207-585: Oldham / ˈ oʊ l d ə m / is a town in Greater Manchester , England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock , 5 miles (8.0 km) southeast of Rochdale , and 7 miles (11.3 km) northeast of Manchester . It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham , which had a population of 237,110 in 2019. Within the boundaries of
414-429: A central business district in the town centre , which is the local centre of commerce. In 1849, Angus Reach of Inverness said: The visitor to Oldham will find it essentially a mean-looking straggling town, built upon both sides and crowning the ridge of one of the outlying spurs which branch from Manchester, the neighbouring 'backbone of England'. The whole place has a shabby underdone look. The general appearance of
621-578: A joint venture composed of an association of 24 colleges in the region. Primary and secondary education within Greater Manchester are the responsibility of the constituent boroughs which form local education authorities and administer schools. The county has several independent schools such as Bolton School , Bury Grammar School , Manchester Grammar School , Oldham Hulme Grammar School , St Bede's College , Stockport Grammar School and Chethams School of Music. Much of Greater Manchester's wealth
828-511: A parliamentary borough in 1832 , Oldham's first parliamentary representatives were the radicals William Cobbett and John Fielden . Winston Churchill began his political career in Oldham. Although unsuccessful at his first attempt in 1899, Churchill was elected as the member of Parliament for the Oldham parliamentary borough constituency in the 1900 general election . He held the constituency for
1035-639: A "stockbroker belt, with well-appointed dwellings in an area of sylvan opulence". Greater Manchester has six universities: the Manchester Metropolitan University , the University of Bolton , the University of Law , the University of Manchester the University of Salford and The University Campus of Football Business . Together with the Royal Northern College of Music they had a combined population of students of 101,165 in 2007 –
1242-693: A "wide and varied range" of wildlife and natural habitats. For instance, the wooded valleys of Bolton, Bury and Stockport, the moorlands north and east of Rochdale, Oldham and Stalybridge, and the reed beds between Wigan and Leigh, harbour flora and fauna of national importance. Mature woodland, scrubland, grassland, high moorland, mossland, agricultural land, lakes, wetlands, river valleys, embankments, urban parks and suburban gardens are habitats found in Greater Manchester which further contribute to biodiversity. The Greater Manchester Ecology Unit classifies Sites of Biological Importance . The 21 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Greater Manchester, and
1449-466: A Grade I rating. There is a mixture of high-density urban areas , suburbs , semi-rural and rural locations in Oldham. There is some permanent grassland but overwhelmingly the land use in the town is urban. The territory of Oldham is contiguous with other towns on all sides except for a small section along its eastern and southern boundaries, and for purposes of the Office for National Statistics , forms
1656-516: A Special Review Area. The Local Government Commission for England presented draft recommendations, in December 1965, proposing a new county based on the conurbation surrounding and including Manchester, with nine most-purpose boroughs corresponding to the modern Greater Manchester boroughs (excluding Wigan). The review was abolished in favour of the Royal Commission on Local Government before issuing
1863-596: A broadly voluntary basis. That eight of the ten borough councils have (for the most part) been Labour -controlled since 1986, has helped maintain this informal co-operation between the districts at a county-level. After the abolition of the county council, the ten authorities of Greater Manchester co-operated voluntarily on policy issues like Local Transport Plans as well as funding the Greater Manchester County Record Office , and local services were administered by statutory joint boards . Now under
2070-408: A centre for further education and the performing arts . It is, however, still distinguished architecturally by the surviving cotton mills and other buildings associated with that industry. In the 2011 United Kingdom census Oldham Built-up area subdivision , as defined by the Office for National Statistics , had a population of 96,555 and an area of 1,687 hectares (6.51 sq mi), giving
2277-632: A constitution to the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Transport and two days later the Communities Secretary John Denham approved the constitution and launched a 15-week public consultation on the draft bill together with the approved constitution. Following requests by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, which was superseded by the GMCA,
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#17328512947732484-560: A converted former railway station in Manchester city centre used for cultural events, and GMCC's creation of five new country parks within its boundaries. GMCC was, however, criticised for being too Manchester-centric by representatives from the outer suburbs. A decade after they were established, the mostly Labour -controlled metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council (GLC) had several high-profile clashes with
2691-629: A county borough on 1 April 1889. The borough, while independent of Lancashire County Council for local government, remained part of the county for purposes such as the administration of justice and lieutenancy . In 1951 parts of the Limehurst Rural District were added to the County Borough of Oldham, and in 1954 further parts of the same district added to it on its abolition. Since 1961, Oldham has been twinned with Kranj in Slovenia . Under
2898-493: A county-wide basis. The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) was established to continue much of the county-wide services of the county council . The metropolitan county continues to exist in law, and as a geographic frame of reference, for example as a NUTS 2 administrative division for statistical purposes within the European Union . Although having been a Lieutenancy area since 1974, Greater Manchester
3105-757: A descendant of Vikings, successfully took the English throne and became the first Norman king of England. 1069 − Sweyn II of Denmark landed with an army, in much the same way as Harald Hardrada. He took control of York after defeating the Norman garrison and inciting a local uprising. King William eventually defeated his forces and devastated the region in the Harrying of the North . 1075 − One of Sweyn's sons, Knut , set sail for England to support an English rebellion, but it had been crushed before he arrived, so he settled for plundering
3312-739: A directly elected councillor from one of the ten metropolitan boroughs that comprise Greater Manchester. The authority derives most of its powers from the Local Government Act 2000 and Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 , and replaced a range of single-purpose joint boards and quangos in 2011, to provide a formal administrative authority for Greater Manchester with powers over public transport, skills, housing, regeneration, waste management, carbon neutrality and planning permission. Functional executive bodies, such as Transport for Greater Manchester , are responsible for delivery of services in these areas. On 3 November 2014,
3519-650: A final report. The Royal Commission's 1969 report, known as the Redcliffe-Maud Report, proposed the removal of much of the then existing system of local government. The commission described the system of administering urban and rural districts separately as outdated, noting that urban areas provided employment and services for rural dwellers, and open countryside was used by town dwellers for recreation. The commission considered interdependence of areas at many levels, including travel-to-work, provision of services, and which local newspapers were read, before proposing
3726-410: A global market. The townships in and around Manchester began expanding "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century as part of a process of unplanned urbanisation brought on by a boom in industrial textile production and processing. This population increase resulted in the "vigorous concentric growth" of a conurbation between Manchester and an arc of surrounding mill towns , formed from
3933-685: A large Ashkenazi Orthodox synagogue in North Manchester. Greater Manchester is covered by the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Salford and Shrewsbury , and the Archdiocese of Liverpool . Much of Greater Manchester is part of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester , apart from Wigan which lies within the Diocese of Liverpool and parts of Stockport , Tameside and Trafford , which are in
4140-568: A majority of the county north of the River Irwell to as far as Chorley, Darwen, St Helens and Rossendale form a large part of the historic county of Lancashire including Manchester, Salford, Eccles, Bolton, Bury, Prestwich, Swinton, Pendlebury, Wigan, Leigh, Rochdale, Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne, Stretford, Urmston, Old Trafford, Chadderton, Middleton, Heywood, Radcliffe, Milnrow, Horwich, Blackrod, Westhoughton, Littleborough, Atherton, Ashton-in-Makerfield and Golborne. The eastern and northeastern parts of
4347-399: A minority report suggested that Buxton be included). The metropolitan area was to be divided into nine metropolitan districts, based on Wigan, Bolton, Bury/Rochdale, Warrington, Manchester (including Salford and Old Trafford), Oldham, Altrincham, Stockport and Tameside. The report noted "The choice even of a label of convenience for this metropolitan area is difficult". Seven years earlier,
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#17328512947734554-412: A network of ancient peat bog on the fringe of Chat Moss , which in turn, at 10.6 sq mi (27 km ) comprises the largest area of prime farmland in Greater Manchester and contains the largest block of semi-natural woodland in the county. The Wigan Flashes, such as those at Pennington Flash Country Park , are the by-product of coal mining, where subsidence has led to waterbodies collecting in
4761-403: A new administrative metropolitan area . The area had roughly the same northern boundary as today's Greater Manchester (though included Rossendale ), but covered much more territory from Cheshire (including Macclesfield , Warrington , Alderley Edge , Northwich , Middlewich , Wilmslow and Lymm ), and Derbyshire (the towns of New Mills , Whaley Bridge , Glossop and Chapel-en-le-Frith –
4968-560: A new authority covering the Pennines around Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire, and the Saddleworth White Rose Society erected signs with the wording "The Historic West Riding of Yorkshire". A 2015 petition called for Wigan to apply for independence from Greater Manchester and rejoin Lancashire because of its heritage and location. There was a proposal for Horwich , Atherton , Blackrod and Westhoughton to form either
5175-586: A new part of Greater Manchester or become a separate area back within Lancashire possibly under the Borough of Chorley although this was not pursued. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is the top-tier administrative body for the local governance of Greater Manchester. It was established on 1 April 2011 as a pilot combined authority , unique to local government in the United Kingdom . Upon formation, it consisted of ten indirectly elected members, each
