HUNDREDS OF HISTORIC PATTERN BOOKS NOW IN THE SILK MUSEUM’S ARCHIVE

More than 30 members of staff, volunteers, and trustees of The Silk Museum successfully completed the monumental task of transporting hundreds of historic pattern books from temporary storage into their permanent home in the museum’s brand-new, purpose-built Design Archive.

The Silk Museum’s Director Dr Clare Harding explained:

“This was an incredible team effort, including from those that help keep the museum functioning while the Pattern Books were being moved. We’re very grateful for everyone's hard work”

The new state-of-the-art, environmentally controlled facility now houses one of the largest collections of its kind in the North West. It offers a permanent, museum-grade home for these fragile treasures, safeguarding them for future generations while opening up extraordinary new possibilities for research, education, and creative inspiration.

Housed within the Grade II listed Silk Museum, originally the Macclesfield School of Art, the creation of a new dedicated Design Archive represents a major milestone in the museums’ work to preserve Macclesfield’s industrial and creative legacy.

The facility was created through a major capital investment project that upgraded and merged two existing storerooms into a single, fully accessible multi-use space equipped with museum-grade mobile racking, cutting-edge ventilation, air conditioning, secondary glazing, and specialized LED lighting.

Dr Clare Harding continues:

“We are deeply grateful to our funders including Arts Council England the National Heritage Memorial Fund, The Pilgrim Trust and Cheshire East Council, whose support enabled the transformation of this space, and ensures these priceless historical records will never be hidden away or lost to time.”

Spanning almost two centuries of design, the collection offers a breathtaking record of changing tastes, production techniques, and global cultural shifts.

Among its crowning highlights is The Langley Collection. By the 1920s, Macclesfield’s Langley Printworks held the largest collection of printing blocks in the world, exporting striking, intricate textile patterns across international markets.

The museum’s curator Kathryn Warbutron adds:

“These priceless books preserve not only exceptional artistic skill, but they also document the global reach and huge cultural impact of Macclesfield’s great textile designers.”

The Design Archive will officially launch to the public in January 2027 and over the coming months and years, the museum will work to unlock its fascinating contents for audiences near and far through open days, group tours, education partnerships, creative workshops, dedicated research access, and commercial design licensing opportunities.

To coincide with the launch, The Silk Museum has introduced its new Adopt a Pattern Book scheme. For just £40, supporters can directly help conserve and share these irreplaceable records. Contributions fund essential repairs, delicate page cleaning, specialized conservation materials, digitisation, and community engagement to inspire future makers and creative thinkers.

Find out more at: 

https://www.thesilkmuseum.co.uk/designarchive