

Over the years the Collection has grown to include a wide range of material relating to the Rochdale area including Castleton, Littleborough, Milnrow, Wardle and Norden. Local Studies material for Heywood and Middleton is held at Heywood and Middleton Libraries.

You can find out more about the history of the Local Studies Archive and view books on our books online. Currently only a selection of the collection can be searched online although this database will continue to grow as more of our collections are digitised and our knowledge about them increases.


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