Royton is a town in the
Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after its largest town, Oldham, The borough had a population of 237,628 making it the seventh-largest district by population ...
,
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
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, with a population of 21,284 in 2011.
Close to the source of the
River 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 ...
, near undulating land at the foothills of the
South Pennines
The South Pennines is a region of moorland and hill country in northern England lying towards the southern end of the Pennines. In the west it includes the Rossendale Valley and the West Pennine Moors. It is bounded by the Greater Manchester co ...
, it is northwest 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 ...
, southeast of
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
and northeast of
Manchester
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 Salford to the west. The t ...
.
Within the boundaries of the
historic county of
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, Royton and its surroundings have provided evidence of
ancient British,
Roman
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 letter ...
and
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
activity in the area.
[.] During the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, Royton formed a small
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
centred on Royton Hall, a manor house owned by a long succession of dignitaries which included the
Byrons and
Radcliffes. A settlement expanded outwards from the hall which, by as late as 1780, "contained only a few straggling and mean-built cottages".
Farming was the main industry of this rural area, with locals supplementing their incomes by
hand-loom
A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but th ...
woollen
Woolen (American English) or woollen (Commonwealth English) is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast t ...
weaving in the
domestic system
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 ...
.
Royton has the distinction of being the first town where a powered
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 ...
was built; at Thorp in 1764,
and is one of the first localities in the world to have adopted the
factory system
The factory system is a method of manufacturing using machinery and division of labor. Because of the high capital cost of machinery and factory buildings, factories are typically privately owned by wealthy individuals or corporations who empl ...
. The introduction of
textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution
Textile manufacture during the British Industrial Revolution was centred in south Lancashire and the towns on both sides of the Pennines in the United Kingdom. The main drivers of the Industrial Revolution were textile manufacturing, iron foundi ...
facilitated a process of unplanned urbanisation in the area, and by the mid-19th century Royton had emerged as a
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 ...
. At its zenith, there were 40 cotton mills—some of the largest in the United Kingdom—employing 80% of the local population. Imports of foreign cotton goods began the decline in Royton's textile industry during the mid-20th century, and its last mill closed in 2002.
Today, fewer than a dozen mills are still standing, the majority of which are used for light engineering or as distribution centres.
[.] Despite an economic depression brought about by the demise of cotton spinning, Royton's population has continued to grow as a result of intensive
housing redevelopment which has modernised its former
Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
districts.
History
Toponymy
The name Royton is
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
in origin, and it has been suggested that the
Rye crop is the root of the name; "Roy-" is derived from Rye, with the Old English suffix ''
-ton'' added to imply "rye farm" or "rye settlement". The first known written record of the name Ryeton (or Ryton) was in a survey of Lancashire in 1212,
although the name is believed to date from the 7th century as a result of
Anglian colonisation which followed the
Battle of Chester
The Battle of Chester (Old Welsh: ''Guaith Caer Legion''; Welsh: ''Brwydr Caer'') was a major victory for the Anglo-Saxons over the native Britons near the city of Chester, England in the early 7th century. Æthelfrith of Northumbria annihilated ...
.
[.]
Early history
There is evidence of
Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
human activity in the area, by way of a
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
stone axe found at Royton Park.
The
ancient Britons
The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', la, Britanni), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were people of Celtic language and culture who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age and into the Middle Ages, at which point the ...
are thought to have inhabited the area, and the
Romans
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 ...
to have traversed it;
the remains of a Roman or
Early Medieval
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
bloomery
A bloomery is a type of metallurgical furnace once used widely for smelting iron from its oxides. The bloomery was the earliest form of smelter capable of smelting iron. Bloomeries produce a porous mass of iron and slag called a ''bloom ...
was discovered in 1836. There is no physical manifestation of the
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
s/
Norsemen
The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...
in the locality, but
toponymic evidence implies they have been present;
the hamlet of Thorp is the oldest settled locality in Royton, and its name is of
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
origin meaning "farm, estate or village".
Unmentioned in the ''
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
'' of 1086, Royton does not appear in records until 1212, when it was documented to have been a
thegn
In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there w ...
age estate, or manor, comprising twelve
oxgang
An oxgang or bovate ( ang, oxangang; da, oxgang; gd, damh-imir; lat-med, bovāta) is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England as early as the 16th century sometimes referred to as an oxgait. It averaged around 20 English a ...
s of land, with an annual rate of 24
shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s payable by the tenant, William Fitz William, to
King John.
From William, who died in 1223, Royton passed to his son Thomas, who was still alive in 1254. Thomas's daughter Margery, who married Alexander Luttrell of
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, sold the majority of Royton and its outlying land to John de Byron in around 1260. It is from this exchange that the
Byron family
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
came to use Royton as their chief place of residence until the early part of the 17th century.
![Royton Hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Royton_Hall.png)
The early history of Royton is linked closely with what was then its
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
, Royton Hall, which was inhabited by the Byron family for over 350 years.
During that period the Byrons' involvement in regional and national affairs added prestige to what was otherwise an obscure and rural township.
John de Byron was a witness to the
charter of incorporation
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
of 1301, which elevated the township of
Manchester
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 Salford to the west. The t ...
to the status of a
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 ...
.
A descendant of John—
John Byron
Vice-Admiral John Byron (8 November 1723 – 1 April 1786) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer. He earned the nickname "Foul-Weather Jack" in the press because of his frequent encounters with bad weather at sea. As a midshipman, he sa ...
—served as
High Sheriff of Lancashire
The High Sheriff of Lancashire is an ancient officer, now largely ceremonial, granted to Lancashire, a county in North West England. High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown, in England and Wales. The High Sheriff of Lanca ...
in 1572, and was knighted by
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
in 1579.
John served as
Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire at the time of the
Spanish Armada
The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...
, and sourced infantry from Royton towards the English military.
His son, also called John, fought during the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
on the side of the
Cavalier
The term Cavalier () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – ). It ...
s. His actions led to making him
John Byron, 1st Baron Byron of Rochdale by way of a
peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.
Peerages include:
Australia
* Australian peers
Belgium
* Belgi ...
granted by
King Charles I.
Following the regicide of Charles I, and the rise of
Cromwellian England, Baron Byron's possessions, including his lands in Royton, were confiscated.
Royton Hall was then purchased by Thomas Percival, a wealthy linen manufacturer whose descendants continued to occupy the hall until around 1814.
The hall was then inherited by the
Radcliffe Baronets
The Radcliffe Baronetcy, of Milnsbridge House in the County of York, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 2 November 1813 for Joseph Radcliffe as a reward for his public services.
The Radcliffes were an ancient ...
.
Textiles and the Industrial Revolution
Apart from the dignitaries who lived in Royton Hall, the population of Royton during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
comprised a small community of
retainer
Retainer may refer to:
* Retainer (orthodontics), devices for teeth
* RFA ''Retainer'' (A329), a ship
* Retainers in early China, a social group in early China
Employment
* Retainer agreement, a contract in which an employer pays in advance for ...
s and
farmers
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...
, most of whom were involved with
pasture
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...
, but supplemented their incomes by weaving
woollen
Woolen (American English) or woollen (Commonwealth English) is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast t ...
s in the
domestic system
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 ...
.
[.] The area was thinly populated and consisted of several hamlets, including Thorp, Heyside and Royton village itself as the nucleus. During the
Early Modern period, the weavers of Royton had been using
spinning wheel
A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from fibres. It was fundamental to the cotton textile industry prior to the Industrial Revolution. It laid the foundations for later machinery such as the spinning jenny and spinning f ...
s in makeshift
weavers' cottage
A weavers' cottage was (and to an extent still is) a type of house used by weavers for cloth production in the putting-out system sometimes known as the domestic system.
Weavers' cottages were common in Great Britain, often with dwelling quarte ...
s, but as both the demand for cotton goods increased and the technology of
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 ...
improved during the early-18th century, the need for larger structures to house bigger, better and more efficient equipment became apparent. The construction of a water powered
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 ...
by Ralph Taylor at Thorp Clough in 1764, is said to be the first structure of its kind.
[.] The construction of more mills followed, which initiated a process of urbanisation and
socioeconomic
Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local ...
transformation in the region; the population moved away from farming, adopting employment in the
factory system
The factory system is a method of manufacturing using machinery and division of labor. Because of the high capital cost of machinery and factory buildings, factories are typically privately owned by wealthy individuals or corporations who empl ...
.
The introduction of the factory system led to a tenfold increase of Royton's population in less than a century; from 260 in 1714 to 2,719 in 1810.
Despite its growth as a centre for cotton-cloth production, and the construction of a
chapel of ease
A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently.
Often a chapel of ea ...
in 1754, in 1780 Royton was said to have "contained only a few straggling and mean-built cottages".
The people of Royton continued to produce cotton goods (mainly cloth) and sell them at the market in Manchester.
