County Borough of Rochdale

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Not to be confused with Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale.

County Borough of Rochdale
Geography
Status	County borough
HQ	Rochdale Town Hall
History
Created	1889
Abolished	1974
Succeeded by	Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale

The County Borough of Rochdale was, from 1889 to 1974, a local government district coterminate with the town of Rochdale in the northwest of England.^[1] It was alternatively known as Rochdale County Borough and the County of Rochdale.

The district was created by the Local Government Act 1888, with its boundaries based upon the earlier Municipal Borough of Rochdale (created in 1856), from which it inherited its borough status.[1]

As part of the terms of any county borough in England, it was decided that to let the then Lancashire County Council have local authority over Rochdale would be impractical due to its large size, population and economy, and so the district was independent from the administrative county of Lancashire it would otherwise have been part of.

Neighbouring districts included Heywood Urban District to the west, Wardle Urban District to the northeast, Milnrow Urban District to the east, and Royton Urban District to the south, amongst others.

The County Borough of Rochdale was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 and its territory transferred to Greater Manchester to, for the most part, form part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale

[edit] Coat of arms

The fleece, woolpack, cotton and millrind represent the traditional wool, cotton and iron industries, whilst the martlets or heraldic swallows are common to the arms of various early lords of the manor and other local families.[2]

The motto is based upon that of Lord Byron of Rochdale.