86 listed buildings, 4 of them Grade II*

Hathershaw Hall and Hathershaw CottageGrade II* listedIndependent Methodist ChapelGrade II* listedTown HallGrade II listedThe Royal Oak public houseGrade II listedDevon MillGrade II listed+4See all photos

Photos from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the building’s page or its official list entry.

1866

Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.

Historic England lists buildings in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of all listed buildings), Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.8%), and Grade II for buildings of special interest (about 91.7%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.

Every entry on the National Heritage List for England whose point lies inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings. Neighbourhood dots: the population-weighted centre of each Census 2021 output area, coloured by its neighbourhood’s (LSOA’s) share of homes built before 1919 (Valuation Office Agency, March 2025).

Of the 86 entries, 19 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.

Historic England’s conservation areas layer, supplied by councils (incomplete in places, so a page fact, never graded). Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.

The first 2 entries were listed in 1951. 40 came in 1973, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 5 have been added in the last 15 years.

2 registered parks and gardens

Alexandra ParkGrade II*

Greenacres CemeteryGrade II

Two measures, each ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more, with protected heritage counting twice as much as the age of homes. Protected heritage counts each listed building by its grade (Grade I three points, II* two, II one), each scheduled monument and battlefield two, and each registered park or garden by its grade; it is ranked both per 10,000 residents and as a total, so a village with one fine church doesn’t outrank a historic city. The second measure is the share of homes built before 1919, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records. History is a character grade: it describes the town and isn’t part of the overall grade.

22% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1973–82, which added 11% of today’s homes.

Valuation Office Agency, council tax stock of properties by build period, 31 March 2025, for the neighbourhoods (LSOAs) that make up the town, split by where their residents live. Homes with no recorded build period (102 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.

Ralph Cudworth

John Frederick Lees

Edwin Butterworth

John Jabez Edwin Mayall

Thomas Oldham Barlow

Albert Warburton

William Stott

Sir Lees Knowles, 1st Baronet

Ada Summers

Mary Emmott

John Robert Clynes

Tom Reece

Leslie Haden-Guest, 1st Baron Haden-Guest

Henry Taylor

Joseph Franklin Kershaw

Eva Turner

Frank Johnson

Donald Hardman

James Fitton

Richard Winterbottom

155016001650170017501800185019001950

Henry Taylor1885–1951 · British swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, former world record-holder (1…

John Robert Clynes1869–1949 · British politician and trade unionist (1869-1949)

Eva Turner1892–1990 · Singer (1892–1990)

John Jabez Edwin Mayall1813–1901 · English photographer (1813–1901)

WS

William Stott1857–1900 · British artist (1857-1900)

Donald Hardman1899–1982 · Royal Air Force air chief marshal (1899–1982)

Leslie Haden-Guest, 1st Baron Haden-Guest1877–1960 · British author, journalist, doctor, Labour Party politician (1877-196…

Thomas Oldham Barlow1824–1889 · English mezzotint engraver (1824-1889)

Everyone born in Oldham → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.

Old houses are part of Oldham’s character: 32% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 86 listed buildings, including Parish Church of St Mary with St Peter. A conservation area protects part of it.

Of the 29 people born here before 1900, the best known include Henry Taylor (1885), John Robert Clynes (1869) and Eva Turner (1892). Most towns its size have more Grade I buildings: the typical one has 2. The rest is about typical: per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns.