Shaw and Crompton

Shaw and Crompton
A view of Shaw and Crompton from Crompton Moor
Shaw and Crompton Location within Greater Manchester
Area	4.5 sq mi (12 km2)
Population	21,065 (2011 census)
• Density	4,681/sq mi (1,807/km2)
OS grid reference	SD938090
• London	166 mi (267 km) SSE
Civil parish	Shaw and Crompton
Metropolitan borough	Oldham
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Oldham
Postcode district	OL2
Dialling code	01706
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Oldham East and Saddleworth
List of places UK England Greater Manchester 53°34′37″N 2°05′31″W / 53.577°N 2.092°W / 53.577; -2.092

Shaw and Crompton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England,^[1] and lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines. It is located 2.3 miles (3.7 km) north of Oldham, 3.6 miles (5.8 km) south-east of Rochdale and 8.7 miles (14 km) north-east of Manchester. Its largest settlement is Shaw.

Historically in Lancashire, the area shows evidence of ancient British and Anglian activity. In the Middle Ages, Crompton formed a small township of scattered woods, farmsteads, moorland and swamp.^[2][3] The local lordship was weak or absent, and so Crompton failed to emerge as a manor with its own lord and court. Farming was the main industry of this rural area, with locals supplementing their incomes by hand-loom woollen weaving in the domestic system.

The introduction of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution initiated a process of rapid and unplanned urbanisation. A building boom began in Crompton in the mid-19th century, when suitable land for factories in Oldham was becoming scarce. By the late 19th century, Crompton had emerged as a densely populated mill town with forty-eight cotton mills, some of the largest in the United Kingdom, in the area. At its spinning zenith, as a result of an interwar economic boom and the over-valuation of shares associated with the textile industry, Shaw and Crompton had more millionaires per capita than any other town in the world. Imports of foreign cotton goods saw a decline in the textile industry by the mid-20th century and the last mill closed in 1989.

Shaw and Crompton covers 4.5 square miles (11.7 km²) and is a predominantly suburban area of mixed affluence with a population of 21,065 as of 2011.^[4] The legacy of its industrial past can be seen in its three surviving cotton mills, all of which are home to large distribution companies, among them is Yodel based at Shaw National Distribution Centre, a major employer in the area.