Saddleworth

Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets amongst the west side of the Pennine hills: Austerlands, Delph, Denshaw, Diggle, Dobcross, Friezland, Grasscroft, Greenfield, Grotton, Lydgate, Scouthead, Springhead, Uppermill.

Saddleworth, which lies east of the large town of Oldham and 11 miles (17.7 km) east-northeast of the city of Manchester, is broadly rural, has a scattered population of 24,351, making it one of the larger civil parishes in the United Kingdom.

Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, for centuries Saddleworth was a centre of woollen cloth production in the domestic system. Following the Industrial Revolution, Saddleworth became a centre for cotton spinning and weaving during the 18th and 19th centuries, so much so that by the end of Queen Victoria's reign, mechanized textile production had become a vital part of the local economy. The boom in industry called for greater transport links, including the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and several railways.

Following the Great Depression Saddleworth's textile sector declined. Much of Saddleworth's architecture and infrastructure dates from its textile processing days however, notably the Saddleworth Viaduct and several cottages and terraces.

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 former Saddleworth Urban District was the only part of the West Riding to have been amalgamated into Greater Manchester in 1974. However, strong cultural links with Yorkshire remain amongst its communities. There are several brass bands in the parish.