- Wikidata identifier:
- Q29563155
- Also known as:
- The Silk Museum, Silk Museum & Paradise Mill, Macclesfield Silk Museum
- Instance of:
- museum; independent museum
- Museum/collection status:
- Accredited museum
- Accreditation number:
- 125
- Persistent shareable link for this record:
- https://museumdata.uk/museums/q29563155/
Collection-level records:
-
Collection overview (Cornucopia)
Social History Collection
Local history material includes domestic life items, typewriters, sewing machines, needlecraft, heating equipment, toys and games and church furnishings (including textiles, alter cloths and Sunday School banners).
Subjects
Social History
Science and Industry Collection
Machinery, particularly made and/or used in Macclesfield has been restored for display and includes 26 hand jacquard looms and associated parts, jacquard punched cards, a beaming machine, 2 piano card cutters, repeater machine, Smiths power loom, 2 handframe knitting machines, circular knitting machines, skein to bobbin winders, hand pirn winders, warping mill, braiding machines, block making tools, sewing machines, warping mill, tierers trolley and silk cart and a large collection of hand blocks.
Subjects
Science and Industry
Costume and Textile Collection
Costume ranges from late 18th century to mid 20th century and is contains a large proportion of women’s clothing including dresses (mainly Victorian), bodices/blouses, shawls, capes/jackets, aprons, underclothes and nightwear. There are also scarves, parasols, handkerchiefs, men’s waistcoats, cravat and other accessories and a small collection of children’s clothing (mainly Christening robes and nightwear). There are also 400 ties and 100 large samples of tie fabric woven by Cartwright and Sheldon 1912-1981 and other Macclesfield firms.
Subjects
Costume and Textile
Biology Collection
Collection of birds’ eggs, silk moths and cocoons.
Subjects
Biology
Oral History Collection
There are 450 oral history recordings, mainly with former workers in the silk industry.
Subjects
Oral History
Photographic Collection
A substantial collection of images of the silk industry and local areas.
Subjects
Photographic equipment
Fine Art Collection
A small collection of local scenes by local artists.
Subjects
Fine Art
Archives Collection
There are c.1000 volumes in the pattern archive including patterns from Cartwright and Sheldon (former mill operators) and Macclesfield Silk Manufacturing Society. The museum also holds a set of local newspapers (The Macclesfield Courier and Herald 1811-1970). Other archives include maps, printed ephemera, company records, research material, and files relating to the Mills and other local building surveys. There is also a reference library and a collection of books, pamphlets, journals and primary material relating to the Silk Industry and history of the town.
Subjects
Archives
Source: Cornucopia
Date: Not known, but before 2015
Licence: CC BY-NC