Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Royton and its surroundings have provided evidence of ancient British, Roman and Viking activity in the area.

[5] Farming was the main industry of this rural area, with locals supplementing their incomes by hand-loom woollen weaving in the domestic system.

Royton has the distinction of being the first town where a powered cotton mill was built; at Thorp in 1764,[6][7][8] and is one of the first localities in the world to have adopted the factory system.

The introduction of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution facilitated a process of unplanned urbanisation in the area, and by the mid-19th century Royton had emerged as a mill town.

[9] Imports of foreign cotton goods began the decline in Royton's textile industry during the mid-20th century, and its last mill closed in 2002.

[10] Despite an economic depression brought about by the demise of cotton spinning, Royton's population has continued to grow as a result of intensive housing redevelopment which has modernised its former Edwardian districts.

The first known written record of the name Ryeton (or Ryton) was in a survey of Lancashire in 1212,[7] although the name is believed to date from the 7th century as a result of Anglian colonisation which followed the Battle of Chester.

Thomas's daughter Margery, who married Alexander Luttrell of Somerset, sold the majority of Royton and its outlying land to John de Byron in around 1260.

[4] John served as Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire at the time of the Spanish Armada, and sourced infantry from Royton towards the English military.

[6][7][15] The construction of more mills followed, which initiated a process of urbanisation and socioeconomic transformation in the region; the population moved away from farming, adopting employment in the factory system.

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.

[20] On 16 August 1819, Royton (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 that followed).

[24] Neighbouring Oldham (which by the 1870s had emerged of the largest and most productive mill town in the world)[25] had begun to encroach upon Royton's southern boundary, forming a continuous urban cotton-spinning district.

[28] An anonymous communication was received by the supposed bomber, stating that he intended the explosion for the Royton School Board because children are not allowed to work at the age of 10 years, and because he wanted the abolition of the Factory Acts.

[10] As imports of cheaper foreign yarns increased during the mid-20th century, Royton's textile sector declined gradually to a halt; cotton spinning reduced in the 1960s and 1970s, and by the early 1980s only four mills were operational.

Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire since the early 12th century, Royton anciently constituted a thegnage estate, held by tenants who paid tax to the King.

Described in Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) as being in "aspect rather wild",[43] Royton lies in a shallow valley amongst undulating land.

[44] There is a mixture of low-density urban areas, suburbs, semi-rural and rural locations in Royton, but overwhelmingly the land use in the town is residential.

[3] According to the Office for National Statistics, at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, Royton (urban-core and sub-area) had a total resident population of 22,238.

From the 18th century onwards, Royton's economy was closely tied with that of Britain's textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, particularly the cotton spinning sector.

[68] It was constructed in a free style of architecture, and includes a domed roof and clock tower topped by a copper cupola.

[68] The clock tower is inscribed on three sides with Latin mottos: "Tempus Fugit" (time flies), "Sic Labitur Aetas" (so the years pass by) and "Finem Respice" (have regards to the end).

[72] In February 1961, a four-coach runaway train crashed through the buffers at Royton railway station and continued on over High Barn Street.

[76] In the 2000s, Oldham Council and the Diocese of Salford agreed to merge Our Lady's with the St Augustine of Canterbury RC High School in Werneth.

is an amateur association football club which was established as the Stotts Benham works side in the Rochdale Alliance League, but changed its name to Royton Town in 1985.

[78] The team won the Rochdale Alliance Premier Division treble and were unbeaten for two and a half seasons, progressing to the Lancashire Amateur League in 1994.

Dr Kershaw's Hospice, a registered charity, provides specialist palliative care for adults with non-curable life-threatening illnesses.

[95] John Hogan was a Royton-born recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the British and Commonwealth forces.

[97] Wild played the role of the Artful Dodger in the 1968 musical film Oliver!, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.

[98] Other notable people from Royton include actor Kieran O'Brien, who gained notoriety for his role in the 2004 film 9 Songs,[99] glamour model Michelle Marsh,[100] and radio and television presenter Nick Grimshaw.