![Tandle Hill, Royton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Tandle_Hill%2C_Royton.jpg)
During this period of growth, Royton's parliamentary representation was limited to two members of parliament for
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, and nationally, the end of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
in 1815 had resulted in periods of
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...
and
chronic unemployment for textile weavers. By the beginning of 1819 the pressure generated by poor economic conditions, coupled with the lack of
suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...
in
northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
, had enhanced the appeal of
political Radicalism
Radical politics denotes the intent to transform or replace the principles of a society or political system, often through social change, structural change, revolution or radical reform. The process of adopting radical views is termed radicali ...
in the region. The Manchester Patriotic Union, a group agitating for parliamentary reform, began to organise a mass public demonstration in Manchester to demand the reform of parliamentary representation. Organised preparations took place, and a spy reported that "seven hundred men drilled at
Tandle Hill as well as any army regiment would"; a few days later, on 3 August, a royal proclamation forbidding the practice of drilling was posted in Manchester.
On 16 August 1819, Royton (like its neighbours) sent a contingent of its townsfolk to Manchester to join the mass political demonstration now known as the
Peterloo massacre
The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Fifteen people died when cavalry charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who had gathered to demand the reform of parliament ...
(owing to the 15 deaths and 400–700 injuries that followed).
Royton's contingent was of particular note, in that it sent a sizable female section to the demonstration.
Royton's damp climate provided the ideal conditions for cotton spinning to be carried out without the cotton drying and breaking, and newly developed 19th century mechanisation optimised cotton spinning for mass production for the global market. By 1832, there were 12
steam power
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
ed mills in Royton, of which its former hamlets had begun to
agglomerate
Agglomerate (from the Latin ''agglomerare'' meaning "to form into a ball") is a coarse accumulation of large blocks of volcanic material that contains at least 75% bombs. Volcanic bombs differ from volcanic blocks in that their shape records flui ...
as a town around the cotton factories, a number of small coalpits and new turnpike road from Oldham to Rochdale, which passed through the town centre.
[.] The Manchester, Oldham and Royton Railway and a goods yard was constructed in the 1860s, allowing improved transportation of textile goods and raw materials to and from the township.
Neighbouring Oldham (which by the 1870s had emerged of the largest and most productive mill town in the world) had begun to encroach upon Royton's southern boundary, forming a continuous urban cotton-spinning district. The demand for cheap cotton goods from this area prompted the
flotation of cotton spinning companies; the investment was followed by the construction of 22 new cotton mills in Royton. Together with Oldham, at its peak the area was responsible for 13% of the world's cotton production.
![Elk Mill](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Elk_Mill.jpg)
Supplies of raw cotton from the United States were cut during the
Lancashire Cotton Famine
The Lancashire Cotton Famine, also known as the Cotton Famine or the Cotton Panic (1861–65), was a depression in the textile industry of North West England, brought about by overproduction in a time of contracting world markets. It coincided wi ...
of
1861–65, leading to the formation of the Royton
Local Board of Health
Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...
in 1863, whose purpose was to ensure social security and maintain hygiene and sanitation in the locality.
On 26 November 1884 an explosive device containing gunpowder was detonated in
Royton Town Hall, in a cellar underneath the offices of Royton's local board.
An anonymous communication was received by the supposed bomber, stating that he intended the explosion for the Royton School Board because children are not allowed to work at the age of 10 years, and because he wanted the abolition of the
Factory Acts
The Factory Acts were a series of acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to regulate the conditions of industrial employment.
The early Acts concentrated on regulating the hours of work and moral welfare of young children employed ...
. There were no fatalities caused by the explosion, and damage to the building was restricted to smoke damage and shattered windows, doors and woodwork.
[ The ]Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, and First and Second World Wars each contributed to periods of economic decline in Royton. However, in as late the 1950s, 80% of Royton's population was employed in the textile mill
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
s. As imports of cheaper foreign yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufact ...
s increased during the mid-20th century, Royton's textile sector declined gradually to a halt; cotton spinning reduced in the 1960s and 1970s, and by the early 1980s only four mills were operational. In spite of efforts to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of its production, the last cotton was spun in the town in 2002. Less than a dozen mills are still standing in Royton, the majority of which are now used for light engineering or as distribution centres.
Post-industrial history
Since deindustrialisation, Royton's population has continued to grow as a result of intensive housing redevelopment which has modernised much its former Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
terraced housing
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 ...
districts, and the construction of retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
and business park
A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...
s, which provide employment. The town has subsequently been described as "doing better than most" in Greater Manchester. Despite this, since the turn of the millennium Royton has been earmarked for cosmetic gentrification. In the 2000s, Royton was used as a filming location for the BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
police drama ''Life on Mars
The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...
'', particularly the area near Lion Mill. ''Life on Mars'' is set in 1970s Manchester.
Governance
Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
since the early 12th century, Royton anciently constituted a thegn
In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there w ...
age estate, held by tenants who paid tax to the King. Royton during the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
formed a township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
in the parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham
Prestwich-cum-Oldham (also known as Prestwich with Oldham) was an ancient ecclesiastical parish of the hundred of Salford, within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire, England. With the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Prestwich as ...