5382-502: A plant with fluffy white plumes native to wet hollows on high moors, was announced as the county flower of Greater Manchester. The house sparrow , starling , and blackbird are among the most populous bird species in Greater Manchester; magpie and feral pigeon are common and breed in habitats across the county. Flocks of feral parakeets can be seen in many of south Manchester's parks, including Birchfields Park, Whitworth Park and Platt Fields Park . The birds' relocation to
5589-470: A population change from under 2,000 in 1714 to 12,000 in 1801 to 137,000 in 1901 In 1851 its population of 52,820 made Oldham the 12th most populous town in England. The following is a table outlining the population change of the town since 1801, which demonstrates a trend of rapid population growth in the 19th century and, after peaking at 147,483 people in 1911, a trend of general decline in population size during
5796-481: A population density of 57.2 inhabitants per hectare (14,800/sq mi), while the Borough of Oldham had a population of 224,897, an area of 14,236 hectares (54.97 sq mi), and a population density of 15.8 inhabitants per hectare (4,100/sq mi). The toponymy of Oldham seems to imply "old village or place" from Eald ( Saxon ) signifying oldness or antiquity, and Ham (Saxon) a house, farm or hamlet . Oldham
6003-581: A puppet king on the Northumbrian throne. In response, King Æthelred of Wessex, along with his brother Alfred, marched against the Danes, who were positioned behind fortifications in Nottingham, but were unable to draw them into battle. In order to effect peace, King Burgred of Mercia ceded Nottingham to the Danes in exchange for leaving the rest of Mercia undisturbed. 868 − Danes captured Nottingham . 869 − Ivar
6210-539: A report released by the Institute for Public Policy Research 's Centre for Cities proposed the creation of two administrative city regions based on Manchester and Birmingham . The Manchester City Region initially appeared in government documents as one of eight city regions defined in the 2004 strategic document Moving Forward: The Northern Way . In July 2007, The Treasury published its Review of sub-national economic development and regeneration , which stated that
6417-549: A similar capture of Exeter in 877. 877 − Alfred laid in a siege, while the Danes waited for reinforcements from Scandinavia. Unfortunately for the Danes, the fleet of reinforcements encountered a storm and lost more than 100 ships, and the Danes were forced to return to East Mercia in the north. 878 − In January, Guthrum led an attack against Wessex that sought to capture Alfred while he wintered in Chippenham. Another Danish army landed in south Wales arrived and moved south with
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6624-435: A site overlooking Manchester. The railway station which served this site later formed the basis of Oldham Werneth railway station . The main building exists to this day. Platts gained prestigious awards from around the world, and were heavily involved with local politics and civic pride in Oldham. John and James Platt were the largest subscribers for promoting Oldham from a township to a Borough , pledging £100 (more than double
6831-420: A steady accretion of houses, factories and transport infrastructure. Places such as Bury , Oldham and Bolton played a central economic role nationally, and by the end of the 19th century had become some of the most important and productive cotton-producing towns in the world. However, it was Manchester that was the most populous settlement, a major city, the world's largest marketplace for cotton goods, and
7038-404: A strategic authority based in what is now Westminster House off Piccadilly Gardens , comprised 106 members drawn from the ten metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester. It was a sub-regional body running regional services such as transport, strategic planning, emergency services and waste disposal. In 1986, along with the five other metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council ,
7245-668: A survey prepared for the British Association intended to define the "South-East Lancashire conurbation" noted that "Greater Manchester it is not ... One of its main characteristics is the marked individuality of its towns, ... all of which have an industrial and commercial history of more than local significance". The term Selnec (or SELNEC ) was already in use as an abbreviation for south east Lancashire and north east Cheshire; Redcliffe-Maud took this as "the most convenient term available", having modified it to south east Lancashire, north east and central Cheshire. Following
7452-527: A temperate maritime climate , like most of the British Isles , with relatively cool summers and mild winters. The county's average annual rainfall is 806.6 mm (31.76 in) compared to the UK average of 1,125.0 mm (44.29 in), and its mean rain days are 140.4 mm (5.53 in) per annum, compared to the UK average of 154.4 mm (6.08 in). The mean temperature is slightly above average for
7659-441: A temporary peace. From there, they moved north and attacked Northumbria, which was in the midst of a civil war between the deposed king Osberht and a usurper Ælla. The Danes used the civil turmoil as an opportunity to capture York, which they sacked and burned. 867 − Following the loss of York, Osberht and Ælla formed an alliance against the Danes. They launched a counter-attack, but the Danes killed both Osberht and Ælla and set up
7866-605: A term of surrender, King Alfred demanded that Guthrum be baptised a Christian; King Alfred served as his godfather . Edward the Elder and his sister, Æthelflæd , the Lady of the Mercians, conquered Danish territories in the Midlands and East Anglia in a series of campaigns in the 910s, and some Danish jarls who submitted were allowed to keep their lands. Viking rule ended when Eric Bloodaxe
8073-562: A term of the surrender, that Guthrum become baptised as a Christian, which Guthrum agreed to do, with Alfred acting as his godfather. Guthrum was true to his word and settled in East Anglia, at least for a while. 884 − Guthrum attacked Kent, but was defeated by the English. This led to the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, which established the boundaries of the Danelaw and allowed for Danish self-rule in
8280-420: A thriving economy during the 19th century, the local merchants were broadly reluctant to spend on civic institutions, and so the town lacks the grandeur seen in comparable nearby towns like Bolton or Huddersfield ; public expenditure was seen as an overhead that undermined the competitiveness of the town. Subsequently, Oldham's architecture has been described as "mediocre". The town has no listed buildings with
8487-622: A variety of types. Manchester city centre is noted for its high-rise apartments, while Salford has some of the tallest and most densely populated tower block estates in Europe. Saddleworth has stone-built properties, including farmhouses and converted weavers' cottages. Throughout Greater Manchester, rows of terraced houses are common, most of them built during the Victorian and Edwardian periods . House prices and labour markets differ in Greater Manchester between north and south, such that in
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8694-447: A visual orientation point of reference as a central business district. However, Greater Manchester is also a polycentric county with ten metropolitan districts, each of which has a major town centre – and in some cases more than one – and many smaller settlements. The major towns encircle Manchester city centre, and between them are other outlying towns (such as Denton , Middleton and Failsworth ) which are suburban to both
8901-452: Is "Greater Mancunian". The Manchester accent and dialect , native to Manchester, is common in the city and adjacent areas, but gives way to "slower, deeper accents" towards Greater Manchester's fringes and suburbs. Greater Manchester is home to a diverse population and is a multicultural agglomeration with an ethnic minority population comprising 8.5% of the total population in 2001. In 2008, there were over 66 refugee nationalities in
9108-421: Is a mix of high density urban areas, suburbs, semi-rural and rural locations in Greater Manchester, but land use is mostly urban. The built environment of Greater Manchester utilises red brick and sandstone prominently as a building material, alongside structures composed of modern materials, high-rise towers, and landmark 19th, 20th and 21st century buildings in the city and town centres. Manchester city centre
9315-647: Is highly urbanised, with a population of 2.9 million. The majority of the county's settlements are part of the Greater Manchester Built-up Area , which extends into Cheshire and Merseyside and is the second most populous urban area in the UK . The city of Manchester is the largest settlement. Other large settlements are Altrincham , Bolton , Rochdale , Sale , Salford , Stockport and Wigan . Greater Manchester contains ten metropolitan boroughs : Manchester, Salford , Bolton , Bury , Oldham , Rochdale , Stockport , Tameside , Trafford and Wigan ,
9522-518: Is however known to be a derivative of Aldehulme , undoubtedly an Old Norse name. It is believed to be derived from the Old English ald combined with the Old Norse holmi or holmr , meaning "promontory or outcrop", possibly describing the town's hilltop position. It has alternatively been suggested that it may mean "holm or hulme of a farmer named Alda". The name is understood to date from 865, during
9729-523: Is referred to as one of the laws together with those of Wessex and Mercia into which England was divided. 793 − Viking raid on Lindisfarne 800 − Waves of Danish assaults on the coastlines of the British Isles. 865 − Danish raiders first began to settle in England. Led by the brothers Halfdan and Ivar the Boneless, they wintered in East Anglia, where they demanded and received tribute in exchange for
9936-532: Is regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. On 23 November 1981, an F1/T2 tornado formed over Hollinwood and later passed over Oldham town centre, causing some damage. Oldham's topography is characterised by its rugged, elevated Pennine terrain. It has an area of 6.91 square miles (17.90 km). The geology of Oldham is represented by the Millstone Grit and Coal Measures series of rocks. The River Beal , flowing northwards, forms
10143-602: Is represented in Parliament by the Labour Party, and is generally considered a Labour stronghold. The results of the 2024 United Kingdom general election in Greater Manchester are as follows: Greater Manchester has a population of 2,867,800 (2021 Census), making it the third most populous county in England after Greater London and the West Midlands and the highest ever for the county. The demonym of Greater Manchester
10350-600: Is the Berkshire/North Wessex Downs now in Oxfordshire). Æthelred could not be found at the start of battle, as he was busy praying in his tent, so Alfred led the army into battle. Æthelred and Alfred defeated the Danes, who counted among their losses five jarls (nobles). The Danes retreated and set up fortifications at Basing ( Basingstoke ) in Hampshire, a mere 14 miles (23 km) from Reading. Æthelred attacked
10557-482: Is the commercial and geographic heart of Greater Manchester, and with the adjoining parts of Salford and Trafford, is defined as Greater Manchester's "Regional Centre" for purposes of urban planning and public transport. Political and economic ties between the city centre and neighbouring Salford and Trafford have strengthened with the shift from town and district centres to metropolitan-level centres in England, and this area's high-rise landmark buildings provide
