Oldham

This article is about the town. For the larger local government district, see Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. For other uses, see Oldham (disambiguation).

Oldham
Market Place
The skyline
Tommyfield Market
Oldham is located in Greater Manchester
Oldham
Oldham
Location within Greater Manchester
Area6.9 sq mi (18 km2)
Population96,420 (2011 Census)
• Density5,785/sq mi (2,234/km2)
OS grid referenceSD922053
• London164 mi (264 km) SSE
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Areas of the town
List
Post townOldham
Postcode districtOL1-OL4, OL8, OL9
Dialling code0161
PoliceGreater Manchester
FireGreater Manchester
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Greater Manchester
53°32′40″N 2°07′01″W / 53.5444°N 2.1169°W / 53.5444; -2.1169

Oldham /ˈoʊldəm/ is a town in Greater Manchester, England.[1] 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 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."[2] At its zenith, it was the most productive cotton spinning mill town in the world,[3][4] producing more cotton than France and Germany combined.[5] 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.[6] The town centre is the focus of a project that aims to transform Oldham into a centre for further education and the performing arts.[7] 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 a population density of 57.2 inhabitants per hectare (14,800/sq mi),[8] 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).[9]

  1. ^ Lancashire, Lancashire County Record Office, Places names – O to R, archived from the original on 6 September 2010, retrieved 9 July 2007
  2. ^ OBC (1973)
  3. ^ Gurr & Hunt 1998, pp. 1–5.
  4. ^ "NW Cotton Towns Learning Journey". spinningtheweb.org.uk. Archived from the original on 10 September 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Contaminated was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference GM Evolution was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Oldham Heart was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Oldham Built-up area sub division (E35001251)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  9. ^ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Oldham Local Authority (E08000004)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 17 July 2021.