Women's suffrage movement follow their banner through the streets of Oldham. Courtesy of Gallery Oldham

A new exhibition features an impressive array of historical banners that vividly illustrate a crucial period of Britain’s social history, bringing to life the community of Oldham in Lancashire at the height of the Industrial Revolution.

Follow the Banner is showing at Gallery Oldham until 21 July 2007 and features 21 banners, many of which are drawn from the gallery’s social history collection, that document the fabric of Oldham life during the late 19th and early 20th century.

Oldham rose to prominence during the 19th century when it was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution - and one of the first-ever industrial towns. Although it was known for its coal mining and engineering, Oldham was famous at its height for being the single most productive cotton spinning mill town in the world.

The original and rare banner of the Women's Suffrage Society of Oldham that was brandished with pride in the archive photograph shown above. Courtesy of Gallery Oldham

Banners were commonly used on walks and marches as a way for ordinary working-class people to show pride in their work and demonstrate their religious fervour, as well as advertise the political campaigns that inspired them.

The Oldhamers relished the opportunity to produce what have become artefacts of both local and national importance, taking great pride in the craftsmanship of their banners.

Each banner took between 200 and 660 hours of painstaking conservation work. Courtesy of Gallery Oldham

Eleven of the banners in the exhibition have recently been restored with a grant of £140,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, with each banner taking between 200 and 660 hours of painstaking conservation work.

Highlights include four magnificent trade union banners that illustrate the many specialist trades within Oldham’s cotton mills and a selection of religious banners showing Oldham’s strong tradition of church processions and walks – such as the annual Whit Walk, which still takes place.

A Methodist banner, typical of the kind used in the many religious processions that took place in Oldham. Courtesy of Gallery Oldham

A colour film in the exhibition, which has been recently donated and conserved, shows a Whit Walk procession from the Parish Church of Emmanuel and St George, Chadderton on 13 May 1951.

There are banners that convey the political and social zeitgeist, such as those carried by campaigning groups including the Temperance Society, which promoted abstinence from alcohol, the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the women’s suffrage movement.

Also on show are two military colours of the 31st Lancashire Rifle Volunteers, dating from 1861. These are on loan and have recently been conserved with funding raised by the 10th Battalion Manchester Regiment 40th-41st Royal Tank Regiment Trust.

The new banner, funded by The Heritage Lottery Fund and created as a joint collaboration between local people and textile artist Lynn Setterington. Courtesy of Gallery Oldham

The Heritage Lottery Fund has also financed a new banner for Oldham, which is a joint collaboration between local people and textile artist Lynn Setterington.

“The exhibition pulls together 20 beautiful banners that reveal the religious and political beliefs of a working-class community at the height of the Industrial Revolution, in a rich visual language of potent symbols,” said exhibition curator Sean Baggaley. “This is a unique opportunity to see such a comprehensive collection of banners.”

Find out more about how the exhibition was put together and how the conservation work was carried out, at a free lunchtime talk given by curator Sean Baggaley on Wednesday 9 May.