Areas include Austerlands, Delph, Denshaw, Diggle, Dobcross, Friezland, Grasscroft, Greenfield, Grotton, Lydgate, Scouthead, Springhead and Uppermill.

Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire and following the Industrial Revolution, in the 18th and 19th centuries, Saddleworth became a centre for cotton spinning and weaving.

By the end of Queen Victoria's reign, mechanised textile production had become a vital part of the local economy.

The Royal George Mill, owned by the Whitehead family, manufactured felt used for pianofortes, billiard tables and flags.

For centuries Saddleworth was linked, ecclesiastically, with the parish of Rochdale and was long talked of as the part of Yorkshire where Lancastrians lived.

The first documentary evidence of Saddleworth appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, in which it is referred to as "Quick", spelt "Thoac"; where it is described as "Land of the King in Eurvicsire (Yorkshire), Agbrigg Wapentake.

Place names derived from Celtic and Anglian dialects, along with the discovery of flint arrowheads and gold Viking rings all point to a much earlier Saddleworth, possibly as old as the Stone Age.

Small, basic mills had been existent in Saddleworth before the industrial revolution, but these were increasingly replaced by larger more intensive establishments.

The Church School has been rebuilt and the Parsonage and grounds, built in the Gothic Revival style and referred to in Pevsner's Guide, has become a Grade II listed building, now in private hands.

Unlike the majority of the Oldham Metropolitan Borough, where the industrial architecture was generally constructed from Accrington redbrick, Saddleworth's textiles mills and supporting infrastructure was made from the local millstone grit.

Although on the western side of the Pennine watershed, Saddleworth, or 'Quick' as it was once known, has lain within the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire since the Middle Ages.

From a very ancient time, the area formed part of the Agbrigg Wapentake, in the "Land of the King in Eurvicsire" (Yorkshire).

In 1894 the parish's boundaries were altered with the parts in Quickmere Middle Division (Springhead), Mossley and Uppermill becoming Urban Districts.

Bounded directly to the west by Oldham and the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale in the north, Tameside in the south and Kirklees in the east.

Some residents at the time said they would prefer to become part of the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire or a new South Pennine authority, connecting rural towns and villages on both sides of the border.

Even though such a move could involve merging with the neighbouring Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, Oldham councillors maintained the split was not feasible as Saddleworth does not have sufficient hospital provision, civic buildings, transport, schooling nor other infrastructure in its own right.

[21] Later in the year, signs were unveiled by local dignitaries at Grains Bar marking the historic border between Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Due to the huge popularity of the event, Whit Friday band contests are now held in others of Saddleworth's surrounding villages.

In the village of Dobcross a Henry Livings memorial prize is open to bands who play on any of the morning's walks on Whit Friday.

By the early 20th century the tradition had died out due to the railways, as the local population travelled further for their annual break during the Saddleworth Wakes week.