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#173285129477310764-516: The Battle of Cynuit . The modern location of Cynuit is disputed but suggestions include Countisbury Hill, near Lynmouth , Devon , or Kenwith Castle, Bideford , Devon, or Cannington , near Bridgwater , Somerset . Alfred was forced into hiding for a time, before returning in early 878 to gather an army and attack Guthrum at Edington . The Danes were defeated and retreated to Chippenham, where King Alfred laid siege and soon forced them to surrender. As
10971-721: The Brigantes . Stretford was also part of the land believed to have been occupied by the Celtic Brigantes tribe, and lay on their border with the Cornovii on the southern side of the River Mersey . The remains of 1st-century forts at Castlefield in Manchester, and Castleshaw Roman Fort in Saddleworth , are evidence of Roman occupation . From the River Mersey to River Ribble
11178-499: The City of Salford , Stockport , Tameside , Trafford and Wigan . These district councils have the greatest powers over public services, and control matters such as council tax , education provision, social housing, libraries and healthcare. Eight of the ten metropolitan boroughs were named after the eight former county boroughs that now compose the largest centres of population and greater historical and political prominence. As an example,
11385-591: The Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher , with regards overspending and high rates charging. Government policy on the issue was considered throughout 1982, and the Conservative Party put a "promise to scrap the metropolitan county councils" and the GLC, in their manifesto for the 1983 general election . Greater Manchester County Council was abolished on 31 March 1986 under the Local Government Act 1985 . That
11592-859: The Conservative Party until the 1906 general election , when he won the election for Manchester North West as a Liberal MP. After he became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1940, Churchill was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Oldham , on 2 April 1941. In the 2016 European Union membership referendum , Oldham voted in favour of Brexit . The vote to leave was 60.9%. At 53°32′39″N 2°7′0.8″W / 53.54417°N 2.116889°W / 53.54417; -2.116889 (53.5444°, −2.1169°), and 164 miles (264 km) north-northwest of London, Oldham stands 700 feet (213 m) above sea level , 6.9 miles (11.1 km) northeast of Manchester city centre , on elevated ground between
11799-549: The Devolution to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority agreement was signed to pass further powers and responsibilities, as well as the establishment of an elected Mayor of Greater Manchester. From April 2016, Greater Manchester became the first area of England to "get full control of its health spending" with a devolution deal which unites the region's health and social care systems under one budget under
12006-521: The Diocese of Chester . Following the deindustrialisation of Greater Manchester in the mid-20th century, there was a significant economic and population decline in the region, particularly in Manchester and Salford. Vast areas of low-quality squalid terraced housing that were built throughout the Victorian era were found to be in a poor state of repair and unsuited to modern needs; many inner-city districts suffered from chronic social deprivation and high levels of unemployment. Slum clearance and
12213-650: The Domesday Book , Oldham does appear in legal documents from the Middle Ages , invariably recorded as territory under the control of minor ruling families and barons . In the 13th century, Oldham was documented as a manor held from the Crown by a family surnamed Oldham , whose seat was at Werneth Hall . Richard de Oldham was recorded as lord of the manor of Werneth/Oldham (1354). His daughter and heiress, Margery (d.1384), married John de Cudworth (d.1384), from whom descended
12420-743: The Duchy of Lancaster – extending the duchy to include areas which are historically in the counties of Cheshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. Until 31 March 2005, Greater Manchester's Keeper of the Rolls was appointed by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster ; they are now appointed by the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain . The first Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester was Sir William Downward who held
12627-619: The Five Boroughs . Borough derives from the Old English word burh ( cognate with German Burg , meaning castle), meaning a fortified and walled enclosure containing several households, anything from a large stockade to a fortified town. The meaning has since developed further. The Danelaw was an important factor in the establishment of a civilian peace in the neighbouring Anglo-Saxon and Viking communities. It established, for example, equivalences in areas of legal contentiousness, such as
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#173285129477312834-495: The Industrial Revolution placed a town firmly and squarely on the map of the world, that town is Oldham." Oldham's soils were too thin and poor to sustain crop growing, and so for decades prior to industrialisation the area was used for grazing sheep , which provided the raw material for a local woollen weaving trade. By 1756, Oldham had emerged as centre of the hatting industry in England. The rough felt used in
13041-573: The Local Government Act 1972 , the town's autonomous county borough status was abolished, and Oldham has, since 1 April 1974, formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham , within the Metropolitan county of Greater Manchester . The boundaries of two parliamentary constituencies divide Oldham: Oldham East and Saddleworth , and Oldham West and Royton (which includes the town centre), represented by Labour Members of Parliament (MPs) Debbie Abrahams and Jim McMahon respectively. Created as
13248-520: The Manchester Airport Group which controls Manchester Airport and three other UK airports. Other services are directly funded and managed by the local councils. Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county with its own Lord-Lieutenant who is the personal representative of the monarch. The Local Government Act 1972 provided that the whole of the area to be covered by the new metropolitan county of Greater Manchester would also be included in
13455-896: The Pennines : the West Pennine Moors in the northwest, the South Pennines in the northeast and the Peak District in the east. Most of the county's rivers rise in the Pennines and are tributaries of the Mersey and Irwell , the latter of which is itself a tributary of the Mersey. The county is connected to the Mersey Estuary by the Manchester Ship Canal , which for its entire length within Greater Manchester consists of canalised sections of
13662-417: The Transport Act 1968 , in 1969 the SELNEC Passenger Transport Executive (an authority to co-ordinate and operate public transport in the region) was set up, covering an area smaller than the proposed Selnec, and different again to the eventual Greater Manchester. Compared with the Redcliffe-Maud area, it excluded Macclesfield, Warrington, and Knutsford but included Glossop in Derbyshire and Saddleworth in
13869-411: The West Riding of Yorkshire . It excluded Wigan, which was both in the Redcliffe-Maud area and in the eventual Greater Manchester (but had not been part of the 1958 act's review area). Redcliffe-Maud's recommendations were accepted by the Labour-controlled government in February 1970. Although the Redcliffe-Maud Report was rejected by the Conservative government after the 1970 general election , there
14076-408: The boroughs of High Peak , Warrington and the former boroughs of Congleton , Macclesfield and Vale Royal . In January 2008, AGMA suggested that a formal government structure be created to cover Greater Manchester. The issue resurfaced in June 2008 with regards to proposed congestion charging in Greater Manchester ; Sir Richard Leese (leader of Manchester City Council ) said "I've come to
14283-516: The cotton industry and expansion in ancillary trades. The area became central to England's woollen trade with domestic flannel and fustian cloth production, which encouraged a system of cross-regional trade. In the 18th century, German traders had coined the name Manchesterthum to cover the region in and around Manchester. Infrastructure such as rows of terraced housing, factories and roads were constructed to house labour, transport goods, and produce cotton goods on an industrial scale for
14490-406: The financial crisis of 2007–2008 , it was announced in the 2009 United Kingdom Budget that Greater Manchester and the Leeds City Region would be awarded Statutory City Region Pilot status, allowing (if they desired) for their constituent district councils to pool resources and become statutory Combined Authorities with powers comparable to the Greater London Authority. The stated aim of the pilot
14697-399: The historic county of Lancashire , and with little early history to speak of, Oldham rose to prominence in the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture . It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution , and among the first ever industrialised towns, rapidly becoming "one of the most important centres of cotton and textile industries in England." At its zenith, it
14904-495: The parish councils , which cover the various civil parishes in Greater Manchester , and have limited powers over upkeep, maintenance and small grants. For the first 12 years after the county was created in 1974, Greater Manchester had a two-tier system of local government, and the metropolitan borough councils shared power with the Greater Manchester County Council . The Greater Manchester County Council,
15111-419: The second most populous built-up area in the UK , and occupied an area of 630.3 km (243.4 sq mi) at the time of the 2011 census. The European Union designate the conurbation as a single homogeneous urban city region . The Built-up Area includes most of Greater Manchester, omitting areas of countryside and small villages, as well as noncontiguous urban towns such as Wigan and Marple . Outside
15318-440: The thegnage estate of Kaskenmoor, which was held on behalf of King John by Roger de Montbegon and William de Nevill. The other parts of this estate were Crompton , Glodwick , Sholver , and Werneth . Oldham later formed a township within the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham , in the hundred of Salford . In 1826 commissioners for the social and economic improvement of Oldham were established. The town
15525-401: The working classes . There has been a significant presence of " friendly societies ". It has been put that the people of Oldham became radical in politics in the early part of the 19th century, and movements suspected of sedition found patronage in the town. Oldham was frequently disturbed by bread and labour riots, facilitated by periods of scarcity and the disturbance of employment following
15732-507: The "Manchester known in commerce", and referred to the areas that formed "a substantial part of South Lancashire and part of Cheshire, comprising all municipal boroughs and minor authorities within a radius of eight or nine miles of Manchester". In his 1915 book Cities in Evolution , urban planner Sir Patrick Geddes wrote "far more than Lancashire realises, is growing up another Greater London". The Manchester Evening Chronicle brought to
15939-689: The 12.1 sq mi (31 km ) of common land in Greater Manchester are of particular interest to organisations such as the Greater Manchester Local Record Centre, the Greater Manchester Biodiversity Project and the Manchester Field Club, which are dedicated to wildlife conservation and the preservation of the region's natural history . Among the SSSIs are Astley and Bedford Mosses which form
