Shaw and Crompton is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England.

It is not served by any canal but a rail service was provided by the Oldham Loop Line, built in 1863 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.

Until the mid-18th century, Crompton's textile sector had been closely linked with that of Rochdale and Saddleworth in the north and east; it was a woollen manufacturing district.

[10] The local townscape became dominated by distinctive rectangular brick-built mills, and its former villages and hamlets agglomerated as a single town around these factories.

[12] Neighbouring Royton had begun to encroach upon southern boundary, forming a continuous urban cotton-spinning district with Oldham.

By 1871 Oldham had more spindles than any country in the world except the United States, and in 1909, was spinning more cotton than France and Germany combined.

Many mills were refloated at valuations of up to £500,000 (£29,020,000 as of 2025[17]), or five times what they had cost to build before the war,[18] resulting in the town being nicknamed "The Golden City" as the scramble for shares intensified.

[18] Because of this highly profitable share dealing, it was reported in the national press that Shaw and Crompton had more millionaires per capita than any other town in the world.

[24] Yates & Thom preferred a trunk-type frame which together with the valve gear and flat tail rod slides, were characteristic of the makers' design.