Coordinates: 53°36′49″N 2°09′40″W / 53.6136°N 2.1610°W / 53.6136; -2.1610
Rochdale 
/ˈrɒtʃdeɪl/ is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England.[1] It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, 5.3 miles (8.5 km) north-northwest of Oldham, and 9.8 miles (15.8 km) north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, population 206,500. Rochdale is the largest settlement and administrative centre, with a total population of 95,796.
Historically a part of Lancashire, Rochdale's recorded history begins with an entry in the Domesday Book of 1086 under Recedham Manor. The ancient parish of Rochdale was a division of the hundred of Salford and one of the largest ecclesiastical parishes in England comprising several townships. By 1251, Rochdale had become important enough to have been granted a Royal charter. Subsequently, Rochdale flourished into a centre of northern England's woollen trade, and by the early 18th century was described as being "remarkable for many wealthy merchants".[2]
Rochdale rose to prominence during the 19th century as a major mill town and centre for textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the first ever industrialised towns.[3] The Rochdale Canal—one of the major navigable broad canals of the United Kingdom—was a highway of commerce during this time used for the haulage of cotton, wool, coal to and from the area. The socioeconomic change brought by the success of Rochdale's textile industry in the 19th century led to its rise to borough status and it remained a dominant settlement in its region.[3] However, during the 20th century Rochdale's spinning capacity declined towards an eventual halt.[3]
Rochdale today is a predominantly residential town. Rochdale Town Hall—a Grade I listed building—dates from 1871 and is one of the United Kingdom's finest examples of Victorian Gothic revival architecture.[4] Rochdale is the birthplace of the Co-operative Movement.[5] The Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society, founded in 1844, was the first modern cooperative; the Rochdale Principles are a set of ideals for cooperatives.
Rochdale seems to be named from its position on the River Roch but is recorded as Recedham in the Domesday Book. The name is derived from Old English reced meaming "hall", and ham, a "homestead". Over time, the name changed to Rachedale and eventually Rochdale.[6] The river's name is a back-formation from the Old English name, its name is /ˈroʊtʃ/, with a long o. Rochdale however, is pronounced /ˈrɒtʃdeɪl/, with a short o.
A Roman road, leading from Mamucium (Manchester) to (Eboracum) York, crossed the moors at Blackstone Edge.[7]
During the time of the Danelaw, Rochdale was subjected to incursions by the Danes on the Saxons. The castle that Castleton is named after, and of which no trace remains, was one of twelve Saxon forts possibly destroyed in frequent conflicts that occurred between the Saxons and Danes during the 10th and 11th centuries.[7]
Rochdale appears in the Domesday Book as Recedham. At the time of the Norman Conquest the manor was held by a Saxon thegn, Gamel. Before 1212 Henry II granted the manor to Roger de Lacy whose family retained it until it passed to the Dukes of Lancaster by marriage and then by 1399 to the Crown.[7][8] John Byron bought the manor in 1638 and it was sold by the poet, Lord Byron, in 1823, to the Deardens, who hold the title. Rochdale had no manor house but the "Orchard" built in 1702 and acquired in 1745 by Simon Dearden was the home of the lords of the manor after 1823. It was described as "a red-brick building of no architectural distinction, on the north side of the river opposite the town hall" and sometimes referred to as the Manor House. It was demolished in 1922.[9]
In medieval times, Rochdale was a market town, and weekly markets were held from 1250 when Edmund de Lacy obtained a grant for a market and an annual fair.[7] The market was held outside the parish church where there was an "Orator's Corner".