16146-571: The 17th century who lost part of their possessions due to the English Civil War . Waterhead , an upland area in the east of Oldham, traces its roots to a water cornmill over the border in Lees . Recorded originally as Watergate and Waterhead Milne , it was for a long time a hamlet in the parish of Oldham that formed a significant part of the Oldham Above Town registration sub-district. Derker
16353-436: The 18th and 19th centuries. The manufacture of spinning and weaving machinery in Oldham belongs to the last decade of the 19th century, when it became a leading centre in the field of engineering . The Platt Brothers , originated in nearby Dobcross village, but moved to Oldham. They were pioneers of cotton-spinning machinery, developing innovative products that enabled the mass-production of cotton yarn. Platt Brothers became
16560-468: The 18th and 19th centuries: a phenomenal rise in population, the appearance of the specialist industrial town, a transport revolution, and weak local lordship". Much of the county was at the forefront of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution and into the early-20th century; Peter Smith, Baron Smith of Leigh , chair of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority said "clearly, all of
16767-477: The 2000s, the Housing Market Renewal Initiative identified Manchester , Salford, Rochdale and Oldham as areas with terraced housing unsuited to modern needs. In contrast, towns and villages in southern Greater Manchester, from Bramhall through Woodford to Altrincham constitute an arc of wealthy commuter towns . Altrincham in particular, with its neighbours Bowdon and Hale , forms
16974-459: The 2001 census, over one in four of its residents identified themselves as from a South Asian or British Asian ethnic group. Cultural divisions along ethnic backgrounds are strong within the town, with poor cross-community integration and cohesion along Asian and white backgrounds. With only a small local population during medieval times, as a result of the introduction of industry, mass migration of village workers into Oldham occurred, resulting in
17181-489: The 20th century. Danelaw The Danelaw ( / ˈ d eɪ n ˌ l ɔː / , Danish : Danelagen ; Norwegian : Danelagen ; Old English : Dena lagu ) was the part of England between the early tenth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and occupation of large parts of eastern and northern England by Danish Vikings in
17388-437: The 20th century. In 2011, 77.5% of the Oldham metropolitan borough population were White British, 18.1% Asian and 1.2% Black. While in the town of Oldham, which had a 2011 population of 96,555, 55.4% of the population were White British, 37.6% Asian and 2% Black. For years Oldham's economy was heavily dependent on manufacturing industry, especially textiles and mechanical engineering. Since the deindustrialisation of Oldham in
17595-634: The 5th most populous settlement of the Greater Manchester Urban Area . This figure in conjunction with its area provides Oldham with a population density of 3,998 people per square mile (1,544 people/km). The local population has been described as broadly " working class "; the middle classes tending to live in outlying settlements. Oldham, considered as a combination of the 2001 electoral wards of Alexandra, Coldhurst , Hollinwood , St. James, St. Marys, St. Pauls, Waterhead and Werneth , has an average age of 33.5, and compared against
17802-427: The Boneless returned and demanded tribute from King Edmund of East Anglia. 870 − King Edmund refused Ivar's demand. Ivar defeated and captured Edmund at Hoxne, adding East Anglia to the area controlled by the invading Danes. King Æthelred and Alfred attacked the Danes at Reading, but were repulsed with heavy losses. The Danes pursued them. 871 − On 7 January, Æthelred and Alfred made their stand at Ashdown (on what
18009-569: The Cudworths of Werneth Hall who were successive lords of the manor. A Member of this family was James I 's Chaplain, Ralph Cudworth (father of the Cambridge Platonist philosopher Ralph Cudworth ). The Cudworths remained lords of the manor until their sale of the estate (1683) to Sir Ralph Assheton of Middleton . Much of Oldham's history is concerned with textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution ; it has been said that "if ever
18216-539: The Danes after this. The area occupied by the Danelaw was roughly the area to the north of a line drawn between London and Chester , excluding the portion of Northumbria to the east of the Pennines . Five fortified towns became particularly important in the Danelaw: Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Stamford and Lincoln, broadly delineating the area now called the East Midlands . These strongholds became known as
18423-524: The Danes brokered peace with Wessex in 876, when they captured the fortresses of Wareham and Exeter . Alfred laid siege to the Danes, who were forced to surrender after reinforcements were lost in a storm. Two years later, Guthrum again attacked Alfred, surprising him by attacking his forces wintering in Chippenham . King Alfred was saved when the Danish army coming from his rear was destroyed by inferior forces at
18630-446: The Danes, but his army was on the verge of collapse. Alfred responded by paying off the Danes for a promise of peace. During the peace, the Danes turned north and attacked Mercia, which they finished off in short order, and captured London in the process. King Burgred of Mercia fought in vain against Ivar the Boneless and his Danish invaders for three years until 874, when he fled to Europe. During Ivar's campaign against Mercia, he died and
18837-454: The Danish fortifications and was routed. The Danes followed up with another victory in March at Meretum (now Marton, Wiltshire). King Æthelred died on 23 April 871 and Alfred took the throne of Wessex. For the rest of the year Alfred concentrated on attacking with small bands against isolated groups of Danes. He was moderately successful in this endeavour and was able to score minor victories against
19044-451: The Great ruled over a unified English kingdom, itself the product of a resurgent Wessex, as part of his North Sea Empire , together with Denmark, Norway and part of Sweden. Cnut was succeeded in England on his death by his son Harold Harefoot , until he died in 1040, after which another of Cnut's sons, Harthacnut , took the throne. Since Harthacnut was already on the Danish throne, this reunited
19251-885: The Great , the king of Wessex, and Guthrum , the Danish warlord, written following Guthrum's defeat at the Battle of Edington in 878. In 886, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was formalised, defining the boundaries of their kingdoms, with provisions for peaceful relations between the English and the Vikings . The language spoken in England was affected by this clash of cultures, with the emergence of Anglo-Norse dialects. The Danelaw roughly comprised these contemporary 16 ceremonial counties and shires : Greater London , Leicester , York , Nottingham , Derby , Lincoln , Essex , Cambridge , Suffolk , Norfolk , Northampton , Huntingdon , Bedford , Hertford , Middlesex , and Buckingham . From around 800, there had been waves of Norse raids on
19458-558: The Greater Manchester County Council was abolished, and most of its powers were devolved to the boroughs. Between 1986 and 2011, the boroughs were effectively unitary authority areas , but opted to co-operate voluntarily under the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA), which served to create a co-ordinated county-wide approach to issues of common interest to Greater Manchester, such as public transport and
19665-466: The Greater Manchester County Council. The plan set out objectives for the forthcoming metropolitan county. The highest priority was to increase the quality of life for its inhabitants by improving the county's physical environment and cultural facilities which had suffered following deindustrialisation – much of Greater Manchester's basic infrastructure dated from its 19th-century growth, and was unsuited to modern lifestyles. Other objectives were to reverse
19872-580: The Greater Manchester area was once at the heart of a very vibrant [textiles] industry", represented by former textile mills found throughout the county. The territory that makes up Greater Manchester experienced a rapid decline of these traditional sectors, partly during the Lancashire Cotton famine brought on by the American Civil War , but mainly as part of the post-war economic depression and deindustrialization of Britain that occurred during
20079-472: The Kingdoms of Essex and East Anglia accepted Edward the Elder as their suzerain overlord. Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, took the borough of Derby. 918 − The borough of Leicester submitted peaceably to Æthelflæd's rule. The people of York promised to accept her as their overlord, but she died before this could come to fruition. She was succeeded by her brother, the Kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex united in
20286-571: The Mersey and Irwell. What is now Greater Manchester was a largely rural area until the Industrial Revolution , when the region rapidly industrialised. The area's towns and cities became major centres for the manufacture of cotton textiles , aided by the exploitation of the Lancashire coalfield . The region was also an engineering and scientific centre, leading to achievements such as the first inter-city railway and Ernest Rutherford 's pioneering work on nuclear fission . Since deindustrialisation in
20493-727: The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is centred on the town of Stockport , a former county borough, but includes other smaller settlements, such as Cheadle , Gatley , and Bramhall . The names of two of the metropolitan boroughs were given a neutral name because, at the time they were created, there was no agreement on the town to be put forward as the administrative centre and neither had a county borough . These boroughs are Tameside and Trafford , centred on Ashton-under-Lyne and Stretford , respectively, and are named with reference to geographical and historical origins. The lowest formal tier of local government in Greater Manchester are
20700-676: The North Sea Empire. Harthacnut lived only another two years, and from his death in 1042 until 1066 the monarchy reverted to the English line in the form of Edward the Confessor . Edward died in January 1066 without an obvious successor, and an English nobleman, Harold Godwinson , took the throne. Later that year, two rival claimants to the throne led invasions of England in short succession. First, Harald Hardrada of Norway took York in September, but
20907-473: The Regional Centre and the major town centres. Combined, these factors make Greater Manchester the most complex "polycentric functional urban region" in the UK outside London. The Greater Manchester Built-up Area is the conurbation or continuous urban area based around Greater Manchester, as defined by the Office for National Statistics . In 2011, it had an estimated population of 2,553,379, making it
21114-572: The UK has made them the country's "only naturalised parrot and the most northerly breeding parrot in the world". The South Pennines also support internationally important numbers of golden plover , curlew , merlin and twite . A number of Red Eared Terrapins , a species of small turtle, are known to inhabit the lake in Alexandra Park . Greater Manchester is formed of parts of Cheshire, Lancashire and parts of West Riding of Yorkshire. The historic boundary between Cheshire and Lancashire begins from
21321-435: The United Kingdom. Greater Manchester has a relatively high humidity level, which lent itself to the optimised and breakage-free textile manufacturing process that took place around the county. Snowfall is not common in the built up areas because of the urban warming effect but the West Pennine Moors in the northwest, South Pennines in the northeast and Peak District in the east receive more snow, and roads leading out of
