Glossop Heritage Trust was incorporated on 6 September 1985 to promote the understanding of the heritage of Glossop and District including Longdendale and the townships of Hadfield, Padfield, Charlesworth and Chisworth.
For over twenty years Glossop Heritage Trust, supported initially by Derbyshire County Council and subsequently by High Peak Borough Council, successfully provided a Heritage Centre in Glossop. Sadly the adverse economic climate forced its closure in 2009. The Trust merged with Glossop and District Historical Society in 2013, and inherited its extensive archive.
The Trust’s extensive collection of local artefacts, records, memorabilia, archives and photos are currently in store and much is being digitised.
The Trust works to preserve this important record of the history of Glossop for the future and through digitisation, talks, events, exhibitions, a website and publications; it hopes to make its collection accessible to all.
Glossop and District Historical Society
Glossop and District Historical Society was established in 1966. Its foundation aims were to arrange an annual programme of lectures, to help with the preservation of records and relics of Glossop’s past and to write the history of Glossop. Slightly more modestly, its intentions listed in the Anniversary Card for 2006-7 were ‘to protect and preserve the historical record of Glossop, and to undertake research into the history of the area.’
Although the Society had a very successful year in 2012-13, with several well-attended meetings including the presentation of the findings of its 25-year research project, led by its Chair Dr John Smith, throwing light on life in 16th and 17th century Glossop through the study of wills and inventories, it had suffered for a number of years from declining membership. On 12th November 2013, a Special General Meeting was convened, which agreed a merger with Glossop Heritage Trust.
Under the terms of the merger, the Society will continue as a separate legal entity but will share the same committee and officers, and members of the Trust will be deemed to be members of the Society also with no separate membership fee. The Society’s funds will also be ring-fenced and used only for purposes compatible with its objects.
The Trust hopes to ensure the continuation of the valuable work the Society has done over the last 50 years to raise awareness of the history of the area, and the preservation of its archives.
Glossop Heritage Centre
The Heritage Centre was created by local enthusiasts drawn from the town’s many voluntary organisations who wished to share the pleasures and interests of the town and surrounding countryside with a wider public. The Centre had a permanent exhibition that illustrated the way in which the town, its setting and its people have developed in the known ten thousand years of its history.
There was also an Art Gallery which housed a large collection of original paintings & prints offered by local artists for sale.
Unfortunately, the Heritage Centre closed in 2009. All the artifacts and material were safely put into storage and since then the collection has grown.