Cowhill (archaically Cow Hill) is a locality of Chadderton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England.

It is located 0.5 miles (0.80 km) southeast of Chadderton town centre close to its eastern boundary with Oldham and is contiguous with the Block Lane, Stock Brook, Butler Green and Nimble Nook areas of the town and with Freehold and Westwood in Oldham.

[2] Cow Hill sub post office, located at 299 Denton Lane, was the last institution to bear the locality's name.

[3] Mentioned in the mid-16th century as Coohill and Cohyll, the district's growth during the late 18th and early 19th centuries led to this description in 1826 by local historian James Butterworth - "Cowhill, with Alder Root, form united a kind of small village with two public houses and a considerable number of cottages".

[7][8] In 1819 The Dog Inn was one of Chadderton's two meeting places for a contingent of townsfolk who marched to Manchester for the iil-fated political demonstration that came to be known as the Peterloo Massacre.

Ashton was a member of the Saddleworth, Lees and Mossley Union and was carrying their black banner inscribed with words 'Taxation without representation is unjust and tyrannical.

Crossley Playing Fields have a varied history and a stream (the Stock Brook), ran through it in the 1840s before becoming culverted.

[14] Cowhill had a school, churches, farms, mills and factories, a Conservative Club, and held an annual fair, 'Cowhill Wakes', but widespread redevelopment during the 1970s swept most of this away.

[15][16] The Wesleyan Methodist movement established a church on the corner of Manchester Street and St Domingo Street, Oldham (now Rochdale Road) at which John Wesley preached on 2 April 1790, From that church two workers were sent to establish a 'Society Class' in Cowhill on the outskirts of town.

Visits to these outlying spots became dangerous with ropes tied across the dark lanes to trip up the worshippers, who were then pelted with sods and stones.

The antagonism increased with the village bell man going around the area urging the people to yell and shout whenever they met.

(This school building was demolished and rebuilt in about 1876 due to the construction of the embankment for the Oldham Loop Line Railway).

[20][21] The Wakes was celebrated towards the end of August and evolved into a public holiday when workers in the cotton mills were given time off from work and, if fortunate, went to the seaside for a weeks break.

Alternative names for the station including Cowhill and Block Lane were considered but rejected by the local council in favour of Freehold.