, and hundred of Salford
The Salford Hundred (also known as Salfordshire) was one of the subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire, in Northern England (see:Hundred (county division). Its name alludes to its judicial centre being the township of Salford (the s ...
. Anciently, law and order was upheld in the locality by two constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
s, chosen by the community and appointed annually by Vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
meetings.[.]
Following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relief ...
, Royton formed part of the Oldham Poor Law Union, an inter-parish unit established to provide social security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
. Royton's first was a local board of health
Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...
established in 1863; Royton Local Board of Health was a regulatory body responsible for standards of hygiene and sanitation in the township. In 1871 Royton was noted as a large village-chapelry
A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century.
Status
It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the communi ...
, and a sub-district of the Oldham registration district. In 1879, a part of the neighbouring township of Thornham was amalgamated into the area of the local board. Following the Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...
, the area of the Local Board became the Royton Urban District
Royton was a local government district from 1863 to 1974 in Lancashire, England, which covered the modern-day town of Royton, and its suburbs and districts.
It covered a significant area to the north-west of the County Borough of Oldham, and for ...
, a local government district within the administrative county
An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...
of Lancashire. The urban district council was based in Royton Town Hall, which had been purpose built for the local board in 1880. In 1933, a part of the neighbouring Municipal Borough of Middleton
The Municipal Borough of Middleton was, from 1886 to 1974, a municipal borough in the administrative county of Lancashire, England, coterminous with the town of Middleton.
Civic history
By the nineteenth century the neighbouring townships of Mi ...
was transferred to Royton Urban District. 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 Royton Urban District was abolished, and Royton has, since 1 April 1974, formed an unparished area
In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparish ...
of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after its largest town, Oldham, The borough had a population of 237,628 making it the seventh-largest district by population ...
, a local government district of 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
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 ...
. Royton has two of the twenty wards
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...
of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham: Royton North and Royton South.
In terms of parliamentary representation, Royton after the Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament, Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major chan ...
was represented as part of the Oldham parliamentary borough constituency, of which the first Members of Parliaments (MPs) were the radicals William Cobbett
William Cobbett (9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835) was an English pamphleteer, journalist, politician, and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey. He was one of an agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten boroughs", restrain foreign ...
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 ...
was the MP between 1900 and 1906. Constituency boundaries changed during the 20th century, and Royton has lain within the Royton
Royton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 21,284 in 2011. Close to the source of the River Irk, near undulating land at the foothills of the South Pennines, it is northwest of Old ...
(1918–1950), Heywood and Royton (1950–1983), and Oldham Central and Royton (1983–1997) constituencies. Since 1997, Royton has lain within Oldham West and Royton. Until his death in 2015, it was represented in the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
by Michael Meacher
Michael Hugh Meacher (4 November 1939 – 21 October 2015) was a British politician who served as a government minister under Harold Wilson, James Callaghan and Tony Blair. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Ol ...
, a member of the Labour Party.
Geography
At (53.566°, −2.121°) and north-northwest of London, Royton lies at the foothills of 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 ...
, roughly above sea level. The larger towns of Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
and Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
lie to the north and south respectively. For purposes of the Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for th ...
, Royton forms part of the Greater Manchester Urban Area
The Greater Manchester Built-up Area is an area of land defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), consisting of the large conurbation that encompasses the urban element of the city of Manchester and the metropolitan area that forms ...
, with Manchester city centre
Manchester City Centre is the central business district of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England situated within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way which collectively form an inner ring road. ...
itself southwest of Royton.
Described in Samuel Lewis's ''A Topographical Dictionary of England'' (1848) as being in "aspect rather wild",[.] Royton lies in a shallow valley amongst undulating land. The sources of the rivers Irk and Beal are to the northeast and east respectively. The Irk meanders southwesterly into Chadderton, and then onwards to Middleton into Manchester before uniting its waters with the River Irwell
The River Irwell ( ) is a tributary of the River Mersey in north west England. It rises at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup and flows southwards for to meet the Mersey near Irlam. The Irwell marks the boundary be ...
in Manchester city centre. The general slope of the land decreases in height away from the Pennines, from east to west, but reaches high points of at Tandle Hill and at the summit of Oldham Edge, a ridge of elevated land which leads to Oldham.[.] The soils of the town are broadly sand with subsoils of clay.
Royton's built environment
The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ac ...
follows a standard urban structure
Urban structure is the arrangement of land use in urban areas, in other words, how the land use of a city is set out. Urban planners, economists, and geographers have developed several models that explain where different types of people and busine ...
, consisting of residential dwellings centred around a High Street
High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
in the town centre, which is the local centre of commerce. There is a mixture of low-density urban areas
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
, suburbs, semi-rural and rural locations in Royton, but overwhelmingly the land use
Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long h ...
in the town is residential. Tandle Hill is a country park
A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment.
