Greenacres , archaically Greenacres Moor, is an area of

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

, in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. It lies on the west side of the

River Medlock The River Medlock in Greater Manchester, England rises in east Oldham and flows south and west for to join the River Irwell in Manchester city centre. Sources Rising in the hills that surround Strinesdale just to the eastern side of Oldham M ...

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

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

and

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

, all in the east of Oldham.

History

Until 1807, Greenacres had been open

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...

, but the area was urbanised with

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses 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. Although some were driven ...

s and densely packed redbrick

terraced house A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

s as part of Oldham's rapid

industrialisation Industrialisation ( UK) or industrialization ( US) 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 reorganisation of an economy for th ...

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

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

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

cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many dead people are buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ) implies th ...

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

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

and

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

observants. Greenacres has also long been the site of a Nonconformist congregation. Greenacres Congregational Church was formed in 1672 and the first minister was Rev Robert Constantine Asa Lees & Co. were

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

manufacturers who had their base at Greenacres. Greenacres was once the site of shallow coal measures. It also formed a significant part of the Oldham Above Town registration district.

Nonconformism

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

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

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

Education

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

References

External links

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

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

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

, South = Clarksfield , Southeast = Lees Areas of Oldham