21528-494: The amount of coal in the town was somewhat overestimated however, and production began to decline even before that of the local spinning industry. Today, the only visible remnants of the mines are disused shafts and boreholes. Oldham's social history , like that of other former unenfranchised towns, is marked by politicised civil disturbances , as well as events related to the Luddite , Suffragette and other Labour movements from
21735-470: The amount of reparation that should be payable in wergild . Many of the legalistic concepts were compatible; for example, the Viking wapentake , the standard for land division in the Danelaw, was effectively interchangeable with the hundred . The use of the execution site and cemetery at Walkington Wold in east Yorkshire suggests a continuity of judicial practice. Under the Danelaw, between 30% and 50% of
21942-527: The approval of the Combined Authority. On 3 November 2014, George Osborne , the Chancellor of the Exchequer , announced that there would be an eleventh member of the GMCA – a directly elected Mayor of Greater Manchester , with "powers over transport, housing, planning and policing" from 2017. Greater Manchester is a landlocked county spanning 493 sq mi (1,277 km ). The Pennines rise to
22149-452: The area centuries earlier, Oldham as a permanent, named place of dwelling is believed to date from 865, when Danish invaders established a settlement called Aldehulme. From its founding in the 9th century until the Industrial Revolution , Oldham is believed to have been little more than a scattering of small and insignificant settlements spread across the moorland and dirt tracks that linked Manchester to York . Although not mentioned in
22356-505: The artificial limits of boundaries" in return for greater autonomy from the central government of the UK . A referendum on the Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund was held in December 2008, in which voters "overwhelmingly rejected" plans for public transport improvements linked to a peak-time weekday-only congestion charge. Following a bid from AGMA highlighting the potential benefits in combatting
22563-474: The average demographics of the United Kingdom , has a high level of people of South Asian heritage, particularly those with roots in Pakistan and Bangladesh . Due to the town's prevalence as an industrial centre and thus a hub for employment, Oldham attracted migrant workers throughout its history, including those from wider-England, Scotland, Ireland and Poland. During the 1950s and 1960s, in an attempt to fill
22770-470: The boundary between Oldham on one side and Royton and Shaw and Crompton on the other. To the east of this river the surface rises to a height of 1,225 ft (373 m) at Woodward Hill, on the border with the parish of Saddleworth . The rest of the surface is hilly, the average height decreasing towards the southwest to Failsworth and the city of Manchester . The ridge called Oldham Edge, 800 ft (240 m) high, comes southward from Royton into
22977-507: The boundary of Greater Manchester it includes several adjacent areas of settlement and a few outliers connected to the conurbation by ribbon development, such as Wilmslow and Alderley Edge in Cheshire, Glossop and Hadfield in Derbyshire, and Whitworth in Lancashire. This conurbation forms part of a megalopolis of 9.4 million across northern England . Greater Manchester experiences
23184-584: The brothers Æthelred and Alfred attempted to stop Ivar by attacking the Danes at Reading . They were repelled with heavy losses. The Danes pursued, and on 7 January 871, Æthelred and Alfred defeated the Danes at the Battle of Ashdown . The Danes retreated to Basing (in Hampshire ), where Æthelred attacked and was, in turn, defeated. Ivar was able to follow up this victory with another in March at Meretum (now Marton, Wiltshire ). On 23 April 871, King Æthelred died and Alfred succeeded him as King of Wessex. His army
23391-486: The centre of the town. Oldham's built environment is characterised by its 19th-century red-brick terraced houses , the infrastructure that was built to support these and the town's former cotton mills – which mark the town's skyline. The urban structure of Oldham is irregular when compared to most towns in England , its form restricted in places by its hilly upland terrain. There are irregularly constructed residential dwellings and streets clustered loosely around
23598-455: The changing needs of the county of Lancashire, including those for Manchester and surrounding districts. Other proposals included the creation of a Manchester County Council, a directly elected regional body. In 1951, the census in the UK began reporting on South East Lancashire as a homogeneous conurbation. The Local Government Act 1958 designated the south east Lancashire area (which, despite its name, included part of north east Cheshire),
23805-522: The city of York and surrounding area, before returning home. 1085 − Knut, now king, assembles a fleet for a major invasion against England. Informed of his planned crossing, William hurries back to England with a northern French army, and the Danish expedition is called off. Other than Eystein II of Norway taking advantage of the civil war during Stephen's reign , to plunder the east coast of England, there were no serious invasions or raids of England by
24012-479: The coastlines of Britain and Ireland. In 865, instead of raiding, the Danes landed a large army in East Anglia , with the intention of conquering the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. The armies of various Danish leaders had collaborated to make one combined force under a leadership that included Halfdan Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless , the sons of the legendary Viking leader Ragnar Lodbrok . The combined army
24219-456: The communities of town and village, each of which was the embodiment of the character of this region". The name Greater Manchester was adopted, having been favoured over Selnec following public consultation, despite opposition claiming that "Greater Manchester [...] is a myth. An abomination. A travesty.". By January 1974, a joint working party representing Greater Manchester had drawn up its county Structure Plan , ready for implementation by
24426-423: The conclusion that [a referendum on congestion charging should be held] because we don't have an indirectly or directly elected body for Greater Manchester that has the power to make this decision". On 14 July 2008 the ten local authorities in Greater Manchester agreed to a strategic and integrated cross-county Multi-Area Agreement ; a voluntary initiative aimed at making district councils "work together to challenge
24633-403: The control of local leaders, including Greater Manchester's new directly elected mayor. On 4 May 2017, Labour politician Andy Burnham was elected as the inaugural mayor , joining the GMCA as its eleventh member and serving as its leader. Beneath the GMCA are the ten councils of Greater Manchester's ten districts , which are Bolton , Bury , the City of Manchester , Oldham , Rochdale ,
24840-615: The councils of which collaborate through Greater Manchester Combined Authority . The county was created on 1 April 1974 from parts of north-east Cheshire, south-east Lancashire, and a small part of the West Riding of Yorkshire . The centre and south-west of Greater Manchester are lowlands, similar to the West Lancashire Coastal Plain to the north-west and the Cheshire Plain to the south-west. The north and east are part of
25047-647: The county can be closed due to heavy snowfall. They include the A62 road via Standedge , the Pennine section of the M62 and the A57 , Snake Pass , towards Sheffield . At the most southern point of Greater Manchester, Woodford's Met Office weather station recorded a temperature of −17.6 °C (0.3 °F) on 8 January 2010 . Contrary to its reputation for urban sprawl, Greater Manchester has green belt constraining urban drift , and
25254-453: The county centuries later, to south of the Mersey and Tame , were governed under Cheshire while the Saddleworth area and a small part of Mossley are historically part of Yorkshire . In the late 18th to early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution transformed the local domestic system; mechanisation enabled the industrialisation of the region's textile trade, triggering rapid growth in
25461-419: The county which include Saddleworth and parts of Rochdale form part of the historic county of West Riding of Yorkshire. Since the formation of Greater Manchester, residents have debated their identities in the metropolitan and historic counties through heritage, culture and governance. Residents in Saddleworth in the Borough of Oldham have called for independence from Greater Manchester and Oldham Council and
25668-507: The county. At the 2001 UK census, 74.2% of Greater Manchester's residents were Christian, 5.0% Muslim, 0.9% Jewish, 0.7% Hindu, 0.2% Buddhist, and 0.1% Sikh. 11.4% had no religion, 0.2% had an alternative religion and 7.4% did not state their religion. This is similar to the rest of the country, although the proportions of Muslims and Jews are nearly twice the national average. It contains the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation ,
25875-547: The day the Local Government Act came into effect noted that the "new arrangement is a compromise which seeks to reconcile familiar geography which commands a certain amount of affection and loyalty, with the scale of operations on which modern planning methods can work effectively". Frangopulo noted that the creation of Greater Manchester "was the official unifying of a region which, through history and tradition, had forged for itself over many centuries bonds ... between
26082-595: The direction of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, these joint boards are Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) which is responsible for planning and co-ordinating public transport across the county; the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service , who are administered by a joint Fire and Rescue Authority; and the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority . These joint boards are made up of councillors appointed from each of
26289-520: The end of the prospect of a Northern Viking Kingdom stretching from York to Dublin and the Isles. 1002 – St. Brice's Day massacre of the Danes 1066 − Harald Hardrada landed with an army, hoping to take control of York and the English crown. He was defeated and killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge . This event is often cited as the end of the Viking era. The same year, William the Conqueror , himself
26496-486: The following days and weeks. The 2001 riots prompted governmental and independent inquiries, which collectively agreed on community relations improvements and considerable regeneration schemes for the town. There were further fears of riots after the death of Gavin Hopley in 2002. Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire since the early 12th century , Oldham was recorded in 1212 as being one of five parts of
26703-540: The fore the issue of "regional unity" for the area in April 1935 under the headline "Greater Manchester – The Ratepayers' Salvation". It reported on the "increasing demands for the exploration of the possibilities of a greater merger of public services throughout Manchester and the surrounding municipalities". The issue was frequently discussed by civic leaders in the area at that time, particularly those from Manchester and Salford . The Mayor of Salford pledged his support to