United Kingdom
History
In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a special meaning. There are around 250 recognised coun ...
consisting of open grasslands and mature beech woodlands.
Suburban localities in Royton include Haggate, Heyside, Holden Fold, Long Sight (or Longsight), Oozewood, Royley, Salmon Fields, Stott Field, Thornham, and Thorp. Thornham was formerly a township in itself, but was amalgamated into Royton in the late-19th century.
Demography
According to the Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for th ...
, at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.
The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...
, Royton (urban-core and sub-area) had a total resident population of 22,238. Royton considered as a combination of the 2001 electoral wards
The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ward is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil parishes and borough and distri ...
of Royton North and Royton South, had a population of 20,961. The 2001 population density of the urban area was , with a 100 to 92.3 female-to-male ratio. Of those over 16 years old, 25.3% were single (never married) 46.8% married, and 8.4% divorced. Royton's 9,204 households included 26.1% one-person, 42.1% married couples living together, 9.3% were co-habiting couples, and 9.6% single parents with their children. Of those aged 16–74, 31.7% had no academic qualifications.
At the 2001 UK census, 84.8% of Royton's residents reported themselves as being Christian, 0.8% Muslim, 0.4% Hindu, and 0.1% Buddhist. The census recorded 7.9% as having no religion, 0.1% had an alternative religion and 5.9% did not state their religion.
Royton's population has been described as broadly working class with pockets of lower middle class
In developed nations around the world, the lower middle class is a subdivision of the greater middle class. Universally, the term refers to the group of middle class households or individuals who have not attained the status of the upper middle ...
communities, particularly in the southwest of the town, near the border with Chadderton
Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester.
Hi ...
, and a growing middle middle class community to the north near Tandle Hill Country Park.
Economy
From the 18th century onwards, Royton's economy was closely tied with that of Britain's textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution
Textile manufacture during the British Industrial Revolution was centred in south Lancashire and the towns on both sides of the Pennines in the United Kingdom. The main drivers of the Industrial Revolution were textile manufacturing, iron foundi ...
, particularly the cotton spinning sector. However, Royton also lies on the Oldham Coalfield, and coal mining had an economic role for the area in as early as the 17th century.[.] Mining peaked in the 19th century with over 200 collieries in the town. Royton's pits were prone to repeated flooding, and owners began to close them. Coal production began to decline even before that of the local spinning industry, with the last pit closing in 1902.
Since deindustrialisation, Royton's economic activity has been focused around a business park
A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...
at Salmon Fields which includes distribution companies such as 3663 and Holroyd Meek, manufacturing firms including bed manufacturers Slumberland, and formerly included vehicle assembly at Seddon Atkinson
Seddon Atkinson Vehicles Limited, a manufacturer of large goods vehicles based in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, was formed after the acquisition in 1970 of Atkinson Vehicles Limited of Preston by Seddon Diesel Vehicles Limited of Oldh ...
. Formerly an area of "green fields", the Salmon Fields Business Village was proposed in 1983, and developed into a business park later that decade despite objections that the estate would ruin a "beautiful area", and cause noise pollution
Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them are harmful to a degree. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is main ...
. There are additional retail parks in the locality, including the centre (formerly Elk Mill Retail Park), which lies at the start of the A627(M) motorway
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 ...
.
Opposite Royton Town Hall is a shopping precinct containing 23 shop units and a supermarket operated by the Co-operative Food
Co-op Food is a brand used for the food retail business of The Co-operative Group in the United Kingdom.
Prior to reintroducing the brand in 2016, the group used " The Co-operative" branding, which is still used by a number of consumers' co ...
. The site was opened in 1971 and occupies the town's former market street, which was demolished in 1969. In 2004 a report noted that a weakness of the precinct is that it lacks a variety of shops.
Landmarks
Historically, Royton's only landmark was Royton Hall, the township's former manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
which was inhabited by local dignitaries from its construction (in as early as the 13th century) to 1814. Part of the hall was erected during the 16th century, but the east wing was crafted in the Elizabethan
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
or Jacobean architectural style. In 1794 it was described as "pleasantly seated in a deep valley, surrounded by high grounds. It is a firm, well built stone edifice of ancient date". During the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Royton Hall was used to house Belgian refugees, and following the war was bought by Dr John Thomas Godfrey. After he took his family to South Africa, it stood empty until it was converted into flats. The hall fell into disrepair in the 1930s and was demolished in 1938. The foundations of the structure were excavated in 2005 leading to the discovery of original panes of glass and a Tudor stair tower.
