Despite being classified in 1964 as a “New Town”, Redditch has a history that stretches back to the twelfth century.
The development of the new town , disliked by many older residents, was a major change to the town’s fortunes, setting it up as the multicultural, mixed-economy town it is today.
Inevitably, such a major change, growing the population from 26,000 to 85,000+, left its mark on the town’s history and heritage. Whilst the town Needle, Fishing Tackle and Bordesley Abby’s history is well represented at the Forge Mill Needle Museum, the other aspects of its industry and commerce, including many world famous names such as Royal Enfield, Terry’s and HDA, were were not.
In 2020, a project started to rectify this and, in 2021, the Redditch Local History Museum was created to record, remember and showcase these forgotten areas.
Within the museum, the Redditch Historic Archives were created to collect, document and show artefacts which defined these aspects of the town’s history and heritage.
