Grotton is an residential area in

Saddleworth Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets as well as suburbs of Oldham on the west side of the Pennine hills. Areas include Austerlands, Delph, ...

, a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of the

Metropolitan Borough of Oldham The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after its largest town, Oldham, The borough had a population of 237,628 making it the seventh-largest district by population ...

, in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, England. Located along the A669 road, it forms a continuous urban area with

Austerlands Austerlands is a suburban area of Saddleworth, a civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It occupies a hillside amongst the Pennines, between the villages of Lees and Scouthead. It is traversed by ...

and Springhead, which in turn link to Lees and

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

, all of which are to Grotton's west.

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

a part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, Grotton was anciently a rural

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

close to the boundary with

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, and was centred on Grotton Hall, a former

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

. Although some buildings date from the 17th and 18th century, the

urbanisation Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly the ...

of Grotton broadly took place following the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

; Grotton became a large suburb of

following a residential building boom in the 1930s. The 1930s housing being brick built are in stark contrast to the millstone grit farm houses dotted around the hamlet. Before the

inter-war In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

residential development, Grotton was home to

light industry Light industry are industries that usually are less capital-intensive than heavy industry and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced for ...

, including a brickworks and a couple of

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

s. All of these are now closed and demolished. During the 1930s new leisure buildings were constructed. Some still prominently featured, such as the Grade 2 listed Grotton pub built in 1938, now converted to a Co-op along with a

lido Lido may refer to: Geography Africa * Lido, a district in the city of Fez, Morocco Asia * Lido, an area in Chaoyang District, Beijing * Lido, a cinema theater in Siam Square shopping area in Bangkok * Lido City, a resort in West Java owned by MN ...

and tennis courts added in 1935 to serve the leisure needs of the burgeoning community. However, these were closed in 1939. The former railway line to

Oldham Mumps railway station Oldham Mumps was a railway station, opened in 1847, which served the town of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The station was a primary station located on the Oldham Loop Line northeast of Manchester Victoria. At the time of closure, it ...

closed in 1962, has been converted into a linear country park, providing a largely traffic-free walk for most of the way into Oldham. The old

Grotton and Springhead railway station Grotton and Springhead railway station served the villages of Grotton and Springhead from 1856 until 1955. History The London and North Western Railway opened a branch from to Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, Englan ...

is also preserved. The platforms are visible, and the buildings are now a private house. East of Grotton, the line ran to join the current trans-pennine railway line at

Greenfield railway station Greenfield railway station in the village of Greenfield, Greater Manchester, England, is on the Huddersfield Line northeast of Manchester Victoria. It is the final station in Greater Manchester before the West Yorkshire boundary. History The ...

, but while it is possible to walk east from the station to the western portal of Lydgate Tunnel, the tunnel itself is blocked off and impassable, although it is maintained by the former British Railways Property Board in order to prevent subsidence.

References

Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Saddleworth Villages in Greater Manchester {{GreaterManchester-geo-stub

See also

References