Royton Town Hall is a purpose-built municipal building Municipal Building may refer to the following places:
United States Arkansas
*Crossett Municipal Building, Crossett, AR, List of RHPs in AR, listed on the NRHP in Arkansas
*Municipal Building (El Dorado, Arkansas), El Dorado, AR, List of RHPs in A ...
opened in September 1880, by James Ashworth, the first Chairman of Royton Local Board of Health.[.] It was constructed in a free style of architecture, and includes a domed roof and clock tower topped by a copper cupola. By the entrance is a flagstaff which flies the Union Flag
The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...
. The clock tower is inscribed on three sides with Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
mottos: "Tempus Fugit" (time flies), "Sic Labitur Aetas" (so the years pass by) and "Finem Respice" (have regards to the end). The clock face on the east side, facing Shaw and Crompton
Shaw and Crompton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which contains the town of Shaw and lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines. It is located north of Oldham, south ...
is half the size of the other three. A local tale is that when the Church of Holy Trinity at Shaw was constructed in 1869, it had no clock on the western facade of its clock tower, which faced Royton. The reduced clock face size at Royton Town Hall is said to have been a retaliation.
Royton War Memorial lies at the summit of Tandle Hill, and was erected "in memory of the men of Royton who gave their lives for the freedom and honour of their country" during the First World War.[.] It is a Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...
obelisk, that originally bore plaques listing the fallen, and had a bronze sculpture of Victory
The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal Duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitu ...
at its base. It was commissioned by the Royton War Memorial Committee and unveiled on 22 October 1921 by Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby
Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, (4 April 1865 – 4 February 1948), styled Mr Edward Stanley until 1886, then The Hon Edward Stanley and then Lord Stanley from 1893 to 1908, was a British soldier, Conservative politician, d ...
. The original plaques were stolen in 1969, and replacements were later installed in the grounds of Royton's Church of St Paul.
Royton Library is a Carnegie library, a gift of Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
. It was opened in 1907 by Edward Stanley, 4th Baron Stanley of Alderley
Edward Lyulph Stanley, 4th Baron Sheffield, 4th Baron Stanley of Alderley and 3rd Baron Eddisbury PC (16 May 1839 – 18 March 1925) was an English peer.
Life
He was the son of Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley, and the former Hen ...
, an aristocrat and former Member of Parliament for the area. The surnames of four prominent writers—Bacon, Carlyle, Spencer and Milton—are inscribed above one of four windows on the building face, by the entrance.
Transport
Public transport in Royton is co-ordinated by the Transport for Greater Manchester
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services throughout Greater Manchester in North West England. TfGM is responsible for investments in improving transport services and facilities. ...
. Major A roads link Royton with other settlements, including the A671 road
The A671 is a road in the North West of England, that runs between Oldham, Greater Manchester and Worston, near Clitheroe, Lancashire. Major towns on the route include Rochdale and Burnley. The road is approximately long. Between Burnley and t ...
. Originally built as a turnpike between Oldham and Rochdale, the A671 bisects Royton from the southeast, forming the town's main street, before continuing northwards through Rochdale, Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
and terminates at the village of Worston
Worston is a small linear village and civil parish in Lancashire, England. The village is north-west of Pendle Hill, east of Clitheroe, and is in the Ribble Valley district. As it is only a small village, with a population of 76 at the 2001 cen ...
in Lancashire. The M62 motorway
The M62 is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of ...
runs to the north of the area and is accessed via the A663 at junction 21 and junction 20 via the A627(M) motorway
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 ...
, which terminates at Royton's southwestern boundary.
Royton railway station lay at the end of a branch from Royton Junction on the Oldham Loop Line
The Oldham Loop Line was a local railway route in Greater Manchester, England, used by trains that ran from Manchester Victoria to Rochdale via Oldham Mumps. Services on the line at the time of its closure were operated by Northern Rail.
The l ...
, which was part of the route which connected Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale. The station was opened in 1864 and closed in April 1966. It featured steep gradients on the line up to Royton Junction, which, in October 1908, caused an accident when a goods train ran out of control on the gradient down to the station, killing a fireman. In February 1961, a four-coach runaway train crashed through the buffers at Royton railway station and continued on over High Barn Street. Five houses were damaged. The driver of the train was injured, but there were no fatal or severe injuries to the public. Five people from the damaged houses were taken to hospital suffering from shock and bruises, and in one case a fractured clavicle.
There are frequent buses running through Royton with services to a variety of destinations in Greater Manchester. Bus services operate to Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...
, Manchester, Middleton, Oldham, Rochdale, Shaw
Shaw may refer to:
Places Australia
*Shaw, Queensland
Canada
*Shaw Street, a street in Toronto
England
*Shaw, Berkshire, a village
*Shaw, Greater Manchester, a location in the parish of Shaw and Crompton
*Shaw, Swindon, a List of United Kingdom ...
and Stalybridge
Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 23,731 at the 2011 Census.
