Oldham is a large town in
Greater Manchester, England,
amid the
Pennines
The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...
and between the rivers
Irk
The River Irk is a river in the historic county of Lancashire in the North West England that flows through the northern most Lancastrian towns of the ceremonial county of Greater Manchester.
It rises to the east of Royton and runs west past ...
and
Medlock, southeast of
Rochdale and northeast of
Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the
Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, which had a population of 237,110 in 2019.
Within the boundaries of the
historic county of
Lancashire, and with little
early history
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
to speak of, Oldham rose to prominence in the 19th century as an international centre of
textile manufacture
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 ...
. It was a
boomtown of the
Industrial Revolution, and among the first ever
industrialised
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 econom ...
towns, rapidly becoming "one of the most important centres of cotton and textile industries in England." At its zenith, it was the most productive
cotton spinning
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
mill town
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories, usually cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe
Italy
* ''Crespi d'Adda'', UNESCO World Her ...
in the world,
[.] producing more cotton than France and Germany combined.
Oldham's textile industry fell into decline in the mid-20th century; the town's last mill closed in 1998.
The demise of textile processing in Oldham depressed and heavily affected the local economy.
Today Oldham is predominantly a commuter town, and the improvement of the town centre is the focus of a project for transforming Oldham into a centre for
further education
Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...
and the
performing arts
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...
.
It is, however, still distinguished architecturally by the surviving
cotton mills and other buildings associated with that industry.
In the
2011 United Kingdom census
A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...
Oldham
Built-up area subdivision, as defined by the
Office for National Statistics, had a population of 96,555 and an area of , giving a population density of ,
while the Borough of Oldham had a population of 224,897, an area of area of , and a population density of .
History
Toponymy
The
toponymy of Oldham seems to imply "old village or place" from ''Eald'' (
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
) signifying oldness or antiquity, and ''Ham'' (Saxon) a house, farm or
hamlet. Oldham is however known to be a derivative of ''Aldehulme'', undoubtedly an
Old Norse name. It is believed to be derived from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
''ald'' combined with the Old Norse ''holmi'' or ''holmr'', meaning "promontory or outcrop", possibly describing the town's hilltop position. It has alternatively been suggested that it may mean "holm or hulme of a farmer named Alda". The name is understood to date from 865, during the period of the
Danelaw.
Cumbric ''alt'', meaning "steep height, cliff", has also been suggested for the first element.
Early history
The earliest known evidence of a human presence in what is now Oldham is attested by the discovery of
Neolithic flint arrow-heads and workings found at
Werneth and Besom Hill, implying habitation 7–10,000 years ago. Evidence of later
Roman and
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
activity is confirmed by an ancient
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
and
Bronze Age archaeological relics found at various sites within the town. Placenames of Celtic origin are still to be found in Oldham: Werneth derives from a Celtic personal name identical to the
Gaulish ''vernetum'', "
alder swamp", and
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. ...
may be related to the
modern Welsh ''clawdd'', meaning "dyke" or "ditch". Nearby
Chadderton is also pre-Anglo-Saxon in origin, from the
Old Welsh
Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic ...
''cadeir'', itself deriving from the
Latin ''cathedra'' meaning "chair". Although
Anglo-Saxons occupied territory around the area centuries earlier, Oldham as a permanent, named place of dwelling is believed to date from 865, when
Danish invaders established a settlement called Aldehulme.
From its founding in the 9th century until the
Industrial Revolution, Oldham is believed to have been little more than a scattering of small and insignificant settlements spread across the
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 ...
and dirt tracks that linked
Manchester to
York. Although not mentioned in the
Domesday Book, Oldham does appear in legal documents from the
Middle Ages, invariably recorded as territory under the control of minor
ruling families and
baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
s. 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. Richard de Oldham was recorded as
lord of the manor of Werneth/Oldham (1354). His daughter and heiress, Margery (d.1384), married John de Cudworth (d.1384), from whom descended the Cudworths of Werneth Hall who were successive lords of the manor. A Member of this family was
James I's Chaplain,
Ralph Cudworth (father of the
Cambridge Platonist philosopher
Ralph Cudworth). The Cudworths remained lords of the manor until their sale of the estate (1683) to
Sir Ralph Assheton of
Middleton.
Industrial Revolution and cotton
Much of Oldham's history is concerned with
textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution; it has been said that "if ever the
Industrial Revolution placed a town firmly and squarely on the map of the world, that town is Oldham."
[.] Oldham's soils were too thin and poor to sustain
crop growing, and so for decades prior to
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 ...
the area was used for grazing
sheep, which provided the raw material for a local
woollen weaving trade.
By 1756, Oldham had emerged as centre of the
hatting industry in England. The rough
felt used in the production process is the origin of the term "Owdham Roughyed" a
nickname for people from Oldham. It was not until the last quarter of the 18th century that Oldham changed from being a
cottage industry
The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the project via remote ...
township producing woollen garments via domestic
manual labour, to a sprawling industrial metropolis of textile factories. The climate, geology, and topography of Oldham were unrelenting constraints upon the social and economic activities of the human inhabitants. At above sea level and with no major river or visible natural resources, Oldham had poor geographic attributes compared with other settlements for investors and their engineers. As a result, Oldham played no part in the initial period of the Industrial Revolution,
although it did later become seen as obvious territory to industrialise because of its convenient position between the labour forces of
Manchester and southwest
Yorkshire.
Cotton spinning
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
and
milling
Milling may refer to:
* Milling (minting), forming narrow ridges around the edge of a coin
* Milling (grinding), breaking solid materials into smaller pieces by grinding, crushing, or cutting in a mill
* Milling (machining), a process of using rota ...
were introduced to Oldham when its first mill, Lees Hall, was built by William Clegg in about 1778, the beginning of a spiralling process of
urbanisation and
socioeconomic transformation.
Within a year, 11 other mills had been constructed, and by 1818 there were 19 – not a large number in comparison with other local settlements. Oldham's small local population was greatly increased by the mass migration of workers from outlying villages, resulting in a population increase from just over in 1801 to in 1901. The speed of this urban growth meant that Oldham, with little pre-industrial history to speak of, was effectively born as a
factory town.
Oldham became the world's manufacturing centre for cotton spinning in the second half of the 19th century. In 1851, over 30% of Oldham's population was employed within the textile sector, compared to 5% across Great Britain. It overtook the major urban centres of
Manchester and
Bolton as the result of a mill building boom in the 1860s and 1870s, a period during which Oldham became the most productive cotton-spinning town in the world. In 1871, Oldham had more
spindles than any country in the world except the United States, and in 1909, was spinning more cotton than France and Germany combined.
