It is located in the north east of the township in a semi-rural locality bordering Saddleworth, contiguous with Sholver which lies to the west.
The centre of Moorside is at Ripponden Road where the Co-op and local businesses are.
In common with many other districts of Oldham, Moorside saw considerable expansion in the mid-19th century.
His interest in industry extended to the quarry at the foot of Besom Hill with its brickworks, which he ran in a partnership with John Clegg and which lasted until 1882.
This tremendous increase in population has changed Moorside in its character from a cluster of houses sheltering under the brow of a hill to a large piece of suburbia; the former hill dwellers have given place to a developing suburban community.