26910-789: The fourth largest settlement of the Greater Manchester Urban Area , the United Kingdom's third largest conurbation . The M60 motorway passes through the southwest of Oldham, through Hollinwood , and a heavy rail line enters Oldham from the same direction, travelling northeast to the town centre before heading northwards through Derker towards Shaw and Crompton. Many of Oldham's present divisions and suburbs have origins as pre-industrial hamlets, manorial commons and ancient chapelries. Some, such as Moorside , exist as recently constructed residential suburbia , whilst places like Hollinwood exist as electoral wards and thoroughly industrialised districts. Throughout most of its recorded history , Oldham
27117-458: The gathering and organising of civil registration information, and output of census data. The Local Government Act 1888 created elected county councils to administer services throughout England and Wales. Where a municipal borough had a population of more than 50,000 at the 1881 Census it was created a county borough , with the powers and duties of both a borough and county council. As Oldham had an 1881 population of 111,343 it duly became
27324-464: The government would allow those city regions that wished to work together to form a statutory framework for city regional activity, including powers over transport, skills, planning and economic development. The Manchester City Region encompassed fifteen local government districts: the cities of Manchester and Salford plus the metropolitan boroughs of Stockport , Tameside , Trafford , Bolton , Bury , Oldham , Rochdale and Wigan , together with
27531-491: The idea, stating that he looked forward to the day when "there would be a merging of the essential services of Manchester, Salford, and the surrounding districts constituting Greater Manchester." Proposals were halted by the Second World War , though in the decade after it, the pace of proposals for local government reform for the area quickened. In 1947, Lancashire County Council proposed a three " ridings " system to meet
27738-511: The increased building of social housing overspill estates by Salford and Manchester City Councils lead to a decrease in population in central Greater Manchester. During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the population of Greater Manchester declined by over 8,000 inhabitants a year. While Manchester's population shrank by about 40% during this time (from 766,311 in 1931 to 452,000 in 2006), the total population of Greater Manchester decreased by only 8%. Greater Manchester's housing stock comprises
27945-410: The intent of intercepting Alfred should he flee from Guthrum's forces. However, they stopped during their march to capture a small fortress at Countisbury Hill, held by a Wessex ealdorman named Odda . The Saxons, led by Odda, attacked the Danes while they slept and defeated their superior forces, saving Alfred from being trapped between the two armies. Alfred was forced to go into hiding for the rest of
28152-506: The introduction of cotton-spinning machinery . On 20 April 1812, a "large crowd of riotous individuals" compelled local retailers to sell foods at a loss, whilst on the same day Luddites numbering in their thousands, many of whom were from Oldham, attacked a cotton mill in nearby Middleton . On 16 August 1819, Oldham sent a contingent estimated at well above 10,000 to hear speakers in St Peter's Fields at Manchester discuss political reform; it
28359-468: The labour forces of Manchester and southwest Yorkshire . Cotton spinning and milling were introduced to Oldham when its first mill, Lees Hall, was built by William Clegg in about 1778, the beginning of a spiralling process of urbanisation and socioeconomic transformation. Within a year, 11 other mills had been constructed, and by 1818 there were 19 – not a large number in comparison with other local settlements. Oldham's small local population
28566-581: The largest textile machine makers in the world, employing over 15,000 people in the 1890s, twice the number of their nearest rivals Dobson & Barlow in Bolton and Asa Lees on Greenacres Moor . They were keen investors in the local area and at one time, were supporting 42% of the population. The centre of the company lay at the New Hartford Works in Werneth , a massive complex of buildings and internal railways on
28773-520: The last few decades, and its two shopping centres, Town Square and the Spindles, now provide one of the largest covered retail areas in Greater Manchester . The Spindles (named with reference to textile spindles ) is a modern shopping centre with over 40 retailers, banks, building societies and catering outlets. It houses several of Europe's largest stained glass works, a series of ceilings and skylights created by local artist Brian Clarke in celebration of
28980-464: The late ninth century. The term applies to the areas in which English kings allowed the Danes to keep their own laws following the tenth-century English conquest in return for the Danish settlers' loyalty to the English crown. "Danelaw" is first recorded in the early 11th century as Dena lage . The Danelaw originated from the invasion of the Great Heathen Army into England in 865, but the term
29187-523: The life and music of one of Oldham's famous sons, composer and conductor Sir William Walton . 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 . The county has an area of 493 sq mi (1,277 km ) and
29394-462: The local cotton industry and the town's inhabitants, though there is evidence of small scale coal mining in the area as early as the 16th century. The Oldham Coalfield stretched from Royton in the north to Bardsley in the south and in addition to Oldham, included the towns of Middleton and Chadderton to the west. The Oldham Coalfield was the site of over 150 collieries during its recorded history . Although some contemporary sources suggest there
29601-570: The metropolitan county councils were controlled by the Labour Party led to accusations that their abolition was motivated by party politics: the general secretary of the National Association of Local Government Officers described it as a "completely cynical manoeuvre". Most of the functions of GMCC were devolved to the ten Greater Manchester metropolitan district councils, though functions such as emergency services and public transport were taken over by joint boards and continued to be run on
29808-464: The mid-20th century the county has emerged as a major centre for services, media and digital industries, and is renowned for guitar and dance music and its football teams. Although Greater Manchester was not created until 1974, the history of its settlements go back centuries. There is evidence of Iron Age habitation, particularly at Mellor , and a known Celtic Britons settlement named Chochion , believed to have been an area of Wigan settled by
30015-449: The mid-20th century, these industries have been replaced by home shopping , publishing , healthcare and food processing sectors, though factory-generated employment retains a significant presence. Many of the modern sectors are low-skill and low-wage. Oldham's town centre contains the highest concentration of retailing, cultural facilities and employment in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham . It has been extensively redeveloped during
30222-469: The natural centre of its region. By 1835 "Manchester was without challenge the first and greatest industrial city in the world"; and by 1848 urban sprawl had fused the city to its surrounding towns and hinterland to form a single continuous conurbation. The area is recorded in planning documents for the Manchester Ship Canal dated 1883, as "Manchester, Salford and the Out-Townships". The conurbation
30429-483: The new authority was created on 1 April 2011. On the same day, the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee was also formed from a pool of 33 councillors allocated by council population (roughly one councillor per 75,000 residents) to scrutinise the running of Greater Manchester's transport bodies and their finances, approve the decisions and policies of said bodies and form strategic policy recommendations or projects for
30636-477: The next largest sum) in advance towards any expenses which may have been incurred by the Royal Charter . In 1854 John Platt was made the (fourth) Mayor of Oldham, an office he was to hold twice more in 1855–56 and 1861–62. John Platt was elected in 1865 to become a Member of Parliament (MP) for Oldham , and was re-elected in 1868; he remained in office until his death in 1872. A bronze statue of Platt existed in
30843-415: The north and east of the county with the West Pennine Moors in the northwest, the South Pennines in the northeast and the Peak District in the east. Several coalfields (mainly sandstones and shales) lie in the west of the county while the Cheshire Plain fringes the south. The rivers Mersey , Irwell and Tame run through Greater Manchester, all of which rise in the Pennines. Other rivers traverse
31050-408: The operatives' houses is filthy and smouldering. In the 1870s, John Marius Wilson described Oldham as consisting of: ... numerous streets, and contains numerous fine buildings, both public and private; but, in a general view, is irregularly constructed, presents the dingy aspect of a crowded seat of manufacture, and is more notable for factories than for any other feature. Although Oldham had
31257-403: The original Hollinwood site was operated by Siemens Metering and Semiconductor divisions. The remainder of the site is occupied by Mirror Colour Print Ltd; the printing division of Reach , which prints and distributes thirty-six major newspapers, and employs five hundred staff. On the back of the Industrial Revolution, Oldham developed an extensive coal mining sector, correlated to supporting
31464-408: The passage of the bill, the towns of Whitworth , Wilmslow and Poynton successfully objected to their incorporation in the new county. The areas that were incorporated into Greater Manchester in 1974 previously formed parts of the administrative counties of Cheshire, Lancashire, the West Riding of Yorkshire , and eight independent county boroughs . By the early 1970s, this system of demarcation
31671-551: The period of the Danelaw . Cumbric alt , meaning "steep height, cliff", has also been suggested for the first element. The earliest known evidence of a human presence in what is now Oldham is attested by the discovery of Neolithic flint arrow-heads and workings found at Werneth and Besom Hill, implying habitation 7–10,000 years ago. Evidence of later Roman and Celtic activity is confirmed by an ancient Roman road and Bronze Age archaeological relics found at various sites within
31878-623: The person of King Edward. 919 − Norwegian Vikings under King Ragnvald Sygtryggsson of Dublin took York. 920 − Edward was accepted as father and lord by the King of the Scots, by Rægnold, the sons of Eadulf , the English, Norwegians, Danes and others all of whom dwelt in Northumbria and the King and people of the Strathclyde Welsh. 954 − King Eric was driven out of Northumbria, his death marking
32085-452: The points of both the River Irwell and Manchester Ship Canal. The southern parts of the county that form part of Trafford, Stockport and Tameside cover Altrincham, Sale, Stockport, Marple, Cheadle Hulme, Hyde, Stalybridge and Wythenshawe (Which became part of Manchester in the 1920s) are all historically part of Cheshire. Denton and Audenshaw in Tameside were historically part of Lancashire. While
32292-466: The population in the countryside had the legal status of ' sokeman ', occupying an intermediate position between the free tenants and the bond tenants . This tended to provide more autonomy for the peasants. A sokeman was a free man within the lord's soke , or jurisdiction. According to many scholars, "... the Danelaw was an especially ‘free’ area of Britain because the rank and file of the Danish armies, from whom sokemen were descended, had settled in