By 1911 there were 16.4 million spindles in Oldham, compared with a total of 58 million in the United Kingdom and 143.5 million in the world; in 1928, with the construction of the UK's largest textile factory Oldham reached its manufacturing zenith. At its peak, there were more than 360 mills, operating night and day;
Oldham's townscape was dominated by distinctive rectangular brick-built mills. Oldham was hit hard by the
Lancashire Cotton Famine of 1861–1865, when supplies of raw cotton from the United States were cut off. Wholly reliant upon the textile industry, the cotton famine created chronic unemployment in the town. By 1863 a committee had been formed, and with aid from central government, land was purchased with the intention of employing local cotton workers to construct
Alexandra Park, which opened on 28 August 1865. Said to have over-relied upon the textile sector,
as the importation of cheaper foreign
yarns grew during the 20th century, Oldham's economy declined into a depression, although it was not until 1964 that Oldham ceased to be the largest centre of cotton spinning.
In spite of efforts to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of its production, the last cotton spun in the town was in 1998.
Engineering
Facilitated by its flourishing textile industry, Oldham developed extensive
structural and
mechanical engineering sectors during the 18th and 19th centuries. The manufacture of
spinning and weaving machinery in Oldham belongs to the last decade of the 19th century, when it became a leading centre in the field of
engineering. The
Platt Brothers, originated in nearby
Dobcross village, but moved to Oldham. They were pioneers of cotton-spinning machinery, developing innovative products that enabled the mass-production of cotton yarn. Platt Brothers became the largest textile machine makers in the world, employing over people in the 1890s,
twice the number of their nearest rivals Dobson & Barlow in Bolton and Asa Lees on
Greenacres Moor.
They were keen investors in the local area and at one time, were supporting 42% of the population.
The centre of the company lay at the New Hartford Works in
Werneth, a massive complex of buildings and internal railways on a site overlooking Manchester. The railway station which served this site later formed the basis of
Oldham Werneth railway station
Oldham Werneth railway station was situated on the Oldham Loop Line, northeast of Manchester Victoria. The station was situated on Featherstall Road South, in the Werneth area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. Opened on 31 March ...
. The main building exists to this day. Platts gained prestigious awards from around the world, and were heavily involved with local politics and civic pride in Oldham.
John and James Platt were the largest subscribers for promoting Oldham from a township to a
Borough, pledging £100 (more than double the next largest sum) in advance towards any expenses which may have been incurred by the
Royal Charter. In 1854
John Platt was made the (fourth) Mayor of Oldham, an office he was to hold twice more in 1855–56 and 1861–62. John Platt was elected in 1865 to become a
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Oldham, and was re-elected in 1868; he remained in office until his death in 1872. A bronze statue of Platt existed in the town centre for years, though was moved to
Alexandra Park. There have been recommendations for it to be returned to the town centre.
Abraham Henthorn Stott, the son of a
stonemason
Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...
, was born in nearby
Shaw & Crompton in 1822.
He served a seven-year apprenticeship with
Sir Charles Barry
Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was a British architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsi ...
, before starting a structural engineering practice in Oldham in 1847 that went on to become the pre-eminent mill architect firm in
Lancashire.
Philip Sydney Stott, third son of Abraham and later titled as
Sir Philip Stott, 1st Baronet
Sir Philip Sidney Stott, 1st Baronet (20 February 1858 – 31 March 1937), usually known by his full name or as Sidney Stott, was an English architect, civil engineer and surveyor.
Early life and career
Stott was born in Chadderton, Lancashir ...
, was the most prominent and famous of the Stott mill architects.
He established his own practice in 1883 and designed over a hundred mills in several countries. His factories, which improved upon his father's
fireproof mills, accounted for a 40% increase in Oldham's spindles between 1887 and 1914.
Although textile-related engineering declined with the processing industry, leading to the demise of both Stotts and Platts, other engineering firms existed, notably electrical and later electronic engineers
Ferranti in 1896.
Ferranti went into receivership in 1993, but some of its former works continue in other hands. Part of the original
Hollinwood site was operated by
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
Metering and Semiconductor divisions.
The remainder of the site is occupied by Mirror Colour Print Ltd; the printing division of
Reach
Reach or REACH may refer to:
Companies and organizations
* Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror, large British newspaper, magazine, and digital publisher
* Reach Canada, an NGO in Canada
* Reach Limited, an Asia Pacific cable network company
* ...
, which prints and distributes thirty-six major newspapers, and employs five hundred staff.
Coal mining
On the back of the Industrial Revolution, Oldham developed an extensive coal mining sector, correlated to supporting the local cotton industry and the town's inhabitants, though there is evidence of small scale coal mining in the area as early as the 16th century. The
Oldham Coalfield stretched from
Royton in the north to
Bardsley in the south and in addition to Oldham, included the towns of
Middleton and
Chadderton to the west. The Oldham Coalfield was the site of over 150 collieries during its
recorded history. Although some contemporary sources suggest there was coal mining in Oldham at a commercial scale by 1738, older sources attribute the commercial expansion of coal mining with the arrival in the town of two
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
labourers, John Evans and William Jones, around 1770. Foreseeing the growth in demand for coal as a source of motive and steam power, they acquired colliery rights for Oldham, which by 1771 had 14 colliers. The mines were largely to the southwest of the town around
Hollinwood and
Werneth and provided enough coal to accelerate Oldham's rapid development at the centre of the cotton boom. At its height in the mid-19th century, when it was dominated by the Lees and Jones families, Oldham coal was mainly sourced from many small collieries whose lives varied from a few years to many decades, although two of the four largest collieries survived to
nationalisation
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
. In 1851, collieries employed more than 2,000 men in Oldham, although the amount of coal in the town was somewhat overestimated however, and production began to decline even before that of the local spinning industry. Today, the only visible remnants of the mines are disused shafts and boreholes.
Social history
Oldham's
social history
Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...
, like that of other former
unenfranchised towns, is marked by politicised
civil disturbances, as well as events related to the
Luddite,
Suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
and other
Labour movements from the
working classes.
There has been a significant presence of "
friendly societies". It has been put that the people of Oldham became radical in politics in the early part of the 19th century, and movements suspected of
sedition
Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...
found patronage in the town. Oldham was frequently disturbed by bread and labour riots, facilitated by periods of scarcity and the disturbance of employment following the introduction of
cotton-spinning machinery.
On 20 April 1812, a "large crowd of riotous individuals" compelled local retailers to sell foods at a loss, whilst on the same day
Luddites numbering in their thousands, many of whom were from Oldham, attacked a cotton mill in nearby
Middleton. On 16 August 1819, Oldham sent a contingent estimated at well above 10,000 to hear speakers in St Peter's Fields at Manchester discuss political reform; it was the largest contingent sent to Manchester. John Lees, a cotton operative and ex-soldier who had fought at
Waterloo
Waterloo most commonly refers to:
* Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat
* Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place.
