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Collections

Collections of fabric and costumes in our reserve collections.

Hundreds of thousands of archive samples in our pattern book collections.

Tens of thousands of photographs of the Macclesfield area.

Specialist Reference Library with textile and rich local history collections.

The Silk Museum collection covers a vast range of objects from large items such as the 26 jacquard handlooms which are part of Paradise Mill to small items such as silk covered buttons from which the Macclesfield silk industry grew.

The Trust also cares for the West Park Museum collection which is owned by Macclesfield Borough Council. This contains approximately 4000 items. This includes a small but significant collection of Egyptian material collected by Miss Marianne Brocklehurst; 19th and early 20th century oils and water-colours; works by local artists in particular Charles Tunnicliffe, one of the country’s leading wild life and bird artists; items of local history, geographical and archaeological interest.

The Silk Museum collections are based on the evidence of the silk industry and include silk machinery and ancillary equipment and tools, textiles and costume. This includes pictorial and oral evidence and information and artefacts relating to the social, economic and environmental development of Macclesfield.

The pattern book archive contains approximately 1000 volumes from various Macclesfield based silk manufacturers. These date from 1804 up to the 1980s when many firms finally closed down.

The costume collection contains items from the late 18th century to the mid 20th century and is particularly strong in women’s costume of the 19th and early 20th centuries and ties and tie material from the 20th century.

The collection also contains a large number of items relating to local education, including the Macclesfield Sunday School and the High School such as registers, slates, copy books and other records.