Oldham

Oldham, metropolitan borough, north-west England. Oldham is located in the metropolitan area of Greater Manchester, south of Rochdale and north of Tameside. Until 1986 Oldham was administered by the metropolitan county council based in Manchester. As a result of the Local Government Act 1985, the metropolitan county councils were abolished. The county council's functions devolved to Greater Manchester's ten metropolitan district councils: Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, and Wigan. The police authority is the Greater Manchester Police, with headquarters in Manchester. Crown Courts sit in Manchester and Bolton.

Oldham borough includes the urban centres of Chadderton, Crompton, Failsworth (famous for millinery), Lees (once a spa town), and Royton, as well as Oldham itself. The majority of the borough lies in the picturesque and rural Saddleworth area of villages and Pennine moorlands, crossed by the Huddersfield Canal. Oldham has good transport and communication links to the rest of Manchester and the north of England. Population 217,393 (2001).