Waterloo may also refer to:
Other places
Antarctica
*King George Island (S ...
, was one of the fifteen victims of the
Peterloo Massacre which followed. The 'Oldham inquest' which proceeded the massacre was anxiously watched; the
Court of King's Bench, however, decided that the proceedings were irregular, and the jury were discharged without giving a verdict.
Annie Kenney, born in nearby
Springhead
Springhead lies at the source of the River Ebbsfleet, just southwest of the Gravesend suburban conurbations. Springhead forms one of the major quarters of the Ebbsfleet Valley development, with housing and the associated facilities now under con ...
, and who worked in Oldham's cotton mills, was a notable member of the
Suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
movement credited with sparking off suffragette militancy when she heckled
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, and later (with
Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst ('' née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Impo ...
) the first
Suffragist to be imprisoned. Oldham Women's Suffrage Society was established in 1910 with Margery Lees as president and quickly joined the Manchester and District Federation of the
National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies. The
Chartist and
Co-operative movements had strong support in the town, whilst many Oldhamers protested in support of the emancipation of
slaves
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
.
The
Riot Act
The Riot Act (1 Geo.1 St.2 c.5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled and o ...
was read in
1852 on election day following a mass public brawl over the
Reform Act,
and irregularities with parliamentary candidate nominations.
For three days in late May 2001, Oldham became the centre of national and international media attention. Following high-profile
race-related conflicts, and long-term underlying racial tensions between local
White British and
British Pakistani communities, major riots broke out in the town. Occurring with particular intensity in the
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. ...
area of the town, the
Oldham riots
The Oldham riots were a brief period of violent rioting which occurred in Oldham, a town in Greater Manchester, England, in May 2001. They were the worst ethnically-motivated riots in the United Kingdom since 1985, briefly eclipsing the sect ...
were the worst racially motivated riots in the United Kingdom for fifteen years prior, briefly eclipsing the sectarian violence in
Northern Ireland in the media.
At least 20 people were injured in the riots, including 15 police officers, and 37 people were arrested. Similar riots took place in other towns in
northern England over the following days and weeks. The 2001 riots prompted governmental and independent inquiries, which collectively agreed on community relations improvements and considerable regeneration schemes for the town.
There were further fears of riots after the death of Gavin Hopley in 2002.
Governance
Civic history
Lying within the
historic county boundaries of
Lancashire since the early 12th century, Oldham was recorded in 1212 as being one of five parts of the
thegnage estate of Kaskenmoor, which was held on behalf of
King John King John may refer to:
Rulers
* John, King of England (1166–1216)
* John I of Jerusalem (c. 1170–1237)
* John Balliol, King of Scotland (c. 1249–1314)
* John I of France (15–20 November 1316)
* John II of France (1319–1364)
* John I o ...
by
Roger de Montbegon
Roger de Montbegon (Roger de Mumbezon, Roger de Mont Begon) (died 1226) was a landowner in northern England (especially or particularly Lancashire), baron of Hornby, and one of ''Magna Carta'' sureties.
Though Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris, al ...
and William de Nevill. The other parts of this estate were
Crompton,
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. ...
,
Sholver, and
Werneth. Oldham later formed a
township within the ancient ecclesiastical parish of
Prestwich-cum-Oldham, in the
hundred of Salford.
In 1826 commissioners for the social and economic improvement of Oldham were established.
The town was made part of a
parliamentary borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
, in 1832, though it was in 1849 when Oldham was incorporated as a
municipal borough, giving it
borough status in the United Kingdom,
and in 1850 the Borough Council obtained the powers of the improvement commissioners.
In 1880, parts of the
Hollinwood and
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 ...
areas of
Chadderton and
Ashton-under-Lyne townships were added to the Borough of Oldham.
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 ...
and
Oldham Below Town were, from 1851 until c. 1881, statistical units used for the gathering and organising of
civil registration information, and output of
census data.
The
Local Government Act 1888 created elected
county councils to administer services throughout England and Wales. Where a municipal borough had a population of more than 50,000 at the 1881
Census it was created a
county borough, with the powers and duties of both a borough and county council.
As Oldham had an 1881 population of 111,343 it duly became a county borough on 1 April 1889. The borough, while independent of Lancashire County Council for local government, remained part of the county for purposes such as the administration of justice and
lieutenancy
A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...
.
In 1951 parts of the
Limehurst Rural District were added to the County Borough of Oldham, and in 1954 further parts of the same district added to it on its abolition.
Since 1961, Oldham has been
twinned
Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to:
* In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so;
* Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning
* Twinning inst ...
with
Kranj
Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carniol ...
in
Slovenia. Under the
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
, the town's autonomous county borough status was abolished, and Oldham has, since 1 April 1974, formed part of the
Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, within the
Metropolitan county
The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, with populations between 1 and 3 million. They were created in 1974 and are each di ...
of
Greater Manchester.
Parliamentary representation
The boundaries of two
parliamentary constituencies divide Oldham:
Oldham East and Saddleworth, and
Oldham West and Royton
Oldham West and Royton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It has been represented by Jim McMahon of the Labour Co-op party since 4 December 2015, after winning a by-election following the death of Mich ...
(which includes the town centre), represented by
Labour Members of Parliament (MPs)
Debbie Abrahams and
Jim McMahon
James Robert McMahon Jr. (born August 21, 1959) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, most notably with the Chicago Bears. McMahon played college football at BYU, where he wa ...
respectively.
Created as a
parliamentary borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
in 1832, Oldham's first parliamentary representatives were the
radicals
Radical may refer to:
Politics and ideology Politics
*Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change
*Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
William Cobbett and
John Fielden
John Fielden (17 January 1784 – 29 May 1849) was a British industrialist and Radical Member of Parliament for Oldham (1832–1847).
He entered Parliament to support William Cobbett, whose election as fellow-MP for Oldham he helped to bring ...
.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
began his political career in Oldham. Although unsuccessful at his first attempt in 1899, Churchill
was elected as the member of Parliament for the
Oldham parliamentary borough constituency in the
1900 general election. He held the constituency for the
Conservative Party until the
1906 general election
The following elections occurred in the year 1906.
Asia
* 1906 Persian legislative election
Europe
* 1906 Belgian general election
* 1906 Croatian parliamentary election
* Denmark
** 1906 Danish Folketing election
** 1906 Danish Landsting ele ...
, when he won the election for
Manchester North West as a
Liberal MP. After he became the
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1940, Churchill was made an
Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Oldham, on 2 April 1941.
