40 Facts About Rochdale

Rochdale is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, 5.

Rochdale's recorded history begins with an entry in the Domesday Book of 1086 under"Recedham Manor".

The ancient parish of Rochdale was a division of the hundred of Salford and one of the largest ecclesiastical parishes in England, comprising several townships.

Rochdale flourished into a centre of northern England's woollen trade, and by the early 18th century was described as being "remarkable for many wealthy merchants".

Rochdale rose to prominence in the 19th century as a mill town and centre for textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution.

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The Rochdale Canal—one of the major navigable broad canals of the United Kingdom—was a highway of commerce during this time used for the haulage of cotton, wool and coal to and from the area.

However, during the 20th century Rochdale's spinning capacity declined towards an eventual halt.

Rochdale is the birthplace of the modern Co-operative Movement, to which more than one billion people worldwide belonged in 2012.

Rochdale appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Recedham and was described as laying within the hundred of Salford and the county of Cheshire.

Rochdale had no manor house but the "Orchard" built in 1702 and acquired in 1745 by Simon Dearden was the home of the lords of the manor after 1823.

In medieval times, Rochdale was a market town, and weekly markets were held from 1250 when Edmund de Lacy obtained a grant for a market and an annual fair.

Rochdale became one of the world's most productive cotton spinning towns when rose to prominence during the 19th century as a major mill town and centre for textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution.

However, during the 20th century Rochdale's spinning capacity declined towards an eventual halt.

Rochdale Pioneers opened the first Cooperative shop in Toad Lane in 1844.

The reformer and Member of Parliament, John Bright, was born in Rochdale and gained a reputation as a leader of political dissent and supporter of the Anti-Corn Law League.

Ancient ecclesiastical parish of Rochdale was divided into four townships: Butterworth, Castleton, Hundersfield and Spotland.

Under the terms of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 Rochdale became the head of Rochdale Poor Law Union which was established on 15 February 1837 despite considerable local opposition.

In 1856 Rochdale was incorporated as a municipal borough, giving it borough status in the United Kingdom and after 1858 it obtained the powers of the improvement commissioners.

Since 1953, Rochdale has been twinned with Bielefeld in Germany and since 1956 with Tourcoing in France, as well as Sahiwal in Pakistan since 1988 and Lviv in Ukraine since 1992.

Rochdale constituency was created by the Reform Act of 1832.

Tony Lloyd is the current MP for Rochdale constituency following the snap general election held on 8 June 2017.

Blackstone Edge, Saddleworth Moor and the South Pennines are close to the east, whilst on all other sides, Rochdale is bound by smaller towns, including Whitworth, Littleborough, Milnrow, Royton, Heywood and Shaw and Crompton, with little or no green space between them.

Rochdale's built environment consists of a mixture of infrastructure, housing types and commercial buildings from a number of periods.

The urban structure of Rochdale is regular when compared to most towns in England, its form restricted in places by its hilly upland terrain.

Much of Rochdale's built environment is centred around a central business district in the town centre, which is the local centre of commerce.

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Rochdale has the highest number of Jobseeker's Allowance claimants in Greater Manchester, with 6.

In 2011, Rochdale had a population of 107,926 which makes it about the same size as Salford and Stockport.

Rochdale is one of four townships in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale along with Middleton, Heywood and Pennine.

Rochdale is considered an Urban Subdivision by the local borough council.

Rochdale town has almost double the percentage of Asians compared with the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, which had a population of 211,699 in 2011.

Rochdale Town Hall is a Victorian era town hall "widely recognised as being one of the finest municipal buildings in the country".

Public transport in Rochdale is co-ordinated by Transport for Greater Manchester who owns the bus station and coordinates transport services in the area.

Idea for the Rochdale Canal emerged in 1776, when James Brindley was commissioned to survey possible routes between Sowerby Bridge and Manchester.

The replacement Rochdale Interchange is located next to the council office building Number One Riverside and is linked with Rochdale Town Centre tram stop.

Home Office policing in Rochdale is provided by Greater Manchester Police and the Rochdale Division has headquarters at Town Meadow adjacent to the Magistrates' Court.

Rochdale Infirmary is the only hospital serving the town since the closure of Birch Hill Hospital which occupied the former Rochdale Union Workhouse at Dearnley in 2007.

Primary care services in Rochdale are provided by the Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale NHS Primary Care Trust.

Rochdale AFC were founded in 1907 and joined the Football League in 1921 when the new Football League Third Division was created.

Rochdale Hornets is one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, making it one of the world's first rugby league teams.

Rochdale has a proud liberal political heritage, as shown by such people as John Bright, one of the first Quakers to sit in the House of Commons; Samuel Bamford, the radical and writer; and Rev Joseph Cooke, the inspiration behind the Methodist Unitarian movement.