Sovereign state United Kingdom Region North West England Admin HQ Rochdale (Town Hall) | Constituent country England Ceremonial county Greater Manchester Founded 1 April 1974 | |
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The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after its largest town, Rochdale, but spans a far larger area which includes the towns of Middleton, Heywood, Littleborough and Milnrow, and the village of Wardle.
Contents
The borough was formed in 1974 as part of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 and is an amalgamation of six former local government districts. It was originally proposed that the borough include the neighbouring town of Bury and disclude Middleton; Bury however went on to form the administrative centre for the adjacent Metropolitan Borough of Bury.
The borough, which lies directly north-northeast of the City of Manchester, has a population of 206,500, and although most parts are highly industrialised and densely populated, contiguous with one of the United Kingdom's major cities, some of the borough consists of rural open space, for the most part due the territory in the eastern half stretching across Blackstone Edge and the Pennine hills.
History
The borough, which is the largest such borough of Greater Manchester, was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the former county borough of Rochdale and, from the administrative county of Lancashire, the municipal boroughs of Heywood and Middleton, along with the urban districts of Littleborough, Milnrow and Wardle.
Prior to its creation, it was suggested that the metropolitan borough be named Chadwick (with reference to Sir Edwin Chadwick), but this was rejected in favour of Rochdale.
Neighbouring districts
The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham lies to the south-east, and the Metropolitan Borough of Bury lies to the west. The City of Manchester is to the south.
To the north-west is the borough and non-metropolitan district of Rossendale in Lancashire and to the north-east is the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire.
Unparished areas
Showing former status (prior to 1974)
- Heywood (municipal borough)
- Littleborough (urban district)
- Middleton (municipal borough)
- Milnrow (urban district)
- Rochdale (county borough)
- Wardle (urban district)
Ethnic groups
Population change
The table below details the population change since 1801, including the percentage change since the last available census data. Although the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale has only existed 1974, figures have been generated by combining data from the towns, villages, and civil parishes that would later be constituent parts of the borough.
Twin towns
The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale has formal twinning arrangements with six places. Three were originally twinned with a place within the Metropolitan Borough boundaries prior to its creation in 1974.