Politics
In the
2016 European Union membership referendum
The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...
, Oldham heavily voted in favour of
Brexit. The vote to leave was 60.9%.
Geography
At (53.5444°, −2.1169°), and north-northwest of London, Oldham stands above
sea level, northeast of
Manchester city centre, on elevated ground between the rivers
Irk
The River Irk is a river in the historic county of Lancashire in the North West England that flows through the northern most Lancastrian towns of the ceremonial county of Greater Manchester.
It rises to the east of Royton and runs west past ...
and
Medlock.
Saddleworth and the
South Pennines are close to the east, whilst on all other sides, Oldham is bound by other neighbouring towns, including
Ashton-under-Lyne,
Chadderton,
Failsworth,
Royton and
Shaw and Crompton, with little or no
green space between them. Oldham experiences a
temperate maritime climate, like much of the British Isles, with relatively cool summers and mild winters. There is regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. On 23 November 1981,
an F1/T2 tornado formed over
Hollinwood and later passed over Oldham town centre, causing some damage.
Oldham's
topography is characterised by its rugged,
elevated Pennine terrain.
[.] It has an area of .
The
geology of Oldham is represented by the
Millstone Grit and
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 ...
series of rocks. The
River Beal
The Beal is a small river in Greater Manchester, England, and is a tributary of the River Roch. It rises in the Beal Valley in green space between Sholver and Royton, before continuing northwards through Shaw and Crompton, Newhey, Milnrow and ...
, flowing northwards, forms the boundary between Oldham on one side and
Royton and
Shaw and Crompton on the other.
To the east of this river the surface rises to a height of at Woodward Hill, on the border with the parish of
Saddleworth. The rest of the surface is hilly, the average height decreasing towards the southwest to
Failsworth and the city of
Manchester. The ridge called Oldham Edge, high, comes southward from Royton into the centre of the town.
Oldham's
built environment is characterised by its 19th-century red-brick
terraced houses, the infrastructure that was built to support these and the town's former
cotton mills – which mark the town's skyline. The
urban structure of Oldham is irregular when compared to most
towns in England, its form restricted in places by its hilly upland terrain.
There are irregularly constructed residential dwellings and streets clustered loosely around a
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
in the
town centre, which is the local centre of commerce. In 1849, Angus Reach of
Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
said:
In the 1870s,
John Marius Wilson described Oldham as consisting of:
Although Oldham had a thriving economy during the 19th century, the local merchants were broadly reluctant to spend on civic institutions, and so the town lacks the grandeur seen in comparable nearby towns like
Bolton or
Huddersfield;
public expenditure was seen as an overhead that undermined the competitiveness of the town.
Subsequently, Oldham's architecture has been described as "mediocre".
The town has no
listed buildings with a Grade I rating.
There is a mixture of high-density
urban areas,
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
s, semi-rural and
rural locations in Oldham. There is some permanent
grassland but overwhelmingly the
land use in the town is urban. The territory of Oldham is contiguous with other towns on all sides except for a small section along its eastern and southern boundaries, and for purposes of the
Office for National Statistics, forms the fourth largest settlement of the
Greater Manchester Urban Area, the
United Kingdom's third largest conurbation. The
M60 motorway passes through the southwest of Oldham, through
Hollinwood, and a
heavy rail
Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas:
Rapid transit
A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid accelerati ...
line enters Oldham from the same direction, travelling northeast to the town centre before heading northwards through
Derker towards Shaw and Crompton.
Divisions and suburbs
Many of Oldham's present divisions and suburbs have origins as pre-industrial hamlets, manorial commons and ancient chapelries. Some, such as
Moorside, exist as recently constructed residential
suburbia, whilst places like
Hollinwood exist as
electoral ward
A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
s and thoroughly industrialised districts. Throughout most of its
recorded history, Oldham was surrounded by large swathes of
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 ...
, which is reflected in the placenames of Moorside,
Greenacres moor, Littlemoor, Northmoor among others.
A large portion of Oldham's residences are "low value"
Victorian era Accrington red-brick terraced houses in a row formation,
built for the most part from 1870 to 1920, to house the town's
cotton mill workers.
There is more modern housing in the semi-rural east of the town, in the most sought after area in areas such as the village
Moorside, although terraces are found in almost all parts of Oldham.
One of the oldest recorded named places of Oldham is
Hathershaw, occurring in a deed for 1280 with the spelling ''Halselinechaw Clugh''. Existing as a manor in the 15th century,
Hathershaw Hall
Hathershaw Hall is a 16th-17th century Grade II* listed building in Hathershaw, Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The present structure is the single surviving range of a once considerably larger manor house. It is situated in what was the hi ...
was the home of a
Royalist family in the 17th century who lost part of their possessions due to the
English Civil War.
Waterhead, an upland area in the east of Oldham, traces its roots to a water cornmill over the border in
Lees.
Recorded originally as ''Watergate'' and ''Waterhead Milne'', it was for a long time a hamlet in the parish of Oldham that 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 sub-district.
Derker was recorded as a place of residence in 1604 with the name ''Dirtcar''. Bound by Higginshaw to the north, Derker is the location of
Derker railway station
Derker is a stop on the Oldham and Rochdale Line (ORL) of Greater Manchester's light-rail Metrolink system. It opened to passengers on 16 December 2012 and is located in the Derker area of Oldham, England.
History
Derker railway station was o ...
and, said to have terraced residencies "unsuited to modern needs", is currently being redeveloped as part of the
Housing Market Renewal Initiative.
Coldhurst
Coldhurst (or more rarely Cold Hurst) is an area of Oldham and an electoral ward of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, it had a population of 11,935, increasing ...
, an area along Oldham's northern boundary with
Royton, was once a chapelry and the site of considerable industry and commerce, including
coal mining
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
,
cotton spinning
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
and hat manufacture.
It is said to have been the scene of an action in the English Civil War in which the
Parliamentarians were defeated.
Demography
According to data from the
United Kingdom Census 2001, Oldham had a total resident population of 103,544, making it the
55th most populous settlement in England, and the 5th most populous settlement of the
Greater Manchester Urban Area.
This figure in conjunction with its area provides Oldham with a
population density of 3,998 people per square mile (1,544 per km
2). The local population has been described as broadly "
working class"; the
middle classes tending to live in outlying settlements.
Oldham, considered as a combination of the 2001
electoral wards of Alexandra,
Coldhurst
Coldhurst (or more rarely Cold Hurst) is an area of Oldham and an electoral ward of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, it had a population of 11,935, increasing ...