32499-415: The production process is the origin of the term "Owdham Roughyed" a nickname for people from Oldham. It was not until the last quarter of the 18th century that Oldham changed from being a cottage industry township producing woollen garments via domestic manual labour , to a sprawling industrial metropolis of textile factories. The climate, geology, and topography of Oldham were unrelenting constraints upon
32706-812: The region as tributaries to the major rivers, including the Douglas , the Irk , and the Roch . Black Chew Head is the highest point in Greater Manchester which forms part of the Peak District National Park , rising 1,778 ft (542 m) above sea-level, within the parish of Saddleworth . Greater Manchester is characterised by its dense urban and industrial developments, which include centres of commerce, finance, retail and administration, as well as commuter suburbs and housing, interspersed with transport infrastructure such as light rail, roads and motorway, and canals. There
32913-622: The region. 902 − Essex submitted to Æthelwald . 903 − Æthelwald incited the East Anglian Danes into breaking the peace. They ravaged Mercia before winning a pyrrhic victory that saw the death of Æthelwald and the Danish King Eohric; this allowed Edward the Elder to consolidate power. 911 − The English defeated the Danes at the Battle of Tettenhall . The Northumbrians ravaged Mercia but were trapped by Edward and forced to fight. 917 − In return for peace and protection,
33120-457: The resulting hollows which form an important reed bed resource in Greater Manchester. Opened in 1979, Sale Water Park is a 152-acre (62 ha) area of countryside and parkland in Sale which includes a 52-acre (21 ha) artificial lake by the River Mersey . Clover , sorrel , nettle and thistle are common, and grow wild in Greater Manchester. Common heather ( Calluna vulgaris ) dominates
33327-442: The rivers Irk and Medlock . Saddleworth and the South Pennines are close to the east, whilst on all other sides, Oldham is bound by other neighbouring towns, including Ashton-under-Lyne , Chadderton , Failsworth , Royton and Shaw and Crompton , with little or no green space between them. Oldham experiences a temperate maritime climate , like much of the British Isles, with relatively cool summers and mild winters. There
33534-399: The semi-rural east of the town, in the most sought after area in areas such as the village Moorside , although terraces are found in almost all parts of Oldham. One of the oldest recorded named places of Oldham is Hathershaw , occurring in a deed for 1280 with the spelling Halselinechaw Clugh . Existing as a manor in the 15th century, Hathershaw Hall was the home of a Royalist family in
33741-489: The separation of the proposed Bury/Rochdale authority (retained from the Redcliffe-Maud report) into the Metropolitan Borough of Bury and the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale . Bury and Rochdale were originally planned to form a single district (dubbed "Botchdale" by local MP Michael Fidler ) but were divided into separate boroughs. To re-balance the districts, the borough of Rochdale took Middleton from Oldham. During
33948-504: The shared labour market, as well as making representations to central government and the European Union. Although used as a "successful brand", Greater Manchester's politics have been characterised by "entrenched localism and related rivalries", historically resistant to regionalism . The major towns in Greater Manchester retain a "fierce independence", meaning Greater Manchester is administered using "inter-municipal coordination" on
34155-506: The shortfall of workers and revitalise local industries, citizens of the wider Commonwealth of Nations were encouraged to migrate to Oldham and other British towns . Many came from the Caribbean and Indian subcontinent and settled throughout the Oldham borough. Today, Oldham has large communities with heritage from Pakistan , India , Bangladesh and parts of the Caribbean. At the time of
34362-583: The site of considerable industry and commerce, including coal mining , cotton spinning and hat manufacture. It is said to have been the scene of an action in the English Civil War in which the Parliamentarians were defeated. According to data from the United Kingdom Census 2001 , Oldham had a total resident population of 103,544, making it the 55th most populous settlement in England, and
34569-462: The social and economic activities of the human inhabitants. At 700 feet (200 m) above sea level and with no major river or visible natural resources, Oldham had poor geographic attributes compared with other settlements for investors and their engineers. As a result, Oldham played no part in the initial period of the Industrial Revolution, although it did later become seen as obvious territory to industrialise because of its convenient position between
34776-545: The south", and so had to negotiate several land-use, transport and housing projects with its neighbouring county councils. However a "major programme of environmental action" by GMCC broadly succeeded in reversing social deprevation in its inner city slums. Leisure and recreational successes included the Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre (better known as the G-Mex centre and now branded Manchester Central ),
34983-577: The ten boroughs (except the Waste Disposal Authority, which does not include the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan ). Greater Manchester Police was formerly overseen by a joint police authority , but was briefly overseen by the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner from 2012 until the functions of that office were subsumed into the new regional mayoralty upon its creation in 2017. The ten borough councils are joint-owners of
35190-495: The ten councils. Such strategic matters would be decided on via an enhanced majority rule voting system involving ten members appointed from among the councillors of the metropolitan boroughs (one representing each borough with each council nominating one substitute) without the input of central government. The ten district councils of Greater Manchester approved the creation of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) on 29 March 2010, and submitted final recommendations for
35397-502: The textile sector, as the importation of cheaper foreign yarns grew during the 20th century, Oldham's economy declined into a depression, although it was not until 1964 that Oldham ceased to be the largest centre of cotton spinning. In spite of efforts to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of its production, the last cotton spun in the town was in 1998. Facilitated by its flourishing textile industry, Oldham developed extensive structural and mechanical engineering sectors during
35604-405: The third highest number in England behind Greater London (360,890) and the West Midlands (140,980), and the thirteenth highest in England per head of population. The majority of students are concentrated on Oxford Road in Manchester, Europe's largest urban higher education precinct. As of 2010, further education in Greater Manchester is co-ordinated by the Greater Manchester Colleges Group,
35811-505: The throne of Northumbria as a puppet ruler. King Æthelred of Wessex and his brother, Alfred , led their army against the Danes at Nottingham , but the Danes refused to leave their fortifications. King Burgred of Mercia negotiated peace with Ivar, with the Danes keeping Nottingham in exchange for leaving the rest of Mercia alone. Under Ivar the Boneless, the Danes continued their invasion in 869 by defeating King Edmund of East Anglia at Hoxne and conquering East Anglia. Once again,
36018-480: The title from 1974 to 1988. The current Lord Lieutenant is Warren James Smith. As a geographic county, Greater Manchester is used by the government (via the Office for National Statistics ) for the gathering of county-wide statistics, and organising and collating general register and census material. In terms of representation in the Parliament of the United Kingdom , Greater Manchester is divided into 27 parliamentary constituencies . Most of Greater Manchester
36225-490: The town around Hollinwood and Werneth and provided enough coal to accelerate Oldham's rapid development at the centre of the cotton boom. At its height in the mid-19th century, when it was dominated by the Lees and Jones families, Oldham coal was mainly sourced from many small collieries whose lives varied from a few years to many decades, although two of the four largest collieries survived to nationalisation . In 1851, collieries employed more than 2,000 men in Oldham, although
36432-544: The town centre for years, though was moved to Alexandra Park . There have been recommendations for it to be returned to the town centre. Abraham Henthorn Stott, the son of a stonemason , was born in nearby Shaw & Crompton in 1822. He served a seven-year apprenticeship with Sir Charles Barry , before starting a structural engineering practice in Oldham in 1847 that went on to become the pre-eminent mill architect firm in Lancashire . Philip Sydney Stott, third son of Abraham and later titled as Sir Philip Stott, 1st Baronet ,
36639-568: The town, whilst many Oldhamers protested in support of the emancipation of slaves . The Riot Act was read in 1852 on election day following a mass public brawl over the Reform Act , and irregularities with parliamentary candidate nominations. For three days in late May 2001, Oldham became the centre of national and international media attention. Following high-profile race-related conflicts, and long-term underlying racial tensions between local White British against British Pakistani and British Bangladeshi communities, major riots broke out in
36846-458: The town. Occurring with particular intensity in the Glodwick and Coldhurst areas of the town, the 2001 Oldham riots were the worst racially motivated riots in the United Kingdom for fifteen years prior, briefly eclipsing the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland in the media. At least 20 people were injured in the riots, including 15 police officers, and 37 people were arrested. Similar riots took place in other towns in northern England over
37053-456: The town. Placenames of Celtic origin are still to be found in Oldham: Werneth derives from a Celtic personal name identical to the Gaulish vernetum , " alder swamp", and Glodwick may be related to the modern Welsh clawdd , meaning "dyke" or "ditch". Nearby Chadderton is also pre-Anglo-Saxon in origin, from the Old Welsh cadeir , itself deriving from the Latin cathedra meaning "chair". Although Anglo-Saxons occupied territory around
37260-557: The trend of depopulation in central-Greater Manchester, to invest in country parks to improve the region's poor reputation on leisure facilities, and to improve the county's transport infrastructure and patterns. Because of political objection, particularly from Cheshire, Greater Manchester covered only the inner, urban 62 of the 90 former districts that the Royal Commission had outlined as an effective administrative metropolitan area. In this capacity, GMCC found itself "planning for an arbitrary metropolitan area ... abruptly truncated to
37467-475: The uplands, such as Saddleworth Moor , which lies within the South Pennines and Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park . The Rochdale Canal harbours floating water-plantain ( Luronium natams ), a nationally endangered aquatic plant. In 2002, Plantlife International launched its County Flowers campaign , asking members of the public to nominate and vote for a wild flower emblem for their county. Common cottongrass ( Eriophorum angustifolium ),
