Chadderton

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.

View down a small river, bending to the left, crossed by a wooden footbridge in the middle distance.
Chadderton Fold by the River Irk , the ancient centre of the township of Chadderton, where Dark Age and medieval relics have been discovered
A five-storey cuboid factory composed of brick and windows. The view is from the ground at one corner of the factory. To the right, appearing from behind the factory, is a tall brick chimney. To the left are trees appearing black, and at their fringe, a square brick tower connected to the factory.
Built in 1926, Elk mill (on the Royton -Chadderton boundary) [ 17 ] was one of the UK's largest and most modern cotton mills. It closed in 1998 and was demolished in 1999.
A mahogany-coloured four-storey brick factory is bathed in sunlight in front of a vivid azure sky. The view is from the ground looking up at a corner of the many-windowed cuboid building which is crowned by a tower upon which the text KENT appears in white lettering. In the foreground is a tarmac street leading the factory's entrance.
Kent Mill was built in 1908 and was part of the Courtaulds Group. It closed in 1991, and was demolished in 1994. [ 13 ]
View down a street of two-storey brick-built terraced houses.
A consequence of Chadderton's industrial development was its transformation from a rural manor to a densely populated working class town, with extensive areas of terraced housing .
A white shield upon which emblems of two red roses and two red griffins appear at alternate corners. A black five-pointed star is in the centre of the shield's design between two black diagonal lines. Around the shield are red and white ribbons in a symmetrical design. Above the shield is a silver-coloured knight's helmet surmounted by grey anvil upon which a vivid azure-coloured eagle is perched, holding a grey shuttle. Below the shield is the motto "LABOR OMNIA VINCIT".
The coat of arms of the former Chadderton Urban District Council, granted by the College of Arms on 9 September 1955. The arms are emblematic of the history of Chadderton, incorporating in its design emblems from ancient manorial families, as well as symbols of industry. [ 46 ] The motto at bottom means "Labour Conquers Everything". [ 47 ]
A view of a busy townscape, in which the land is urban and the scene is banal. The weather is overcast and the cloudy sky appears light-grey. In the foreground is a dark-grey tarmac dual-carriageway road, which sweeps up the middle of the photograph to its centrepoint. All around the road are two-storey red-brick houses. On the left-side of the midground are three large red-brick factories of around five-storeys high. On the horizon is a towerblock.
Chadderton has a post-industrial landscape which forms a continuous urban area with Oldham (pictured on the horizon) and Manchester . This view is over Broadway in central Chadderton.
A three-storey building composed of glass windows and grey concrete stands across from a tarmac road and in front of a clear blue sky. A road passing horizontally in the foreground is divided by a pavement and metal barriers. The building's entrance appears central and is flanked by mirrored-glass windows and is marked by a red sign with the text BAE SYSTEMS.
BAE Systems had a manufacturing plant in south Chadderton. The plant occupied the former Avro aircraft factory which produced over 3,000 Avro Lancaster bombers during the Second World War .
A two-storey brick-built mansion in its own well-kept garden of green grass. The ground floor has six windows – three on each side of a wooden front door. The second floor has seven windows. The house has a grey slate roof surmounted by two small brick chimneys. Behind the house are leafless trees and behind those, a clear blue sky.
The Grade II* listed building 18th century Foxdenton Hall, a former manor house and mansion , with public gardens. It has been fully restored.
View from a bridge over a canal, with a motorway running to the left. The sky is dark and overcast.
For a short distance in south Chadderton, the Rochdale Canal and M60 motorway run in parallel.
An angular taupe-coloured church on a bright sunny day. The church fills the image with the exception of a flat piece of green grass and grey pavement at the church's entrance and the dark green silhouette of trees along the left of the picture. The single-storey church has many small slitted triangular and rectangular windows across its façade, except for a dark rectangular entrance in which a man stands. At the far end of the church is a triangular spire standing tall and bold against a light blue sky at around six or seven times the height of a man.
The Anglican Parish Church of St Mark was built between 1960 and 1963. It is one of several churches serving Chadderton and is a Grade II listed building .
An orange-brick church perched on a shallow hillside in a daytime scene in which the sky appears white. The triangular stone windows of the two-storey church are clear, as are the grounds in the church's proximity. The grounds are composed of green grass, light grey stone pathways, brown brick fencing and green trees overhanging the church.
Healds Green Methodist Church lies on the lane between Chadderton Fold and Chadderton Heights and was founded in 1865.
The front of a red-brick two-storey structure that is viewed from the ground upwards. It has a complex facade of four Dutch gables with many windows at regular intervals.
The original Chadderton Police Station on Victoria Street. Greater Manchester Police now use a newer building at Broadgate in southern Chadderton.
Three massive grey-taupe coloured funnels dominate the scene in which there is a flat piece of green grass in the foreground, red-brick housing in the midground, and behind them in the background the industrial funnels against a white sky. The funnels appear three or four times the size of the row of terraced properties in the midground, and stand independently of each other. Associated with them are two chimneys standing at similar height and a control building in the hazey distance.
Chadderton Power Station opened in 1955 and was demolished in 1986.