,
Hollinwood,
St. James,
St. Marys,
St. Pauls,
Waterhead and
Werneth,
has an average age of 33.5, and compared against the average
demography of the United Kingdom, has a high level of people of
South Asian
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...
heritage, particularly those with roots in
Pakistan and
Bangladesh. Due to the town's prevalence as an industrial centre and thus a hub for employment, Oldham attracted migrant workers throughout its history, including those from wider-England, Scotland, Ireland and Poland.
During the 1950s and 1960s, in an attempt to fill the shortfall of workers and revitalise local industries, citizens of the wider
Commonwealth of Nations were encouraged to
migrate to Oldham and other British towns.
Many came from the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
and
Indian subcontinent and settled throughout the Oldham borough.
Today, Oldham has large communities with heritage from
Pakistan,
India,
Bangladesh and parts of the Caribbean.
At the time of the 2001 census, over one in four of its residents identified themselves as from a South Asian or
British Asian ethnic group. Cultural divisions along ethnic backgrounds are strong within the town,
with poor cross-community integration and cohesion along Asian and white backgrounds.
With only a small local population during medieval times, as a result of the introduction of industry, mass migration of village workers into Oldham occurred, resulting in a population change from under 2,000 in 1714
to 12,000 in 1801 to 137,000 in 1901 In 1851 its population of 52,820 made Oldham the 12th most populous town in England.
The following is a table outlining the population change of the town since 1801, which demonstrates a trend of rapid population growth in the 19th century and, after peaking at 147,483 people in 1911, a trend of general decline in population size during the 20th century.
In 2011, 77.5% of the Oldham metropolitan borough population were White British, 18.1% Asian and 1.2% Black. While in the town of Oldham, which had a 2011 population of 96,555, 55.4% of the population were White British, 37.6% Asian and 2% Black.
Economy
For years Oldham's economy was heavily dependent on manufacturing industry, especially textiles and mechanical engineering.
Since the
deindustrialisation
Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry.
There are different interpre ...
of Oldham in the mid-20th century, these industries have been replaced by
home shopping,
publishing
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
,
healthcare
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
and
food processing
Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...
sectors, though factory-generated employment retains a significant presence.
Many of the modern sectors are low-skill and low-wage.
Oldham's town centre contains the highest concentration of retailing, cultural facilities and employment in the
Metropolitan Borough of Oldham.
It has been extensively redeveloped during the last few decades, and its two shopping centres, Town Square and the Spindles, now provide one of the largest covered retail areas in
Greater Manchester.
The Spindles (named with reference to
textile spindles) is a modern
shopping centre with over 40 retailers, banks, building societies and catering outlets. It houses several of Europe's largest stained glass works, a series of ceilings and skylights created by local artist
Brian Clarke in celebration of the life and music of one of Oldham's famous sons,
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
and
conductor
Conductor or conduction may refer to:
Music
* Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra.
* ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas
* Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...
Sir
William Walton.
A number of culinary and medical advances have been developed in Oldham. The
tubular bandage was invented and developed in Oldham in 1961.
That "vital contribution to advancing medical science" resulted from a collaboration between local firm Seton and a cotton manufacturer in the town. There are claims that Oldham was the birthplace of the first
chip shop Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific genom ...
.
The sometimes disputed claim of trade in deep-fried chipped potatoes is said to have been started around 1858–60 from an outlet owned by a John Lees, on what is the present site of Oldham's Tommyfield Market.
In 1900 Oldham had the highest concentration of chip shops in the country, one for every 400 people.
Rag Pudding is a savoury dish said to be native to Oldham.
Yates Wine Lodge was founded in Oldham by Peter and Simon Yates in 1884.
Park Cake Bakeries, sold in 2007 by
Northern Foods Group to
Vision Capital
Vision Capital is an international investor with a flexible capital approach to investing in mid-size private companies that has its headquarters in Western Europe and North America.
The company specializes in both the dynamics of private equit ...
, have a large food processing centre in
Hathershaw, which employs in excess of 1,600 people. Over 90% of the cakes produced go to
Marks & Spencer.
Long existing as an
industrial district,
Hollinwood is home to the Northern Counties Housing Association,
Ferranti Technologies is an electronic, electromechanical and electrical engineering company based in
Waterhead.
The majority of poor families are now working families. Coldhurst in Oldham has child deprivation rate of 62.1pc, which is the worst in the UK.
Oldham Athletic's contribution to the local economy have been strengthened by its community links as well as its fortunes on the field. Despite some success in the early 20th century which almost saw the club win the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
title in 1915, the club has spent most of its time outside the top division of English football, including a 68-year spell between 1923 and 1991 – when it won promotion to the
First Division a year before it became the
FA Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
. The club then survived for three years in the
FA Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
, which encouraged high attendances and boosted the club's finances as well as boosting the local economy as it struggled to recover from post-industrial decline. Between 1990 and 1994, the club also reached two FA Cup semi-finals (taking
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
to a replay on both occasions) and were on the losing side in a
Football League Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
final. The club's subsequent years, however, have been less successful, with relegation in 2018 to the fourth tier of the English league for the first time in almost 50 years. The club's financial situation has also declined, as have its attendances, in accordance with fortunes on the pitch.
Landmarks
Town Hall
Oldham's
Old Town Hall is a Grade II listed
Georgian neo-classical town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
built in 1841, eight years before Oldham received its
borough status
Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, s ...
.
One of the last purpose-built town halls in northwest England,
it has a tetrastyle
Ionic portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
, copied from the temple of
Ceres, on the
River Ilissos, near
Athens.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
made his inaugural acceptance speech from the steps of the town hall when he was first elected as a Conservative MP in 1900. A
Blue Plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
on the exterior of the building commemorates the event.
Long existing as the political centre of the town, complete with
courtroom
A courtroom is the enclosed space in which courts of law are held in front of a judge. A number of courtrooms, which may also be known as "courts", may be housed in a courthouse. In recent years, courtrooms have been equipped with audiovisual ...
s, the structure stood empty for many years from the mid-1980s and was regularly earmarked for redevelopment as part of regeneration project proposals, but none were actioned before plans dating to 2012 were completed in 2016.
In September 2008, it was reported that "Oldham Town Hall is only months away from a major roof collapse".
A tour taken by local councillors and media concluded with an account that "chunks of masonry are falling from the ceilings on a daily basis ... the floors are littered with dead pigeons and ... revealed that the building is literally rotting away".
In October 2009 the
Victorian Society, a charity responsible for the study and protection of Britain's Victorian and Edwardian architecture, declared Oldham Town Hall as the most endangered Victorian structure in
England and Wales.
Plans to convert the hall into a leisure complex, incorporating a cinema and restaurants, were revealed in May 2012 with the hall itself being used for public consultation. This £36.72 million project was completed in 2016.
In the heart of Oldham's retail district, the Old Town Hall has been developed into a modern multiplex
Odeon cinema.
