Castleshaw

Castleshaw Roman fort was a castellum in the Roman province of Britannia. Although there is no evidence to substantiate the claim, it has been suggested that Castleshaw Roman fort is the site of Rigodunum, a Brigantian settlement. The remains of the fort are located on Castle Hill on the eastern side of Castleshaw Valley at the foot of Standedge but overlooking the valley. The hill is on the edge of Castleshaw in Greater Manchester. The fort was constructed in c. AD 79, but fell out of use at some time during the 90s. It was replaced by a smaller fortlet, built in c. 105, around which a civilian settlement grew. It may have served as a logistical and administrative centre, although it was abandoned in the 120s. The site has been the subject of antiquarian and archaeological investigation since the 18th century, but the civilian settlement lay undiscovered until the 1990s. The fort, fortlet, and civilian settlement are all protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, recognising its importance as a "nationally important" archaeological site or historic building, and protecting it against unauthorised change.

Diggle is a village in the civil parish of the Saddleworth in Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. The village is situated on the moorlands of the Pennine hills. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is located at one end of the restored Standedge Canal Tunnel, Britain's longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel. In the village there is a listed building, the Gate pub and a post office/off-licence. Diggle is home to Diggle F.C., an FA registered amateur football club which plays its home games at Churchill Playing Fields, Uppermill. It competes in the Huddersfield and District Association Football League. Saddleworth Clarion Cycling Club host the annual Beard Cup Hill Climb out of Diggle each September.

Diggle railway station was a station that served the village of Diggle on the Huddersfield Line to the north of Uppermill. Immediately to the west of the Standedge tunnels, it was opened in 1849 along with the first rail tunnel and closed to passenger traffic in 1968. In its heyday, the station had platforms serving all four lines but little trace remains of it today—all of the buildings and much of platforms having been demolished (although the nearby signal box remains operational). On 5 July 1923, an express passenger train, hauled by Ex-LNWR Whale Experiment Class 4-6-0 No. 1406 George Findlay, was in a rear-end collision with a freight train. Four people were killed.Local residents have periodically campaigned for the station to be reopened. This has often been connected to proposals to fully reopen the Standedge Tunnels.In 2012, a renewed effort was launched by a local Liberal Democrat parish councillor. This was unsuccessful, as Transport for Greater Manchester concluded that much of the cited passenger demand would actually be abstracted from the existing station at nearby Greenfield.

Delph (Old English (ge)delf a quarry) is a village in the civil parish of Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies amongst the Pennines on the River Tame below the village of Denshaw, 4.0 miles (6.4 km) east-north-east of Oldham and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) north-north-west of Uppermill. The centre of the village has barely changed from the 19th century, when a number of small textile mills provided employment for the local community. There is a significant first century AD Roman fort at Castleshaw.

Saddleworth railway station, on the Huddersfield Line in Dobcross to the north of Uppermill, opened in August 1849 and closed to passengers in October 1968 as a consequence of a report by Richard Beeching on the restructuring of railway networks. The former station building can still be seen, having been sold after closure and converted into a private residence. It was the home of television director Ken Stephinson between 1978 and 2012.

St Thomas' Church, Friarmere, also known as Heights Chapel, is a redundant Anglican church standing on a hillside overlooking the village of Delph, Greater Manchester, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

Delph railway station served the village of Delph, Oldham, in what is now Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, between 1851 and 1955.

Standedge () is a moorland escarpment in the Pennine Hills of northern England between Marsden, West Yorkshire and Diggle, Greater Manchester. Standedge has been a major moorland crossing point since Roman times and possibly earlier. From east to west, Standedge is crossed by five generations of road crossing, the earliest a Roman road from York to Chester and the latest the A62 road. The Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the railway line from Leeds to Manchester pass underground in the Standedge Tunnels. The Pennine Way long-distance footpath passes through Standedge in a north–south direction along the Pennines. Much of Standedge is in the National Trust's Marsden Moor Estate. Administratively, Standedge is split between Kirklees and Oldham.

Dobcross is a village in the civil parish of Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It is in a valley in the South Pennines, along the course of the River Tame and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, 4.2 miles (6.8 km) east-northeast of Oldham and 13 miles (21 km) west-southwest of Huddersfield. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Dobcross was once a chapelry in the Quickmere division of Saddleworth. For centuries, Dobcross was a hamlet sustained by domestic flannel and woollen cloth production. Many of the original 17th and 18th century barns and weavers' cottages survive today as listed buildings.Together with neighbouring Delph, Dobcross is, geographically, "considered the centre of Saddleworth", although it is not its largest village centre by some margin. Industrial tycoon Henry Platt was born in Dobcross in 1770. John Schlesinger's 1979 film Yanks was filmed on location in Dobcross, and an annual Yanks festival, coupled with a brass band contest on Whit Friday, each contribute to the village's cultural calendar.

Heights is a hamlet in the Saddleworth parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It is directly north of Delph, and four miles northeast of Oldham. Lying within the ancient county boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it consists of a former pub (the Royal Oak Heights) which closed in 2020, some residential property and St. Thomas Church. The church is no longer in regular use; burials still take place and the graveyard is maintained. The churchyard and graveyard were featured in the film The Parole Officer starring Steve Coogan. Becket Whitehead, folksong collector ("A Beggin' I Will Go", "Gallant Poacher", "Four Loom Weaver", "Mowing Match", "Jim the Carter's Lad"), lived in Heights Lane Cottage and was buried at St. Thomas Church 1966.

Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets as well as suburbs of Oldham on the west side of the Pennine hills. Areas include Austerlands, Delph, Denshaw, Diggle, Dobcross, Friezland, Grasscroft, Greenfield, Grotton, Lydgate, Scouthead, Springhead and Uppermill.Saddleworth lies east of Oldham and 11 miles (17.7 km) northeast of Manchester. It is broadly rural and had a population of 25,460 at the 2011 Census, making it one of the larger civil parishes in the United Kingdom. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire and following the Industrial Revolution, in the 18th and 19th centuries, Saddleworth became a centre for cotton spinning and weaving. By the end of Queen Victoria's reign, mechanised textile production had become a vital part of the local economy. The Royal George Mill, owned by the Whitehead family, manufactured felt used for pianofortes, billiard tables and flags. Following the Great Depression Saddleworth's textile sector declined. Much of Saddleworth's architecture and infrastructure dates from its textile processing days however, notably the Saddleworth Viaduct and several cottages and terraces, many built by the local mill owners. For centuries Saddleworth was linked, ecclesiastically, with the parish of Rochdale and was long talked of as the part of Yorkshire where Lancastrians lived. The former Saddleworth Urban District was the only part of the West Riding to have been amalgamated into Greater Manchester in 1974. However, strong cultural links with Yorkshire remain amongst its communities. There are several brass bands in the parish.

The Standedge Tunnels () are four parallel tunnels through the Pennine hills at the Standedge crossing between Marsden in Kirklees, West Yorkshire and Diggle in Oldham, Greater Manchester in northern England. Three are railway tunnels (containing the Huddersfield line) and the other is a canal tunnel. Before boundary changes in 1974, both ends of the tunnels were in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The canal tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament on 4 April 1794. Construction of a 5,451-yard (4,984 m) tunnel began months later. Within two years, cost-saving measures pushed back its completion date and progress was slowed by water levels much greater than had been expected. It proved difficult to secure skilled help, some tenders went unanswered and Benjamin Outram withdrew from the venture. In 1807, Thomas Telford drew up a new plan for its completion. In 1811, the tunnel opened. It is the longest and oldest of the four Standedge tunnels and is the longest, highest, and deepest canal tunnel in the United Kingdom. Having been closed to all traffic in 1943, the canal tunnel was re-opened in May 2001. The first, single-track railway tunnel, built for the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) on its line between Huddersfield and Manchester, was completed in 1848. It proved to have insufficient capacity and a second, parallel, single-track tunnel was opened in 1871. The LNWR opened a third, double-track tunnel in 1894. Only the double-track tunnel is currently used for rail traffic; the other two are intact but disused. All four tunnels are linked by cross-tunnels or adits at strategic intervals which allowed the railway tunnels to be built without construction shafts and allowed waste material to be removed by boat. The Standedge Tunnel Visitor Centre, at the Marsden end, is a base for boat trips into the tunnel and has an exhibition depicting the different crossings.