Historic counties of England, Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east of Manchester city centre and no ...
are operated by on their 24, 64, 181, 182, 402, 408, 409 and 428 services.
Education
The Village School of Royton was founded in 1785, and continued to provide education until 1833, when a new school linked with Royton's parish church of St Paul, was opened. The village school became the local Sunday School
A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West.
Su ...
, but split from St Paul's in 1838, reopening as a day school. The village school closed in 1907 and was demolished in 1969.
Almost every suburb of Royton is served by a school of some kind, including some with religious affiliations. All the schools in the town perform either at or above the national average for test results. Royton has eight primary schools, including Blackshaw Lane Junior and Infant School, Fir Bank Primary School, Royton Hall Primary School, SS Aidan & Oswald RC Primary School, St Anne's CE Royton, St Paul's CE Primary School, Thornham St James CE Primary School and Thorp Community Primary School. Royton has two secondary schools, E-Act Royton and Crompton Academy
E-ACT Royton and Crompton Academy is a coeducational, secondary academy school for 11- to 16-year-olds in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England.
History
The school was formerly called Royton and Crompton School. In th ...
and Our Lady's RC High School. E-Act Royton and Crompton Academy is a coeducational, secondary comprehensive school for 11- to 16-year-olds. It has Science College
Science Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, science and mathematics. Schools that suc ...
status and was constructed in 1968. Our Lady's RC High School is a coeducational 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 ...
high school and sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate Di ...
for 11- to 19-year-olds. It was established in 1961 and specialialises in Mathematics and Computing. In the 2000s, Oldham Council and the Diocese of Salford
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford is centred on the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England.
The diocese was founded in 1852 as one of the first post-Reformation Catholic dioceses in Great Britain. Since 1911 it has formed part of th ...
agreed to merge Our Lady's with the St Augustine of Canterbury RC High School in Werneth. However, the proposal, which would have a newly built Catholic secondary on a new site in the 2010s, has been met with protest.
Sports
Royton Town F.C. is an amateur association football club which was established as the Stotts Benham works side in the Rochdale Alliance League, but changed its name to Royton Town in 1985. The team won the Rochdale Alliance Premier Division treble and were unbeaten for two and a half seasons, progressing to the Lancashire Amateur League
The Lancashire Amateur Football League is an English association football league founded in 1899. Currently the league consists of five divisions – Premier, One, Two, Three and Four. The Premier Division is at level 14 in the English football ...
in 1994. Since 2001–2002 it has played in the Premier Division of the Manchester Football League
The Manchester Football League is a football league in England, affiliated with Manchester FA, covering a 30-mile radius from Manchester Town Hall. It was formed in 1893, although play ceased between 1912 and 1920. Currently it consists of fiv ...
. Royton Cricket Club, plays in the Central Lancashire Cricket League
The Central Lancashire Cricket League (CLCL) was a fifteen team cricket league, traditionally based in Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was then based in Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. The league ran competitions at First T ...
(winning it on two occasions in 1914 and 1980). The Crompton and Royton Golf Club lies on the western fringe of the town, and has a prime heathland 18-hole golf course, spanning . The club operates a variety of open competitions.
Royton Amateur Swimming and Water Polo Club has been serving the town for over 100 years and is affiliated to Central Lancashire Swimming Association, It has a long a rich history and the Water Polo section has had several GB players the latest Joe OReagan who played for GB in the London Olympics, Because of the lack of pool time there is only under 14s and Junior teams but are very successful playing in the Manchester and Bolton leagues and the Central Lancs leagues.
Religion
Royton had no medieval church of its own, and for ecclesiastical purposes, lay within the parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham
Prestwich-cum-Oldham (also known as Prestwich with Oldham) was an ancient ecclesiastical parish of the hundred of Salford, within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire, England. With the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Prestwich as ...
in the Diocese of Lichfield
The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...
, until 1541, when this diocese was divided and Royton became part of the Diocese of Chester
The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York covering the pre-1974 county of Cheshire and therefore including the Wirral and parts of Stockport, Trafford and Tameside.
History
Ancient diocese
Before the si ...
. This in turn was divided in 1847, when the present Diocese of Manchester was created. For ritual baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
s, marriages and burials, the people of Royton, a Christian community, had to travel to churches that lay outside of the township's boundaries, including Oldham, St Mary's, Middleton, St Leonard's or Prestwich, St Mary's.
A chapel of ease
A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently.