War memorial
Erected as a permanent memorial to the men of Oldham who were killed in the
First World War, Oldham's
war memorial consists of a
granite base surmounted by a
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
sculpture depicting five soldiers making their way along the trenches in order to go into battle.
The main standing figure, having climbed out of the trenches, is shown calling on his comrades to advance, and is the same figure used at the
Royal Fusiliers War Memorial in London and the
41st Division memorial at
Flers in France. The base serves to house books containing the roll of honour of the 1st, 10th and 24th Battalions,
Manchester Regiment. The pedestal has two bronze doors at either side.
Commissioned in 1919 by the Oldham War Memorial Committee, the memorial was designed and built by
Albert Toft. It was unveiled by General
Sir Ian Hamilton on 28 April 1923, before a crowd estimated at over 10,000.
The monument was intended to symbolise the spirit of 1914–1918.
The inscriptions on the memorial read:
* Over doors to the north: "DEATH IS THE GATE OF LIFE / 1914–1918"
* Over window to the south: "TO GOD BE THE PRAISE "
Civic Centre
The
Civic Centre tower is the
Metropolitan Borough of Oldham's centre of local governance. The 15-storey white-brick building has housed the vast majority of the local government's offices since its completion in 1977. Standing at the summit of the town, the tower stands over high. It was designed by Cecil Howitt & Partners,
and the
topping out ceremony was held on 18 June 1976. The Civic Centre can be seen as far away as
Salford,
Trafford,
Wythenshawe and
Winter Hill in
Lancashire, and offers panoramic views across the city of
Manchester and the
Cheshire Plain.
Churches
The
Oldham Parish Church of St. Mary with St. Peter, in its present form, dates from 1830 and was designed in the
Gothic Revival Style
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
by
Richard Lane, a Manchester-based architect.
It has been designated by
English Heritage as a Grade II*
listed building. It was linked with the
church of St Mary the Virgin, Prestwich and together the sites were principal churches of the ancient ecclesiastical parish of
Prestwich-cum-Oldham.
A church building had existed on the site since 1280.
During this time, a small chapel stood on the site to serve the local townships of Oldham,
Chadderton,
Royton and
Crompton. This was later replaced by an
Early English Gothic church in the 15th century.
With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, the population of Oldham increased at a rapid rate (from under 2,000 in 1714, to over 32,000 by 1831).
The rapid growth of the local population warranted that the building be rebuilt into the current structure. Though the budget was originally agreed at £5,000,
the final cost of building was £30,000, one third of which was spent on the crypt structure.
Alternative designs by
Sir Charles Barry
Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was a British architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsi ...
, the designer of the
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...
, although now regarded by some as superior, were rejected.
The Church, of the
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
denomination, is in active use for worship, and forms part of the
Diocese of Manchester.
There are also
Roman Catholic churches in Oldham. These include
Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Patrick Church. It was built in 1870, was founded by priests from St Mary's Church in Oldham, and is a Grade II listed building.
Transport
The geography of Oldham constrained the development of major transport infrastructure,
with the former County Borough Council suggesting that "if it had not grown substantially before the railway age it would surely have been overlooked".
Oldham has never been on a main-line railway route, and canals too have only been able to serve it from a distance,
meaning that "Oldham has never had a train service worthy of a town of its size".
A principal destination along the former
Oldham Loop Line, Oldham once had six
railway stations but this was reduced to three once
Clegg Street,
Oldham Central and
Glodwick Road closed in the mid-20th century.
Oldham Werneth
Oldham Werneth railway station was situated on the Oldham Loop Line, northeast of Manchester Victoria railway station, Manchester Victoria. The station was situated on Featherstall Road South, in the Werneth, Greater Manchester, Werneth area o ...
,
Oldham Mumps and
Derker closed on 3 October 2009.
Trains from
Manchester Victoria station to Oldham had to climb steeply through much of its route, from around at Manchester city centre to around at Oldham Mumps.
The Werneth Incline, with its gradient of 1 in 27, made the
Middleton Junction to
Oldham Werneth
Oldham Werneth railway station was situated on the Oldham Loop Line, northeast of Manchester Victoria railway station, Manchester Victoria. The station was situated on Featherstall Road South, in the Werneth, Greater Manchester, Werneth area o ...
route the steepest regular passenger line in the country.
The Werneth Incline route closed in 1963. It had been replaced as the main route to Manchester by the section of line built between Oldham Werneth Station and Thorpes Bridge Junction, at
Newton Heath in May 1880. Oldham Mumps, the second oldest station on the line after Werneth,
took its name from its location in the Mumps area of Oldham, which itself probably derived from the archaic word "mumper" which was slang for a
beggar. The former Oldham Loop Line was converted for use with an expanded
Metrolink light rail network, and renamed as the
Oldham and Rochdale Line. The line between Victoria and a temporary
Oldham Mumps tram stop opened on 13 June 2012,
and more central stops opened on 27 January 2014.
Oldham had electric
tramways to Manchester in the early 20th century; the first tram was driven from Manchester into Oldham in 1900 by the
Lord Mayor of Manchester. The system came to an end on 3 August 1946, however. There was also a short-lived
Oldham trolleybus system, in 1925–26.
Oldham bus station
Oldham bus station is a bus station located in the town of Oldham in Greater Manchester. The bus station is found on Cheapside at the junction of West Street. The bus station opened in January 2001 and replaced the previous bus station at Town S ...
has frequent bus services to Manchester, Rochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne and Middleton with other services to the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham,
Tameside, and across the Pennines to
Huddersfield in
West Yorkshire.
The roof canopy is supported internally on two rows of steel trees. The extensive use of glass and stainless steel maximises visibility, and there is a carefully co-ordinated family of information fittings, posters and seating, using robust natural materials for floors and plinths.
The bus station is used by
National Express coaches.
has its headquarters in Oldham.
Despite the Turnpike Act 1734, Oldham had no turnpike road to Manchester for another 56 years and
Church Lane, Oldham
Church Lane is one of the oldest streets in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England and one of the few that are still cobbled. It is the only part of the town centre that has survived decades of redevelopment. As a result, all of the buildings on the ...
remained part of the main street through the town. But following a further Act of Parliament a turnpike was constructed. The first regular coach service to Manchester came into operation in October 1790, with a journey time of over 2 hours and a fare 2s.8d (about 13p), with half fare for travellers on top of the coach.
Oldham is about south of the major
M62 motorway, but is linked to it by the
M60 at
Hollinwood, and
A627(M)
The A627(M) is a motorway that runs between Chadderton and Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. It is long and connects these two towns to the M62. It opened in 1972.
