[7] During the English Civil War, Colonel Robert Duckenfield[8] of Dukinfield Hall was a noted commander in the New Model Army.

John Astley was an artist and architect, and he designed and built Dukinfield Lodge on a hill overlooking the River Tame as a new seat for the family, replacing the old wooden hall.

[10] Industrialisation – particularly the cotton trade – helped shape the town, but its rapid development destroyed its former pasture and meadow land.

[7] The industry continued to expand and by the end of the 19th century 14 spinning mills of varying sizes were in operation.

One pithead was located on Birch Lane, now the site of All Saints' Catholic College, with another near the northern border with Ashton-under-Lyne.

He owned an engineering works producing Lancashire boilers at Newton Wood beside the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.

[16] The MS&LR's successor, the Great Central Railway, moved its carriage and wagon works to Dukinfield in 1910.

Dukinfield and its surrounding towns were major centres of civil revolt during the 19th century and briefly the area was a hotbed of Chartism, the popular movement calling for universal suffrage via a "People's Charter".

[17] Dukinfield was historically a township in the ancient parish of Stockport, which formed part of the Macclesfield Hundred of Cheshire.

[19] In its north-eastern corner, the township included a large part of the town of Stalybridge, which rapidly developed during the industrial revolution.

[20] In 1828 a body of improvement commissioners was established to administer a newly-defined Stalybridge district, which straddled the three townships of Dukinfield and Stayley in Cheshire and Ashton-under-Lyne in Lancashire.

[28] The council subsequently built Dukinfield Town Hall on King Street to serve as its headquarters, which was completed in 1901.

[31][32] At 53°28′40.14″N 02°05′33.3″W / 53.4778167°N 2.092583°W / 53.4778167; -2.092583 (53.477818° -2.092584°), and 159 miles (256 km) north-northwest of London, Dukinfield's borders are defined to the north and west by the River Tame.

The park is situated approximately a quarter of a mile from the town hall along King Street towards Hyde in the south.

The town hall is also at the base of the same hill with Astley Street rising steeply along its shorter southern side before climbing some 120 feet to the crest of the ridge.

The coal deposits are known as the Dukinfield Marine Band and form a V shape running out from here towards Stockport in the south and Ashton Moss in the north-east.

Only a mile to the south along Hyde Road is another large mine, the Dewsnap Colliery, which was of a lower quality and so was not in as much demand.

The industries which sustained it died out by the turn of the 1900s, leaving only the Daniel Adamson Ltd works but it managed to maintain its population and has only declined by 2000 since 1921.

One reason is that it has a central location on the main road from Stockport to Ashton-under-Lyne and is within easy commuting distance of Manchester.

According to the 2001 UK census, the industry of employment of residents of Dukinfield aged 16–74 was 24.4% manufacturing, 19.3% retail and wholesale, 10.0% health and social work, 9.5% property and business services, 7.2% construction, 6.5% transport and communications, 5.7% education, 4.7% public administration, 4.4% finance, 3.4% hotels and restaurants, 1.0% energy and water supply, 0.3% agriculture, 0.1% mining, and 3.6% other.

There is an 80 ft difference between the King Street lower side and the rear of the park, being the first hill off the Cheshire Plain, and on a clear day it is possible to stand at the top of the steps and see Manchester city centre.

The second-generation tramway Manchester Metrolink terminates currently at nearby Ashton-under-Lyne for connections via Droylsden to the city centre and beyond.

A tram network operated by the SHMD Joint Board ran lines through Dukinfield from 1904 to 1945, until their replacement by buses.

[47] There are secondary schools but no dedicated facility in Dukinfield for further education, the nearest establishment being Tameside College in Ashton-under-Lyne or Hyde.

A number of Protestant and Catholic churches are based in the municipality, with the nearest mosque being in Ashton-under-Lyne, a short distance to the north of the town.

Dukinfield Rugby Union Football Club currently plays in the South Lancashire & Cheshire 2 League of the Northern Division.

Dukinfield's town hall provides some limited civic facilities, including a police station and registry office, with the majority of local administration being based at Tameside Council headquarters, in Ashton-under-Lyne.