Glodwick

Glodwick is an area of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It is south-east of Oldham town centre. Glodwick is a multi-ethnic residential area in the south of Oldham, home particularly to a large community of Pakistanis and British Pakistanis. Glodwick is marked architecturally by Oldham's history with the Industrial Revolution, particularly cotton spinning. Much of Glodwick's housing remain as red-brick terraces, built originally as dwellings for Oldham's many cotton mill workers. History of Oldham The name Glodwick was recorded first as Glodic in the 1190s. The first element may be a Brittonic word related to Welsh clawdd, meaning "ditch, hedge". Gloddaeth in Wales may have a similar etymology. The second part of the name is harder to explain, but may be the Old English dic, likewise meaning "ditch", added later to the Brittonic word. Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire since the early 12th century, Glodwick, one of the oldest parts of Oldham, was recorded in 1212 as being one of five parts of the thegnage estate of Kaskenmoor, which was held on behalf of King John by Roger de Montbegon and William de Nevill. The other parts of this estate were Crompton, Oldham, Sholver and Werneth. Glodwick later formed part of the township of Oldham within the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham, in the hundred of Salford. In the late-19th and early-20th centuries, Glodwick provided a base for many of the cotton mills that made Oldham the most productive mill town in the world. Spinning companies like Samuel Milne, Lees & Wrigley, James Collinge & Sons and Bagley & Wright brought employment to the area. Oldham Riots In May 2001, Glodwick was the centre of controversy as it was at the heart of the Oldham Riots - large scale rioting said to be fuelled by long-term under-lying racial tensions between local white and South Asian communities. The rioting gained international media coverage, and were said to be the worst racially-motivated riots in the United Kingdom for fifteen years prior, briefly eclipsing the sectarian violence seen in Northern Ireland.