 Unmentioned in the Domesday Book, Oldham during the Middle Ages (from the time of its founding in the 9th century through to the Industrial Revolution) is believed to have been nothing but a mere scattering of small and insignificant settlements spread across the moorland and dirt tracks which linked Manchester to York.However Oldham does appear in legal documents from this time, invariably recorded as territory under minor ruling families and barons.In the 13th century, Oldham was documented as a manor held from The Crown by a family surnamed Oldham, whose seat was at Werneth Hall.