Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Touchstones Rochdale

Museum, art gallery and arts centre in a Grade II listed building in Rochdale, closed for redevelopment until 2027.

Temporarily closed

Temporarily closed (expected until 2027). Touchstones has been closed to the public since September 2023 while the building is redeveloped. No community or visitor programme takes place in the building; some projects continue elsewhere in the borough.

About the museum

Touchstones Rochdale is the borough's museum, art gallery and local studies venue, housed in a Grade II listed building in the centre of Rochdale. It combines an accredited museum, galleries, a cafe, and education and event spaces, and it draws on Rochdale's role as the birthplace of the co-operative movement. Before its closure it welcomed more than 42,000 visitors a year.

The collections cover archaeology, Egyptology, natural history, geology, local and social history, costume and textiles, and fine and decorative art. The art collection includes work by artists such as Helen Cammock, Jasleen Kaur, Liz Collins and Rachel Kneebone, and Touchstones was named a partner museum for the National Gallery Artist in Residence award. The Local Studies Centre looks after the borough's local history archives.

The building closed to the public in September 2023 for a large redevelopment, which is now about halfway complete. The refurbished building is to include a performance venue, creative studios, education rooms, meeting spaces, a display of the museum collections, a dining area and refurbished first-floor galleries. The operator, Your Trust, expects to reopen in 2027 and continues to run community projects while the building is closed.