Greenacres ,

archaically In language, an archaism (from the grc, ἀρχαϊκός, ''archaïkós'', 'old-fashioned, antiquated', ultimately , ''archaîos'', 'from the beginning, ancient') is a word, a sense of a word, or a style of speech or writing that belongs to a hi ...

Greenacres Moor, is an area of

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 ...

, 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. It lies on the west side of the

River Medlock The River Medlock is a river in Greater Manchester, England, which rises near Oldham and flows south and west for to join the River Irwell in Manchester city centre. Sources Rising in the hills that surround Strinesdale just to the east of O ...

opposite the village of Lees. An upland area, rising gently in altitude from west to east, Greenacres is a residential area located next to parts of Clarksfield, Waterhead,

Mumps MUMPS ("Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System"), or M, is an imperative, high-level programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. It was originally developed at Massachusetts Gener ...

and

Derker Derker is an area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies in north-central Oldham, close to the boundary with Royton. History Historically a part of Lancashire, Derker was recorded as a place of residence in 1604 with the name ''Di ...

, all in the east of Oldham.

History

Until 1807, Greenacres had been open

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...

, but the area was

urbanised 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 ...

with

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

s and densely packed redbrick

terraced house In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

s as part of Oldham's rapid

industrialisation Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

in the 19th century. The main road from Oldham to

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

passes through the locality, which also facilitated this urbanisation. Greenacres Cemetery is one of Oldham's largest municipal

cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

; the land was purchased by Oldham Municipal Borough Council in 1850 and it opened in 1857. It has allotments for both

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

observants. Greenacres has also long been the site of a

Nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

congregation. Greenacres Congregational Church was formed in 1672 and the first minister was Rev Robert Constantine Asa Lees & Co. were

cotton-spinning machinery Cotton-spinning machinery is machines which process (or spin) prepared cotton roving into workable yarn or thread. Such machinery can be dated back centuries. During the 18th and 19th centuries, as part of the Industrial Revolution cotton-spinnin ...

manufacturers who had their base at Greenacres. Greenacres was once the site of shallow

coal measures In lithostratigraphy, the coal measures are the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. In the United Kingdom, the Coal Measures Group consists of the Upper Coal Measures Formation, the Middle Coal Measures Formation and the Lower Coal ...

. It also formed a significant part of the

Oldham Above Town Oldham Above Town was, from 1851 until 1905, a statistical unit used for the gathering and organising of civil registration information, and output of census information. It was a sub-district of the larger registration district of Oldham, in the ...

registration district.

Nonconformism

Greenacres has long been the site of a

chapel and congregation. Greenacres Congregational Church has a history which spans virtually the whole period of non-conformity in the United Kingdom. Reverend Robert Constantine, the Minister of Oldham Parish Church was ejected from his church and livings in 1662 by the

Act of Uniformity 1662 The Act of Uniformity 1662 (14 Car 2 c 4) is an Act of the Parliament of England. (It was formerly cited as 13 & 14 Ch.2 c. 4, by reference to the regnal year when it was passed on 19 May 1662.) It prescribed the form of public prayers, adm ...

for not subscribing to a nationalised system of Protestant beliefs and practices. In 1672 he began preaching to the people of Greenacres in a thatched cottage. After a short time they moved to a larger building nearby, and in 1699 yet again. In the 1780s, as the cause flourished, it became evident that those premises were inadequate and a decision was made to erect a larger and better Chapel suited to the requirements of the congregation and the surrounding community. This building, which still exists today, was built in 1794 opened in 1785.

Education

Greenacres is the site of Greenacres Primary School. St. Anne's RC Primary School is also situated here. Both of these schools sit on Greenacres Road and are opposite one another.

References

External links

www.greenacreschurch.netwww.greenacrescommunitycentre.co.uk
{{Geographic Location , title = Neighbouring localities. , Northwest =

, North = Waterhead , Northeast = Strinesdale , West =Mumps , Centre =Greenacres , East =

Crossbank Crossbank is an area of Lees, a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, the name Crossbank is thought to derive from the days of the Knights Templar when a cross was etched ...

, Southwest =

Glodwick Glodwick is an area of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It is south-east of Oldham town centre. Glodwick is a multi-ethnic residential area in the south of Oldham, home particularly to a large community of Pakistanis and British Pakistanis. ...

, South = Clarksfield , Southeast = Lees Areas of Oldham