Historically part of Lancashire, Chadderton's early history is marked by its status as a manorial township, with its own lords, who included the Asshetons, Chethams, Radclyffes and Traffords.

A late-19th century factory-building boom transformed Chadderton from a rural township into a major mill town and the second most populous urban district in the United Kingdom.

[1][2] The name Chadderton derives from Caderton, which is believed to be a combination of the Brythonic word Cader or Cater (modern Welsh: Caer), indicating a fortified place amongst the hills, or the cadeir, "chair, throne",[3] and the Old English suffix -ton meaning a settlement.

[4][5][6] The University of Nottingham's Institute for Name-Studies has offered a similar suggestion, that the name Chadderton means "farm or settlement at the hill called Cadeir".

[8] It has been suggested that the Anglian settlers found a few Brythonic Celts already inhabiting what is now called Chadderton, and borrowed their name for the hill, "Chadder", adding their own word for a settlement to the end.

Its first appearance in a written record is in a legal document from around 1220, which states that Robert, Rector of Prestwich, gave land to Richard, son of Gilbert, in exchange for an annual fee of one silver penny.

[6] During the High Middle Ages, pieces of land in Chadderton were granted to religious orders and institutions, including Cockersand Abbey and the Knights Hospitaller.

[18] During this period the population was fewer than 1,000, broadly consisting of farmers who were involved with pasture, but who supplemented their incomes by working in cottage industries, particularly fustian and silk weaving.

[6] However, as the demand for cotton goods increased and the technology of cotton-spinning machinery improved during the mid-18th century, the need for larger structures to house bigger, better, and more efficient equipment became apparent.

[13][20][21] The damp climate below the South Pennines provided ideal conditions for textile production to be carried out without the thread drying and breaking, and newly developed 19th-century mechanisation optimised cotton spinning for industrial-scale manufacture of yarn and fabric for the global market.

As the Industrial Revolution advanced, socioeconomic conditions in the region contributed to Chadderton adopting cotton spinning in the factory system, which became the dominant source of employment in the locality.

[19] The construction of multi-storey steam powered mills followed, which initiated a process of urbanisation and cultural transformation in the region; the population increasingly moved away from farming and domestic weaving in favour of the mechanised production of cotton goods.

[23] By the beginning of 1819 the pressure generated by poor economic conditions, coupled with the lack of suffrage in Northern England, had enhanced the appeal of political Radicalism in the region.

[25] On 16 August 1819, Chadderton (like its neighbours) sent a contingent of its townsfolk to Manchester to join the mass political demonstration now known as the Peterloo Massacre (owing to the 15 deaths and 400–700 injuries which followed).

The profitability of factory based cotton spinning meant that much of Chadderton's plentiful cheap open land, used for farming since antiquity, vanished under distinctive rectangular multi-storey brick-built factories—35 by 1891.

[37] Industries ancillary to cotton spinning, such as engineering, coal mining, bleaching and dyeing became established during this period, meaning the rest of Chadderton's population were otherwise involved in the sector.

Stott's mills in Chadderton were some of the largest to be built in the United Kingdom, multiplying the town's industrial capacity and in turn increasing its population and productivity.

[20] A social consequence of this industrial growth was a densely populated metropolitan landscape, home to an extensive and enlarged working class community living in an urban sprawl of low quality terraced houses.

The development of the town meant that the district council made initial steps to petition the Crown for honorific borough status for Chadderton in the 1930s.

[51] The urban district council, comprising 18 members, would later be based out of Chadderton Town Hall, a purpose built municipal building opened in 1913.

[35] Continued growth in the late-19th and early-20th centuries gave rise to a densely populated, industrial landscape of factories and rows of terraced housing, typical of mill towns in Northern England.

[10] Chadderton's built environment is distinguished by its former textile factories: "The huge flat-topped brick mills with their square towers and their tall circular chimneys dwarf all other buildings.

[6] During the Victorian era, Chadderton's economy was heavily dependent on manufacturing industries, especially the spinning of cotton, but also the weaving of silk and production of hats.

[98] The original Hall was erected in the mid-15th century as a home for the Radclyffes, who had acquired the title of joint Lords of the Manor with the Asshetons of Chadderton, through marriage.

At the end of the 19th century they were leased to Joseph Ball, who transformed the hall and grounds into a pleasure garden, complete with a boating lake and a menagerie.

Opened by Wilfrid William Ashley, 1st Baron Mount Temple in 1925, the arterial A663, named Broadway, bisects Chadderton from north to south and was "a major factor in the unification and modernisation of the town".

Manchester Community Transport run services 159 and 419 linking the town centre with Oldham, Middleton, Hollinwood, Woodhouses, Failsworth, New Moston, Werneth and Ashton-under-Lyne.

[119] Chadderton's first established church was St Margaret of Antioch which was consecrated in 1769 at Hollinwood, however late 19th century boundary changes means it now lies within neighbouring Oldham.

[6] Henry Taylor, the British Olympic freestyle swimming triple gold medallist and champion was an attendant at Chadderton Baths, where many of his awards were displayed.

[citation needed] William Ash, is a Chadderton-born actor who has appeared in productions such as Waterloo Road and Hush.,[162] while Robert Stewart - one of the last executioners in British judicial history - lived in Chadderton.