Route
Heading north, the road starts as a two-lane dual carriageway on ...
via
Chadderton. There are major
A roads
A roads may be
*motorways or freeways, usually where the local word for motorway begins with A (for example, ''Autobahn'' in German; ''Autostrada'' in Italian).
* main roads or highways, in a system where roads are graded A, B and sometimes lower c ...
to
Ashton-under-Lyne,
Huddersfield,
Manchester, and
Rochdale.
The
Hollinwood Branch of the
Ashton Canal was a
canal that ran from
Fairfield in
Droylsden, through Littlemoss and
Daisy Nook Country Park to the
Hollinwood area of Oldham, with a branch from Daisy Nook to the
Fairbottom Branch Canal
The Fairbottom Branch Canal was a canal near Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, England.
Route
The canal left the Hollinwood Branch Canal at Fairbottom Junction immediately above lock 22. It was just over one mile long (1.82 km) and ...
. The canal was mainly used for the haulage of
coal until it fell into disuse for commercial traffic in the 1930s. It included four aqueducts and a two-rise lock staircase.
Sport
Oldham Rugby League football club was established in 1876 as Oldham Football Club.
Renamed in 1997 to Oldham R.L.F.C., it has achieved several club honours during its history, winning the
Rugby Football League Championship five times and
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
three times.
They played at
Watersheddings for years before joining Oldham Athletic A.F.C. at
Boundary Park until 2010 when they moved to Oldham Borough's previous ground,
Whitebank Stadium.
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club, known as The Latics, was founded in 1895 as Pine Villa Football Club.
Oldham Athletic have achieved both league and cup successes, particularly under
Joe Royle in the 1990s.
They were
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
runners-up in the
last season before the outbreak of the
First World War, but were relegated from the
Football League First Division
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
in 1923. They reached the
Football League Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
final in 1990 and won the
Football League Second Division title in 1991, ending 68 years outside the top flight. They secured their top division status a year later to become founder members of the new
Premier League,
but were relegated after
two seasons despite reaching that year's
FA Cup semi-finals. they play in
EFL League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
, the fourth tier of the English league.
Oldham Borough F.C.
Oldham Borough F.C. was an English association football club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The club was founded in 1964 as Oldham Dew F.C., changing their name in 1985 to Oldham Town, again in 2009 to Oldham Boro before making the ...
was established in 1964 as Oldham Dew FC, and after many years playing under the name of
Oldham Town changed its name to Oldham Boro in 2009, finally becoming known as Oldham Borough just months before it folded. The team played in the
North West Counties Football League
The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern S ...
before going out of existence in 2015, just over 50 years after it was founded.
Oldham Netball Club's senior team is the 2019–2020 national league division 1 champion
and has won seven out of the last eight titles. Former players include England's most capped player
Jade Clarke.
Oldham has league cricket teams with a number of semi-professional league clubs including
Oldham CC, and
Werneth CC, both playing in the
Greater Manchester Cricket League (GMCL).
Oldham CC was one of the founding members, in 1892, of the
Central Lancashire Cricket League, which closed in 2015.
The Manchester
Fencing Centre in Oldham opened in 2015 in the former Osborne Mill, and at was said to be "the largest centre of its kind".
The Marshall Fencing Club trains there, under head coach and Commonwealth games medallist Stuart Marshall, and in 2019 won six gold medals at eight national ranking events.
Education
Oldham produced someone who is considered
to be one of the greatest benefactors of education for the nation,
Hugh Oldham, who in 1504 was appointed as
Bishop of Exeter
The Bishop of Exeter is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. Since 30 April 2014 the ordinary has been Robert Atwell. , and later went on to found what is now
Manchester Grammar School.
University Campus Oldham
, mottoeng = Thus not for you alone
, established = 1825 – Huddersfield Science and Mechanics' Institute1992 – university status
, type = Public
, endowment = £2.47 million (2015)
, chancellor = George W. Buckley
, vice_chancell ...
is a centre for
higher education and a sister campus of the
University of Huddersfield. It was opened in May 2005 by actor
Patrick Stewart, the centre's Chancellor.
The University Campus Oldham presented actress
Shobna Gulati and artist,
Brian Clarke (both born in Oldham) with an
Honorary Doctorate of Letters
An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include:
* Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States
* Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...
at the Graduation Ceremony of November 2006, for their achievements and contributions to Oldham and its community.
Public services
Home Office policing in Oldham is provided by the
Greater Manchester Police. The force's "(Q) Division" have their headquarters for policing the
Metropolitan Borough of Oldham at central Oldham.
Public transport is co-ordinated by
Transport for Greater Manchester.
Statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, which has two stations in Oldham; at Hollins on Hollins Road, and at Clarksfield on Lees Road.
The
Royal Oldham Hospital, at Oldham's northern boundary with
Royton, is a large
NHS hospital administrated by
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. It was opened under its existing name on 1 December 1989.
Formerly known as Oldham District and General, and occupying the site of the town's former
workhouse (named Oldham Union Workhouse in 1851),
the hospital is notable for being the birthplace of
Louise Joy Brown
Louise Joy Brown (born 25 July 1978) is an English woman who was the first human to have been born after conception by ''in vitro'' fertilisation experiment (IVF). Her birth, following a procedure pioneered in Britain, has been lauded among "t ...
– the world's first successful
''In vitro'' fertilised "test tube baby", on 25 July 1978.
Waste management is co-ordinated by the
local authority via the
Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority. Locally produced
inert waste for disposal is sent to
landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
at the Beal Valley. Oldham's
distribution network operator for electricity is
United Utilities;
there are no
power stations in the town. United Utilities also manages Oldham's
drinking and
waste water;
water supplies being sourced from several local reservoirs, including
Dovestone and
Chew. There is a
water treatment works at
Waterhead.
Culture
Oldham, though lacking in leisure and cultural amenities,
is historically notable for its theatrical culture. Once having a peak of six ''"fine"'' theatres in 1908, Oldham is home to the
Oldham Coliseum Theatre and the
Oldham Theatre Workshop, which have facilitated the early careers of notable actors and writers, including
Eric Sykes,
Bernard Cribbins and
Anne Kirkbride,
daughter of acclaimed
cartoonist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
Jack Kirkbride
Jack Kirkbride (31 March 1923 – 1 October 2006) was an English cartoonist, and father to Anne Kirkbride, the actress who played Deirdre Barlow in the ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'' from 1972 to 2014.
Kirkbride left school at the age ...
who worked for the ''
Oldham Evening Chronicle''. Oldham Coliseum Theatre is one of Britain's last remaining
repertory theatre
A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom
Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...
s;
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
and
Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer, and film director who was one half of the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Ha ...
performed there in the early 20th century, and contemporary actors such as
Ralph Fiennes and
Minnie Driver, among others, have appeared more recently.
