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Revision as of 21:55, 25 February 2007 by Jhamez84 (talk | contribs) (+additional ref)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Template:Infobox England place Royton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire, it is situated between the larger towns of Oldham and Rochdale and is bounded by Chadderton to the south and Shaw and Crompton to the north.
Royton has the distinction of being the world's first town where a cotton mill was built; at Thorp in 1764. It was also the town where Britain's last mill Elk hailed as the most modern in the world was built in 1926, but demolished in 1999.
Today Royton is a predominantly residential town with a total population of 20,961.
Geography and administration
Civic history
Royton was once a township in the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham, in the Hundred of Salford.
In 1871 Royton was noted as a large village-chapelry, and a sub-district of the Oldham registration district.
From 1894 to 1974, Royton formed its own Royton Urban District local government unit in the administrative county of Lancashire.
Parliamentary representation
From 1918 to 1950, Royton formed its own Royton Parliamentary constituency.
Royton has formed part of the Oldham West and Royton parliamentary constituency and since 1997, is represented in the House of Commons by Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Michael Meacher. Royton has two of the twenty wards of the wider Oldham Borough: Royton North and Royton South.
Divisions and suburbs
Divisions and suburbs of Royton include Thornham, Heyside, Thorp, Salmon Fields, Higginshaw and Scott Field.
History
Early history
The first written record of the name Ryeton (or Ryton) was in a survey of 1212.
Evidence of Stone Age dwellers exists, as does evidence of Romans and later Norsemen, some of whom settled at Thorp.
Industrial Revolution and cotton
Royton was a significant element of the local cotton spinning industry with 30 mills in production at its zenith.
By 1901, cotton manufacture still remained Royton's chief industry.
Landmarks
War memorial
The Royton War Memorial is found at the summit of Tandle Hill, and is dedicated to the men of Royton who gave their lives during the First World War. It is an obelisk with sculpture of winged victory.
Commissioned by the Royton War Memorial Committee and unveiled on October 22 1921, by the Earl of Derby. Originally the memorial, which is constructed from Portland stone, bore plaques listing the fallen and a bronze statue of an angel. The original plaques were stolen in 1969, and replacements were later installed in the grounds of St Paul’s Church, Royton.
Library
Royton's library was donated by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 and is still a fine building and excellent resource.
Town hall
Adjacent to the library and undoubtedly the focus of Royton is the town hall, with its fine clock tower, topped by a copper cupola. The tower has an unusual feature in that the clock on the North facing is noticeably smaller than the other three. The story goes that it was built this way to stop the citizens of neighbouring Shaw and Crompton enjoying Royton's civic time-piece, and to encourage them to build one of their own.
Present day
It has been documented that Royton has a good community spirit and relative prosperity, which, in turn have made it a popular residential area having some of the highest house prices around Oldham - with some properties valued at over £500,000.
The eastern parts of Royton in particular have some attractive housing, framed by green belt countryside. Royton is conveniently placed for the M62 motorway and, in Tandle Hill Park, has one of the area's finest country parks.
Education
Royton has two secondary schools; Our Lady's R.C. High School and Royton and Crompton School. Royton also has several primary schools. Including Thorp Primary School, situated on Thorp Estate.
Communal facilities
Royton boasts a swimming pool, an amateur cricket club, which plays in the Central Lancashire League, and Oldham Athletic Football Club's ground lies partly within Royton. Boundary Park lies at the meeting point of Royton and Chadderton, hence the name. The local athletics club is Royton Harriers.
Politics
Royton has formed part of the Oldham West and Royton parliamentary constituency and since 1997 is represented in the House of Commons by Labour MP Michael Meacher. Royton has two of the twenty wards of the wider Oldham Borough; Royton North and Royton South.
In the 2005 general election, the constituency of Oldham West and Royton was held by the Labour candidate, Michael Meacher MP, who received almost 50% of all votes. The Conservatives came second with 21.3% followed by the Liberal Democrats (20%), the British National Party (6.9%) and the United Kingdom Independence Party with 2.6%.
In the 2006 local elections, Labour won in Royton North and the Liberal Democrats won in Royton South. Across the two wards, Labour polled 2190 votes; the BNP 1536 votes; the Liberal Democrats 1483 votes; and the Conservatives 1453 votes. The BNP began contesting elections in Royton after major race riots in neighbouring Oldham in 2001, and has since shown to be amoungst Labour's main local opposition in the two wards. However, the BNP have not won a seat to represent Royton or any part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in the House of Commons or as part of the Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council.
Notable residents
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Local celebrities from the Royton area include glamour model Michelle Marsh.
References
- Maps of Oldham and the surrounding area, oldham.gov.uk. URL accessed February 25, 2007.
- "Official British Place Name Archives - Royton", Greater Manchester County Records Office - URL accessed October 28, 2006.
- Greater Manchester Ward and Borough map, Boundary Commission for England, July 2006. URL accessed October 27, 2006.
- Oldham's Economic Profile - Innovation and Technology, www.oldham.gov.uk. URL accessed October 27, 2006.
- NW Cotton Towns Learning Journey www.spinningtheweb.org.uk. URL accessed October 27, 2006.
- Royton, www.oldhamadvertiser.co.uk. June 20, 2005. URL accessed October 27, 2006.
- Royton and Crompton, www.rochdaleobserver.co.uk. URL accessed October 27, 2006.
- Royton, SALFORD HUNDRED: Ancestry, Annals and History. URL accessed January 5, 2007.
- Wilson J. M., (1870-72), Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales.
- A vision of Royton UD www.visionofbritain.org.uk/. URL accessed December 31, 2006.
- Oldham Towns; Royton, Spinning the Web, Manchester City Council - URL accessed January 5, 2007.
- Oldham Borough Official Guide - Royton, British-publishing.com. URL accessed January 5, 2007.
- Oldham Borough Official Guide - Royton, British-publishing.com. URL accessed January 5, 2007.
- Royton, www.1911encyclopedia.org. URL accessed January 5, 2007.
- Royton War Memorial Public Monument and Sculpture Association - URL accessed December 31, 2006
- Description of Royton & Shaw, Greater Manchester Police, January 1 2006. URL accessed January 5, 2007.
- Oldham Parliamentary Elections 2005, Oldham Council. URL accessed December 7, 2006.
- Council Elections 2006, Oldham Council. URL accessed January 20, 2007.