The manufacture of woollen cloth particularly baize, kerseys and flannels were important from the reign of Henry VIII. At this time the industry was rooted in the domestic system but towards the end of the 18th century mills powered by water were built. Water power was replaced by steam power in the 19th century and coal mines, mostly drift mines, were opened where coal from the lower coal measures outcropped around the town. The Deardens who were lords of the manor were among the local coal owners.[10] By the mid 1800s the woollen trade was declining and the cotton trade which took advantage of technological developments in spinning and weaving growing in importance.[11] Rochdale became one of the world's most productive cotton spinning towns when rose to prominence during the 19th century as a major mill town and centre for textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the first ever industrialised towns.[3] By the end of the 19th century there were woollen mills, silk manufacturers, bleachers and dyers but cotton spinning and weaving were the dominant industries in Rochdale.[12] The socioeconomic change brought by the success of Rochdale's textile industry in the 19th century led to its rise to borough status and it remained a dominant settlement in its region.[3] However, during the 20th century Rochdale's spinning capacity declined towards an eventual halt.[3]
The Rochdale Pioneers opened the first Cooperative shop in Toad Lane in 1844.[13] The reformer and Member of Parliament, John Bright (1811–1889), was born in Rochdale and gained a reputation as a leader of political dissent and supporter of the Anti-Corn Law League.[14]
Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire since the early 12th century, Rochdale was recorded in 1066 as held by Gamel, one of the twenty-one thegns of the Hundred of Salfordshire.[8]
The ancient ecclesiastical parish of Rochdale was divided in to four townships: Butterworth, Castleton, Hundersfield and Spotland. Hundersfield was later divided into four townships: Blatchinworth, Calderbrook, Wardleworth and Wuerdle and Wardle. Excluding the large chapelry of Saddleworth, which lay entirely in Yorkshire, the parish of Rochdale had an area of 65.4 square miles (169.4 km2).[8]
In 1825 commissioners for the social and economic improvement of the town were established. The town became part of a parliamentary borough in 1832. Under the terms of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 Rochdale became the head of Rochdale Poor Law Union which was established on 15 February 1837 despite considerable local opposition.[16] In 1856 Rochdale was incorporated as a municipal borough, giving it borough status in the United Kingdom and after 1858 it obtained the powers of the improvement commissioners.[1] In 1872 the remaining area of Wardleworth township and parts of Castleton, Wuerdle and Wardle, Spotland and Butterworth townships were added to the borough.[1]
When the administrative county of Lancashire was created by the Local Government Act 1888, Rochdale was elevated to become the County Borough of Rochdale and was effectively a unitary authority area exempt from the administration of Lancashire County Council. In 1900 most of Castleton Urban District was added to the borough; this urban district included parts of Castleton, Hopwood and Thornham townships. In 1933 parts of Norden Urban District and Birtle with Bamford civil parish were added to the borough.[1] Under the Local Government Act 1972, the town's autonomous county borough status was abolished. The municipal boroughs of Middleton and Heywood and Littleborough, Milnrow and Wardle urban districts are now part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, one of the ten metropolitan boroughs in Greater Manchester.[1]
Since 1953, Rochdale has been twinned with Bielefeld in Germany and since 1956 with Tourcoing in France, as well as Sahiwal in Pakistan since 1988.[17]
The Rochdale constituency was created by the Reform Act of 1832. The constituency was held for two decades during the 20th century by Cyril Smith, first of the Liberal Party and then of the Liberal Democrats.[18] Following the 2010 General Election, the town is represented by Simon Danczuk MP, a member of the Labour Party.
Rochdale lies in the wide valley of the
River Roch
At 53°36′50″N 2°9′40″W / 53.61389°N 2.16111°W / 53.61389; -2.16111 (53.6136, -2.161), and 169 miles (272 km) north-northwest of London, Rochdale stands about 150 feet (46 m) above sea level, 9.8 miles (15.8 km) north-northeast of Manchester city centre, in the valley of the River Roch. Blackstone Edge, Saddleworth Moor and the South Pennines are close to the east, whilst on all other sides, Rochdale is bound by smaller towns, including Whitworth, Littleborough, Milnrow, Royton, Heywood and Shaw and Crompton, with little or no green space between them. Rochdale 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.[citation needed]
Rochdale's built environment consists of a mixture of infrastructure, housing types and commercial buildings from a number of periods. Rochdale's housing stock is mixed, but has a significant amount of stone or red-brick terraced houses from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rochdale's Town Hall, seven large tower blocks and a number of former cotton mills mark the town's skyline. The urban structure of Rochdale is regular when compared to most towns in England, its form restricted in places by its hilly upland terrain. Much of Rochdale's built environment is centred around a central business district in the town centre, which is the local centre of commerce.
There is a mixture of high-density urban areas, suburbs, semi-rural and rural locations in Rochdale, but overwhelmingly the land use in the town is urban. For purposes of the Office for National Statistics, it forms the fifth largest settlement of the Greater Manchester Urban Area,[19] the United Kingdom's third largest conurbation. The M62 motorway passes to the south and southwest of Rochdale. Two heavy rail lines enter Rochdale from the east, joining at Rochdale railway station before continuing southwards to the city of Manchester.
