The Touchstones centre located near the rochdale town hall.

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Rochdale

Rochdale is a large town in the north-west of England. With a population of 94,000 it is the largest settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale in Greater Manchester. more...

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Historically part of Lancashire, Rochdale rose to prominence during the 19th century as a centre of textile manufacture. Rochdale was a boom-town of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the first ever industrialised towns. Rochdale was amongst the most productive cotton spinning mill towns in the world.

It has a population of 94,000 (2001 Census)

Etymology

Rochdale gets its name from its position on the River Roch at the edge of the Pennines. The Domesday Book records the town's name as Recedham, which is made up of Rached (Celtic river name) and ham (OE homestead). Over time this changed to Rachedale and finally Rochdale. The name of the River Roch is pronounced (in received pronunciation) with a long o sound, unlike the town itself which is pronounced .

Twin towns

Rochdale is twinned with the towns of:

Bielefeld in Germany; Tourcoing in France; Sahiwal in Pakistan;

Architecture

Rochdale town hall

It has a fine Victorian Town Hall, finished in 1871. The original clock tower was destroyed by fire in 1883, and the present tower was designed by Alfred Waterhouse in 1887. The stained glass window, which is in the southernmost part of the building, was supposed to be one of Hitler's top-priority items for acquisition, should he win the war.

This town hall is built directly next to the underground location where the River Roch flows underneath the town.

The front of the town hall has gargoyles, as well as golden statues of lions which have the emblems of Rochdale, Lancashire and Yorkshire on them. These are said to be a commemoration of the peace between the two counties, Rochdale being one of the towns helping to achieve it.

The town hall is also home to the memorial for those who lost their lives during the war. It has four flags, and is dedicated to those whose memory will live on.

It was said that Hitler gave instructions that Rochdale town hall was not to be bombed during WW2 as he wanted to take the stained glass windows from the tower back to Germany.

Other notable buildings

Another famous Rochdale landmark is the \"Black Box\", or the Council offices and bus station, built in the mid 1970s. Between Rochdale and neighbouring Littleborough is Clegg Hall, a 17th century manor house that is currently undergoing a restoration project which hopes to return it to its original state. Also of note is the parish church of St Chad, s,located on the hill directly overlooking the Townhall. The church has parts going back to Norman times and the old town stocks are found in the church yard.