During the 19th century the
circus was a popular entertainment in Oldham;
Pablo Fanque's circus was a regular visitor, filling a 3,000-seat amphitheatre on Tommyfield in 1869. Formerly criticised for its lack of a
cinema,
there are plans to develop an "Oldham
West End
West End most commonly refers to:
* West End of London, an area of central London, England
* West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England
West End may also refer to:
Pl ...
".
Oldham has a thriving bar and
night club culture, if you consider one nightclub (Liquid and Envy) as a thriving nightlife.
The Lyceum is a
Grade II listed building opened in 1856 at a cost of £6,500 as a "mutual improvement" centre for the working men of Oldham. The facilities provided to members included a library, a newsroom and a series of lectures on geology, geography and education, microscopy and chemistry, female education and botany.
Instrumental music was introduced and there were soon sixteen violinists and three cellists. Eventually the building was extended to include a school of science and art. Music had always been important in the life of the Lyceum, and in 1892 a school of music was opened, with 39 students enrolled for the "theory and practice of music".
The Lyceum continued throughout the 20th century as a centre for the arts in Oldham. The Lyceum Players are a current amateur theatre company entering its 93rd year. They put on a varied programme of productions each season and the theatre is on the ground floor of the Lyceum building. In 1986 the local authority was invited by its directors and trustees to accept the building as a gift.
The acceptance of the Lyceum building by the Education Committee provided the opportunity to move the music centre and "further enhance the cultural activities of the town".
In 1989 the Oldham Metropolitan Borough Music Centre moved into the Lyceum building, which is now the home of the Oldham Lyceum School of Music.
Oldham's museum and gallery service dates back to 1883.
Since then it has established itself as a cultural focus for Oldham and has developed one of the largest and most varied permanent collections in
North West England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...
. The current collection includes over 12,000 social and industrial history items, more than 2,000 works of art, about 1,000 items of decorative art, more than 80,000 natural history specimens, over 1,000 geological specimens, about 3,000 archaeological artefacts, 15,000 photographs and a large number of books, pamphlets and documents.
Meanwhile, the
Rifle Street drill hall dates back to 1897.
Oldham is now home to a newly built state-of-the-art art gallery,
Gallery Oldham, which was completed in February 2002 as the first phase of the Oldham Cultural Quarter.
Later phases of the development saw the opening of an extended Oldham Library, a lifelong learning centre and there are plans to include a performing arts centre.
Carnival
The annual Oldham Carnival started around 1900, although the tradition of
carnival
Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...
s in the town goes back much further, providing a "welcomed respite from the tedium of everyday life". The carnival parade was always held in mid-to-late summer, with the primary aim of raising money for charities. It often featured local dignitaries or popular entertainers, in addition to brass, military and jazz bands, the Carnival Queen, people in
fancy dress, dancers and decorated
floats from local churches and businesses. Whenever possible, local people who had attained national celebrity status were invited to join the cavalcade. The carnival's route began in the town centre, wound its way along King Street, and ended with a party in
Alexandra Park.
The carnival fell out of favour in the late 1990s but was resurrected by community volunteers in 2006 and rebranded the Peoples' Carnival. The parade was moved into Alexandra Park in 2011. The event hosts live stages and other activities alongside a parade in the park.
2016 marked ten years since the carnival was reinstated by volunteers. The main organiser is Paul Davies who runs the carnival with a number of committee members and volunteers.
International relations
Twin towns - sister cities
*
Geesthacht,
Schleswig-Holstein,
Germany
*
Kranj
Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carniol ...
,
Upper Carniola,
Slovenia
Britain in Bloom
Oldham has had a pattern of success in the "best city" category in the national
Britain in Bloom competition, winning in 2012 and 2014,
and in several following years
and gaining a gold award in 2019.
Oldham Council financially support the awards, one of only five local authorities in the North West to do so.
Notable people
People from Oldham are called Oldhamers, though "Roughyed" is a
nickname from the 18th century when rough
felt was used in Oldham to make hats.
Edward Potts was a renowned architect who moved to Oldham from
Bury. He was the architect for fourteen mills in the Oldham area. Other notable persons with Oldham connections include the composer Sir
William Walton, former British Prime Minister Sir
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, the artist
Brian Clarke, and
Louise Brown,
the world's first baby to be conceived by
''in vitro'' fertilisation.
Notable media personalities from Oldham include presenter
Nick Grimshaw
Nicholas Peter Andrew Grimshaw (born 14 August 1984), also known as Grimmy, is an English television and former radio presenter, podcaster and author. He became known for having hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1. He is also known as a t ...
, actors
Eric Sykes,
Bernard Cribbins and
Christopher Biggins
Christopher Kenneth Biggins (born 16 December 1948) is an English actor and television presenter.
Early life
Biggins was born in Oldham, Lancashire, the son of William and Pamela Biggins. He was brought up in Salisbury, Wiltshire, attended St P ...
,
Ricky Whittle
Richard George Whittle (born 31 December 1979) is a British actor. Whittle first came to prominence as a model for Reebok in the early 2000s. He is known in the United Kingdom for his role as Calvin Valentine in the soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. I ...
, TV host
Phillip Schofield,
actress
Shobna Gulati, actress/comedian
Dora Bryan, actress
Anne Kirkbride, actress
Olivia Cooke physicist and science educator
Brian Cox, television presenter
John Stapleton and comedy double act
Cannon and Ball.
Notable musicians from Oldham include the
Inspiral Carpets,
N-Trance and
Mark Owen of boyband
Take That as well as the founding members of the rock band
Barclay James Harvest
Barclay James Harvest are an English progressive rock band. They were founded in Oldham, in September 1966 by bassist/vocalist Les Holroyd (b. 1948), guitarist/vocalist John Lees (b. 1947), drummer/percussionist Mel Pritchard (1948–2004), a ...
.
Notable charity mountaineer, the first British Muslim to climb
Mount Everest,
Akke Rahman
Aklakur Rahman ( bn, আখলাকুর রহমান), better known as Akke Rahman, is a British Bangladeshi mountaineer. In October 2020 he broke the UK record for climbing Mount Elbrus, reaching the summit in less than 24 hours. In May 2 ...
, of Bengali heritage, is from Oldham.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Oldham
*
Greenhill power station
*
Chadderton power station
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
www.oldham.gov.uk Website of Oldham Council.
www.genuki.org.uk GENUKI entry for Oldham, including genealogical data and historic descriptions.
{{authority control
Oldham
Towns in Greater Manchester
865 establishments
Populated places established in the 9th century
9th-century establishments in England
Unparished areas in Greater Manchester
Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham