Castleton, Greater Manchester

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Castleton
Statistics
Population:
Ordnance Survey
OS grid reference:	SD8810
Administration
Metropolitan Borough:	Rochdale
Metropolitan county:	Greater Manchester
Region:	North West England
Constituent country:	England
Sovereign state:	United Kingdom
Other
Ceremonial county:	Greater Manchester
Historic county:	Lancashire
Services
Police force:	Greater Manchester
Fire and rescue:	{{{Fire}}}
Ambulance:	North West
Post office and telephone
Post town:
Postal district:
Dialling code:
Politics
UK Parliament:
European Parliament:	North West England

Castleton is a village^{[citation needed]} in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England.

In the 1800s Castleton was almost the size of Rochdale, its borders went up to half a mile from the centre of Rochdale, taking in many areas such as Sudden, Marland and Brimrod. The only real sign of Castleton's shrinkings borders which is still visible today is the existence of Castleton Bowling Club, which is over a mile beyond what is now recognised as Castletons borders.

Contents 1 Geography and administration 2 History 3 Present day 3.1 Industry and commerce 3.2 Transport 3.3 Sport 3.4 Education

[edit] Geography and administration

For a village, Castleton is quite big. Like many other areas of from the former boundaries of Lancashire its backbone was in the cotton industry, with the fall of 'king cotton' most of the mills have now been knocked down. There are still a handful of mills but most are used for other purposes. Castleton has a canal which runs straight through it. It links Manchester with Rochdale and recent work has meant that narrow boats can now travel from Yorkshire to Manchester, as before there were a number of roads blocking their way.

The village is separated in two halves by Manchester Road. On one side of the road is the general residential areas, along with St Edwards Primary School, on the other is Saint Martins Church of England, Castleton Primary School and St Gabriel's C of E Primary School, along with some of the more Victorian residential areas. Manchester Road runs from Rochdale to Middleton.

[edit] History

As the name suggests, Castleton used to have a castle. This castle was very close to Rochdale town centre, in an area which is no longer deemed as Castleton.

Castleton is home to Saint Martin's Church of England. This example of religious Victorian architecture still stands tall to this very day. It was completed in 1863 and closed in 1991. It was refurbished in 2002/2003.

[edit] Present day

[edit] Industry and commerce

Castleton is home to the large Woolworths warehouse, based on Royal Barn Road. This mill is rather close to Arrow Mill, which is almost adjacent on Queensway. Royal Barn Road links Castleton with Sudden, emerging near the Tescos supermarket.

Castleton is without any banks as they were all closed in the late 80s/early 90s. Carcraft is based there, on the former site of Asda - which moved to Rochdale Centre - as it always struggled in the area and needed several relaunches before being rebadged to Asda Dales.

[edit] Transport

Castleton has a railway station on the Manchester - Leeds railway line, otherwise known as the Caldervale Line. It is home to the Corus Steel Works, which is based on what used to be Castleton's East Junction which lead up to Heywood - Rawtenstall and on to Bacup. The Heywood to Rawtenstall part of the railway line is open to the public as the East Lancashire Railway, a beautifuly preserved steam railway. The East Junction was also an enormous marshalling yard.

The Rochdale Canal runs through Castleton, adjacent to the railway on one side, and Queensway on the other. The Road passes over the canal via an old brick bridge, which was refurbished along with the canal. Castleton is also home to two of the canal's locks, as it goes on a down gradient through Slattocks and on its way into Manchester city centre.

[edit] Sport

The village has its own Rugby and Football clubs. Rochdale Mayfield (formally Mayfield) play Rugby League at their Mayfield ground, although as with so many green areas, this has just been sold off to housing developers. Castleton Gabriels play at nearby Butterworth Park (Named after their owner, Tom Butterworth). Castleton Gabriels play in the North West Counties league Div 2. They now share their ground with Rochdale Mayfield A.L.R.F.C. now that their ground sale is complete (Both grounds are visible from the other, and are about a 5 minute walk between the two).

[edit] Education

Castleton has three primary (elementary) schools; Castleton County Primary School, St Edwards Primary School, and St Gabriel's C of E Primary School. Castleton Primary School is by far the most memorable by Castleton's older residents, as it was built in 1902 and opened to the public as 'Castleton Board School' in 1903. The School's externel secondary assembly hall/sporting equipment shed/annex was demolished in 2003 to make way for a better building.