37674-401: The winter and spring of 878 in the Somerset marshes in order to avoid the superior Danish forces. In the spring, Alfred was able to gather an army and attacked Guthrum and the Danes at Edington. The Danes were defeated and retreated to Chippenham, where the English pursued and laid siege to Guthrum's forces. The Danes were unable to hold out without relief and soon surrendered. Alfred demanded, as
37881-419: Was "a Victorian metropolis, achieving its commercial peak during 1890–1915". In the 1910s, local government reforms to administer this conurbation as a single entity were proposed. Use in a municipal context appeared in a 1914 report submitted in response to what was considered to have been the successful creation of the County of London in 1889. The report suggested that a county should be set up to recognise
38088-516: Was a commitment to local government reform, and the need for a metropolitan county centred on the conurbation surrounding Manchester was accepted. The new government's original proposal was much smaller than the Redcliffe-Maud Report's Selnec, with areas such as Winsford, Northwich, Knutsford, Macclesfield and Glossop retained by their original counties to ensure their county councils had enough revenue to remain competitive ( Cheshire County Council would have ceased to exist). Other late changes included
38295-482: Was a notable member of the Suffragette movement credited with sparking off suffragette militancy when she heckled Winston Churchill , and later (with Emmeline Pankhurst ) the first Suffragist to be imprisoned. Oldham Women's Suffrage Society was established in 1910 with Margery Lees as president and quickly joined the Manchester and District Federation of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies . The Chartist and Co-operative movements had strong support in
38502-403: Was coal mining in Oldham at a commercial scale by 1738, older sources attribute the commercial expansion of coal mining with the arrival in the town of two Welsh labourers, John Evans and William Jones, around 1770. Foreseeing the growth in demand for coal as a source of steam power, they acquired colliery rights for Oldham, which by 1771 had 14 colliers. The mines were largely to the southwest of
38709-430: Was defeated by Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge , in Yorkshire . Then, three weeks later, William of Normandy defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings , in Sussex , and in December he accepted the submission of Edgar the Ætheling , last in the line of Anglo-Saxon royal succession, at Berkhamsted . The Danelaw appeared in legislation as late as the early 12th century with the Leges Henrici Primi , where it
38916-586: Was described as "archaic" and "grossly inadequate to keep pace both with the impact of motor travel, and with the huge increases in local government responsibilities". The Local Government Act 1972 reformed local government in England , with the act enacted on the 1 April 1974. The area was given the name Greater Manchester and a metropolitan county designation. This was a two-tier counties and districts system. The act formally , although Greater Manchester County Council (GMCC) had been running since elections in 1973 . The leading article in The Times on
39123-413: Was described in the annals as the Great Heathen Army . After making peace with the local East Anglian king in return for horses, the Great Heathen Army moved north. In 867 they captured Northumbria and its capital, York ("Jórvík"), defeating both the recently deposed King Osberht of Northumbria and the usurper Ælla of Northumbria . The Danes then placed an Englishman, Ecgberht I of Northumbria , on
39330-534: Was dominated by distinctive rectangular brick-built mills. Oldham was hit hard by the Lancashire Cotton Famine of 1861–1865, when supplies of raw cotton from the United States were cut off. Wholly reliant upon the textile industry, the cotton famine created chronic unemployment in the town. By 1863 a committee had been formed, and with aid from central government, land was purchased with the intention of employing local cotton workers to construct Alexandra Park , which opened on 28 August 1865. Said to have over-relied upon
39537-516: Was driven out of Northumbria in 954. The reasons for the waves of immigration were complex and bound to the political situation in Scandinavia at that time; they occurred when Viking settlers were also establishing their presence in the Hebrides , Isle of Man , Orkney , Shetland , Faroe Islands , Ireland , Iceland , Greenland , L'Anse aux Meadows , France ( Normandy ), the Baltics, Russia and Ukraine (see Kievan Rus' ). The Danes did not give up their designs on England. From 1016 to 1035, Cnut
39744-399: Was employed within the textile sector, compared to 5% across Great Britain. It overtook the major urban centres of Manchester and Bolton as the result of a mill building boom in the 1860s and 1870s, a period during which Oldham became the most productive cotton-spinning town in the world. In 1871, Oldham had more spindles than any country in the world except the United States, and in 1909,
39951-424: Was generated during the Industrial Revolution, particularly textile manufacture. The world's first cotton mill was built in the town of Royton , and the county encompasses several former mill towns . An Association for Industrial Archaeology publication describes Greater Manchester as "one of the classic areas of industrial and urban growth in Britain, the result of a combination of forces that came together in
40158-453: Was greatly increased by the mass migration of workers from outlying villages, resulting in a population increase from just over 12,000 in 1801 to 137,000 in 1901. The speed of this urban growth meant that Oldham, with little pre-industrial history to speak of, was effectively born as a factory town . Oldham became the world's manufacturing centre for cotton spinning in the second half of the 19th century. In 1851, over 30% of Oldham's population
40365-452: Was included as a ceremonial county by the Lieutenancies Act 1997 on 1 July 1997. In 1998, the people of Greater London voted in a referendum in favour of establishing a new Greater London Authority , with mayor and an elected chamber for the county. The New Local Government Network proposed the creation of a new Manchester City Region based on Greater Manchester and other metropolitan counties as part of on-going reform efforts, while
40572-511: Was made part of a parliamentary borough , in 1832, though it was in 1849 when Oldham was incorporated as a municipal borough , giving it borough status in the United Kingdom , and in 1850 the Borough Council obtained the powers of the improvement commissioners. In 1880, parts of the Hollinwood and Crossbank areas of Chadderton and Ashton-under-Lyne townships were added to the Borough of Oldham. Oldham Above Town and Oldham Below Town were, from 1851 until c. 1881, statistical units used for
40779-418: Was not used to describe a geographic area until the 11th century. With the increase in population and productivity in Scandinavia , Viking warriors, having sought treasure and glory in the nearby British Isles , "proceeded to plough and support themselves", in the words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 876. Danelaw can describe the set of legal terms and definitions created in the treaties between Alfred
40986-399: Was recorded as a place of residence in 1604 with the name Dirtcar . Bound by Higginshaw to the north, Derker is the location of Derker railway station and, said to have terraced residencies "unsuited to modern needs", is currently being redeveloped as part of the Housing Market Renewal Initiative . Coldhurst , an area along Oldham's northern boundary with Royton , was once a chapelry and
41193-448: Was recorded as an area surveyed with Cheshire in the Domesday Book of 1086; it is thought that the area was partially surveyed. Between Lancashire 's creation to the 18th century an ancient division of the shire, with a similar but smaller area to the current county, was known as Salfordshire . The division (a wapentake which later became a hundred) had several parishes, townships and market towns. Other areas of what would become
41400-414: Was spinning more cotton than France and Germany combined. By 1911 there were 16.4 million spindles in Oldham, compared with a total of 58 million in the United Kingdom and 143.5 million in the world; in 1928, with the construction of the UK's largest textile factory Oldham reached its manufacturing zenith. At its peak, there were more than 360 mills, operating night and day; Oldham's townscape
41607-426: Was succeeded by Guthrum the Old. Guthrum quickly defeated Burgred and placed a puppet on the throne of Mercia. The Danes now controlled East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia, with only Wessex continuing to resist. 875 − The Danes settled in Dorset , well inside Alfred's Kingdom of Wessex, but Alfred quickly made peace with them. 876 − The Danes broke the peace when they captured the fortress of Wareham, followed by
41814-403: Was surrounded by large swathes of moorland , which is reflected in the placenames of Moorside, Greenacres moor , Littlemoor, Northmoor among others. A large portion of Oldham's residences are "low value" Victorian era Accrington red-brick terraced houses in a row formation, built for the most part from 1870 to 1920, to house the town's cotton mill workers. There is more modern housing in
42021-494: Was the largest contingent sent to Manchester. John Lees, a cotton operative and ex-soldier who had fought at Waterloo , was one of the fifteen victims of the Peterloo Massacre which followed. The 'Oldham inquest' which proceeded the massacre was anxiously watched; the Court of King's Bench , however, decided that the proceedings were irregular, and the jury were discharged without giving a verdict. Annie Kenney , born in nearby Springhead , and who worked in Oldham's cotton mills,
42228-401: Was the most productive cotton spinning mill town in the world, producing more cotton than France and Germany combined. Oldham's textile industry fell into decline in the mid-20th century; the town's last mill closed in 1998. The demise of textile processing in Oldham depressed and heavily affected the local economy. The town centre is the focus of a project that aims to transform Oldham into
42435-632: Was the most prominent and famous of the Stott mill architects. He established his own practice in 1883 and designed over a hundred mills in several countries. His factories, which improved upon his father's fireproof mills, accounted for a 40% increase in Oldham's spindles between 1887 and 1914. Although textile-related engineering declined with the processing industry, leading to the demise of both Stotts and Platts, other engineering firms existed, notably electrical and later electronic engineers Ferranti in 1896. Ferranti went into receivership in 1993, but some of its former works continue in other hands. Part of
42642-406: Was to evaluate the contributions to economic growth and sustainable development by Combined Authorities. The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 enabled the creation of a Combined Authority for Greater Manchester with devolved powers on public transport, skills, housing, regeneration, waste management, carbon neutrality and planning permission , pending approval from
42849-446: Was weak and he was forced to pay tribute to Ivar in order to make peace with the Danes. During this peace, the Danes turned to the north and attacked Mercia, a campaign that lasted until 874. The Danish leader Ivar died during this campaign. Ivar was succeeded by Guthrum, who finished the campaign against Mercia. In ten years, the Danes had gained control over East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia, leaving just Wessex resisting. Guthrum and
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