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Areas and suburbs of Rochdale
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As of the 2001 UK census, Rochdale had a population of 95,796. The 2001 population density was 11,186 inhabitants per square mile (4,319 /km2), with a 100 to 94.4 female-to-male ratio.[20] Of those over 16 years old, 28.2% were single (never married), 44.0% married, and 8.8% divorced.[21] Rochdale's 37,730 households included 30.4% one-person, 36.6% married couples living together, 8.4% were co-habiting couples, and 11.1% single parents with their children.[22] Of those aged 16–74, 37.1% had no academic qualifications, similar to the figure for all of Rochdale, but higher than that of 28.9% in all of England.[23][24] Rochdale has the highest number of Jobseeker's Allowance claimants in Greater Manchester, with 6.1 per cent of its adult population claiming the benefit in early 2010.[25]
| Rochdale compared |
| 2001 UK census |
Rochdale[26] |
Rochdale MB[27] |
England |
| Total population |
95,796 |
205,357 |
49,138,831 |
| White |
78.7% |
88.6% |
91% |
| Asian |
19.9% |
9.8% |
4.6% |
| Black |
0.3% |
0.3% |
2.3% |
| Christian |
62.7% |
72.1% |
71.7% |
| Muslim |
19.1% |
9.4% |
3.1% |
| No religion |
10.4% |
10.8% |
14.6% |
Rochdale Town Hall is a Victorian-era municipal building "widely recognised as being one of the finest municipal buildings in the country".[28] The Grade I listed building is the ceremonial headquarters of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council and houses local government departments, including the borough's civil registration office. Built in the Gothic Revival style it was inaugurated on 27 September 1871. The architect, William Henry Crossland, won a competition held in 1864. The town hall had a 240-foot (73 m) clock tower topped by a wooden spire with a gilded statue of Saint George and the Dragon which were destroyed by fire on 10 April 1883. A new 191-foot (58 m) stone clock tower and spire in the style of Manchester Town Hall was designed by Alfred Waterhouse, and erected in 1888. Art critic Nikolaus Pevsner described the building as possessing a "rare picturesque beauty".[29] Its stained glass windows, some designed by William Morris, are credited as "the finest modern examples of their kind".[28] The building came to the attention of Adolf Hitler who was said to have admired it so much that he wished to ship the building, brick-by-brick, to Nazi Germany had the United Kingdom been defeated in World War II.[30][31]
The war memorial bearing four sculpted and painted flags, is opposite the town hall. It commemorates those who died in conflicts since the First World War (1914–1918). The monument and surrounding gardens were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.[32][33]
Public transport in Rochdale is co-ordinated by the Transport for Greater Manchester who own the bus station and coordinate transport services in the area.
The earliest routes around Rochdale were tracks and packhorse routes and a paved track over Blackstone Edge into Yorkshire that had Roman origins.[34] As trade increased the Blacksone Edge turnpike road was built in 1735.
The M62 motorway to the south of the town is accessed via the A627(M), which starts at Sandbrook Park in Rochdale and runs to Elk Mill in Royton, Oldham. The A627(M) provides drivers a quick access to the M62 and to Oldham.
The idea for the Rochdale Canal emerged in 1776, when James Brindley was commissioned to survey possible routes between Sowerby Bridge and Manchester. However it was not until 4 April 1794 that an Act of Parliament was obtained. The broad canal which linked the Bridgewater Canal in Manchester with the Aire and Calder Navigation at Sowerby Bridge became a major artery of commerce between Lancashire and Yorkshire for cotton, wool, coal, limestone, timber, and salt.[35] The canal is fed from Hollingworth Lake. The canal fell into disuse and re-opened in 2003 after years of neglect, including its division by a motorway.
Demand from the cross-Pennine trade to support local cotton, wool and silk industries led to the building of the Manchester and Leeds Railway which opened in 1839 from Manchester to Littleborough, and from Normanton to Hebden Bridge in 1840. The linking section opened on completion of the Summit Tunnel in 1841. Rochdale railway station is about a mile south of the town centre. Trains run to Manchester Victoria, Halifax, Dewsbury, Bradford and Leeds.
The service to Manchester Victoria via the Oldham Loop ended in October 2009, in preparation for conversion of the line to an extension of the Manchester Metrolink tram system. It was deferred in 2004 on grounds of cost but in July 2006 plans were approved for the extension from Manchester Victoria as far as Rochdale Station, and is expected to be complete in Summer 2012. The extension to Rochdale town centre, via Drake Street and terminating opposite Rochdale bus station, should be completed by 2014.
Until 1969 the borough's bus service was provided by the municipal operator "Rochdale Corporation Transport" which was merged into the SELNEC Passenger Transport Executive. Rochdale Bus Station is located next to the Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre. There are plans to relocate it to link with the Metrolink to provide a transport interchange.
There are frequent bus services from Rochdale, operated by First Manchester, to Manchester, Middleton, Royton, Chadderton, Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne, Bury and Bolton. There are cross-county services into Lancashire and West Yorkshire. Rossendale Transport operates to Rawtenstall and Accrington. First Calderdale & Huddersfield operates to Burnley and Halifax, both via Todmorden. The service to Halifax via Ripponden is now (2011) operated by Centrebus.
Hopwood Hall College is a further education college with a campus in Rochdale. It offers vocational courses for school leavers, and courses for adult learners and some higher education.
Rochdale Sixth Form College opened in September 2010, and is the primary provider of A-Level courses in Rochdale and the wider Metropolitan Borough. Most secondary schools in the area do not offer sixth form courses to students anymore.
St Chad's Church was the mother church of the ancient ecclesiastical parish and was founded before 1170 possibly on a Saxon site. Much of the current building is the result of late Victorian restoration. A local legend relates that the site was chosen by spirits and fairies as on several occasions stone for the church building was moved from near the river to the hill on which St. Chad's stands. The church is accessed from the town below by a flight of 124 steps.[36] The town stocks (no longer in use) are in the churchyard.
Home Office policing in Rochdale is provided by the Greater Manchester Police and the Rochdale Division has headquarters at Town Meadow adjacent to the Magistrate's Court. Statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, which has a fire station in Rochdale centre.[37]
Emergency healthcare is provided by Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (renamed as Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust in December 2010). The trust operates four hospitals in the North Manchester area, including the Rochdale Infirmary for the NHS. Patient transport is provided by the North West Ambulance Service. Rochdale Infirmary is the only hospital serving the town since the closure of Birch Hill Hospital which occupied the former Rochdale Union Workhouse at Dearnley in 2007.[16] New facilities were established at Rochdale Infirmary as part of the town's healthcare restructure. Primary Care services in Rochdale are provided by the Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale NHS Primary Care Trust. In 2006 it was announced that Accident & Emergency facilities at Rochdale Infirmary would be removed as of 2011, leaving Oldham and Bury as the closest departments serving Rochdale.[38] Confirmation that the unit would close was met with protest locally, including a march through the town centre.[39]
Waste management is co-ordinated by the local authority via the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority.[40]
Rochdale's Distribution Network Operator for electricity is United Utilities;[41] there are no power stations in the town, but Scout Moor Wind Farm which has 26 turbines was built on the high moors between Rawtenstall and Rochdale. The wind farm generates 65MW of electricity.[42] United Utilities also manage Rochdale's drinking and waste water.[41] Water supplies are sourced from several reservoirs, including Watergrove, Blackstone Edge and Piethorne in Rochdale's outlying moorland.[41]
Rochdale has two professional sports teams, Rochdale A.F.C. (football) and Rochdale Hornets (Rugby League), both play home games at the Spotland Stadium. Rochdale AFC were founded in 1907 and joined the Football League in 1921 when the new Football League Third Division (north) was created.[43] The club has never played above the third tier of the English league divisional structure, and before its promotion at the end of the 2009/10 season (their first promotion since 1969), had played continuously in the Football League's lowest division since 1974. However, the club reached the Football League Cup final in 1962, and lost to Norwich City. Rochdale Hornets is one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, making it one of the world's first rugby league teams.[44]
The town is also home to non-league football team, Rochdale Town.[45] Rochdale R.U.F.C. play in Bamford. There are two adult amateur football leagues: the Rochdale Online Alliance League and the Rochdale and District Sunday Football League.
Golf courses around the town include Rochdale Golf Club and Marland Golf Club at Springfield Park.[46] The town also has a number of cricket clubs, most of which play in the Central Lancashire League. Rochdale Sub-Aqua Club was formed in 1959 and remains active.[47]
Speedway racing was staged at the Athletic Grounds in the pioneer days of 1928–1930 and returned for a short spell at the start of the 1970s. The 1970s venture provided a home for the British League Division Two Belle Vue Aces juniors and the team was known as Rochdale Hornets. Peter Collins, who went on to win the 1976 World Championship and other honours, was the most famous Hornets rider.[48]
The 19th-century Lancashire dialect poet Edwin Waugh (1817–1890) was born and raised in the town. Rochdale also has a proud liberal political heritage, as shown by such people as John Bright, Samuel Bamford, Rev. Joseph Cooke and perhaps the town's most colourful personality Cyril Smith.
Among Rochdale's residents have been several musicians, including singers Gracie Fields, Lisa Stansfield (born in Heywood) and Barb Jungr, and bands Autechre, Tractor, The Chameleons, The Mock Turtles and The Cassandra Complex. Good Charlotte drummer Dean Butterworth also hails from Rochdale. Broadcasters John Peel, Mark Chapman, Liz and Andy Kershaw also have links with the town, Peel having lived there for a period of time and the latter three having been born there. Actors Colin Baker, Anna Friel, Stuart Crowther and Bill Oddie were either born in Rochdale or spent time living there. Don Estelle, who was born and raised in Crumpsall, lived for much of his life in Rochdale and was buried there in August 2003.[49] The bestselling poet John Siddique was brought up in Rochdale and has referred to the town in several poems. Novelist Anna Jacobs was born in Rochdale. World Series of poker winner Jake Cody also grew up in Rochdale.
The footballer Earl Barrett, who played for clubs including Oldham Athletic, Aston Villa, Everton and Sheffield Wednesday between 1985 and 2000, was born at Rochdale in April 1967 to Jamaican immigrant parents.[50]
Other notable residents include businessman and philanthropist Sir Peter Ogden, Nicholas Blincoe, a novelist, George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron of Rochdale, Monica Coghlan, a prostitute caught up in the Lord Archer scandal, Stefan Kiszko, a local man convicted wrongly of sexual assault, and Gillian Duffy, the pensioner described as a 'bigoted woman' by outgoing Prime Minister Gordon Brown during the 2010 Election campaign.[51]
Rochdale is known among Beatles fans as the venue for an 1843 Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal performance, a poster for which inspired John Lennon to write the song Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! off the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.[52]
The BBC TV school drama Waterloo Road is set in Rochdale and was filmed at Hilltop Primary School in Kirkholt which closed in July 2005. Most of the out-of-school scenes in the series are filmed around Rochdale, and many of the pupils homes seen on television are council houses in the Kirkholt area which were mostly built in the early postwar years.[53]
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- ^ Protestors march to Infirmary with 'save our services' message, Rochdale Online, http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/54465/protestors-march-to-infirmary-with-save-our-services-message, retrieved 28 March 2011
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- ^ "Scout Moor Wind Farm". scoutmoorwindfarm.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080209124954/http://www.scoutmoorwindfarm.co.uk/indexorig.html. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
- ^ Rochdale AFC History, Rochdale AFC, http://www.rochdaleafc.co.uk/page/History/0,,10441,00.html, retrieved 27 December 2010
- ^ Rochdale Hornets, Rochdale Hornets, http://www.hornetsrugbyleague.co.uk/, retrieved 27 December 2010
- ^ Rochdale Town FC, Club Website, http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/rochdaletownfc01/, retrieved 27 December 2010
- ^ Anon. "Rochdale Online Golf Directory". http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/community/A/846/golf/846. Retrieved 24 December 2007.
- ^ Rochdale Sub Aqua, Rochdale Online, http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/sites/rochdale-sub-aqua-club, retrieved 27 December 2010
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- ^ "Earl Barrett – Everton FC – Football-Heroes.net". Sporting-heroes.net. http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=38214. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
- ^ "Profile of Gillian Duffy, the voter PM called 'bigoted'". BBC News. 28 April 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8649476.stm. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- ^ Steve Turner, "A Hard Days Write." (Harper Collins: New York, 1994)
- ^ IMDb: Most Popular Titles With Location Matching "Hilltop Primary School, Kirkholt, Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, UK"
- Nicholls, Robert (2004). Curiosities of Greater Manchester. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3661-4.
- www.rochdale.gov.uk Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council website.
- www.pennineland.co.uk Development Arm of Rochdale Development Agency (RDA) Uniting Private & Public Sector to support the Regeneration of Rochdale Borough
- www.statsandmaps.co.uk Stats and Maps is the Rochdale Borough statistics and maps website. It is a shared evidence based that provides quick and easy on-line access to data, information, and intelligence about the borough of Rochdale, and aims to meet the needs of the local community, LSP partners, and the general public
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Rochdale 