Often a chapel of ea ...
under the mother church of Prestwich, St Mary's, was built between 1754 and 1757, paid for by voluntary contributions.[.] The chapel was consecrated on 1 July 1757, dedicated to Paul the Apostle
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
. St Paul's Chapel was extended throughout the 19th century as the population of Royton grew, with a tower and clock added in 1828 and extensions in 1854 and again in 1883. The nave of the chapel was demolished in 1889 and the existing church building in neo-Gothic 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 ...
was erected. St Paul's is in the Oldham West Deanery of the Diocese of Manchester. The Westwood Moravian Church
Westwood Moravian Church was founded in 1865 in the Westwood area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. By 1868 the church building was too small for its congregation, and a new structure was opened in 1869.. This church was used for Mora ...
congregation has recently relocated to Royton.
In addition to the established church, a variety of Reformed denominations have been practised in Royton. The Religious Society of Friends
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
were recorded as holding conventicle
A conventicle originally signified no more than an assembly, and was frequently used by ancient writers for a church. At a semantic level ''conventicle'' is only a good Latinized synonym of the Greek word church, and points to Jesus' promise in M ...
s in Heyside in as early as the 1650s.[.] A Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
meeting place was erected in 1775. Congregational
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
preachers regularly visited Royton, but it was not until 1854 that a workshop was established in the town. Primitive Methodism
The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834).
In the United States, the Primiti ...
was established in Royton in a room in a Royley building, with its first purpose-built church being erected in 1867.
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
in Royton after the English Reformation
The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
began in 1874, when a disused factory was used as a chapel.[.] Sir Percival Radcliffe, the then owner of Royton Hall, gave land and £2,000 towards the construction of a new Catholic school-chapel which opened in 1880; the local priest lived at Royton Hall. A rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage.
Function
A clergy house is typically ow ...
was built in 1901 and in 1966 the church, dedicated to saints Aidan and Oswald, was rebuilt. Royton, which forms part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford, continues to have a Catholic community, supported by Our Lady's R.C. High School, Royton, Our Lady's R.C. High School.
Public services
Home Office policing in Royton is provided by the Greater Manchester Police, . Before its demolition in 2015 there had been a police station in Royton since 1855. Public transport is co-ordinated by Transport for Greater Manchester
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services throughout Greater Manchester in North West England. TfGM is responsible for investments in improving transport services and facilities. ...
. Fire service in the United Kingdom, Statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.
There are no hospitals in Royton, although the Royal Oldham Hospital lies at Royton's boundary in neighbouring Coldhurst, in Oldham; some local health care is provided by Royton Health and Well-being Centre, an National Health Service (England), NHS surgery under the Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust. The Royton Health and Well-being Centre, which opened in October 2010, replaced Royton Health Centre which had been criticised for its limited space and poor layout. The Primary Care Trust plan to sell the old Royton Health Centre premises.
The North West Ambulance Service provides emergency patient transport in the area. Other forms of health care are provided for locally by several small specialist clinics and surgeries. Dr Kershaw's Hospice was opened in 1989, but traces its origins to a cottage hospital built in the 1930s with a legacy from Dr John Kershaw, a local General Practitioner and Medical Officer for Health. Dr Kershaw's Hospice, a registered charity, provides specialist palliative care for adults with non-curable life-threatening illnesses.
Waste management is co-ordinated by the via the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority. Locally produced inert waste for disposal is sent to landfill at the Beal Valley. Royton's distribution network operator for electricity is United Utilities; there are no power stations in the town. United Utilities also manages Royton's drinking water, drinking and waste water; water supplies are sourced from several local reservoirs, including Dovestones Reservoir, Dovestone and Chew Reservoir, Greater Manchester, Chew.
Notable people
Historically, Royton was chiefly distinguished by the presence of the Byrons and Radcliffes, both lines of dignitaries who lived in the locality. John Lees (inventor), John Lees of Turf Lane in Royton was an inventor who made a substantial improvement to machinery for carding cotton in 1772. John Hogan (VC), John Hogan was a Royton-born recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the British and Commonwealth forces.
Although described as the "quintessential Cockney kid" Jack Wild was born in Royton in 1952, eight years before he moved to London with his parents in 1960. Wild played the role of the Artful Dodger in the 1968 musical film ''Oliver! (film), Oliver!'', and was nominated for an Academy Award for List of nominees for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (by actor), Best Supporting Actor for his performance. Other notable people from Royton include actor Kieran O'Brien, who gained notoriety for his role in the 2004 film ''9 Songs'', glamour model Michelle Marsh, and radio and television presenter Nick Grimshaw.
See also
*Listed buildings in Royton
References
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
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www.zen42299.zen.co.uk
Royton Local History Society, 2009 archive.
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Towns in Greater Manchester
Unparished areas in Greater Manchester
Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham