Townapedia
Failsworth, UK - panoramio (1)
Failsworth, UK - panoramio (1) · oleg jasenovic, CC BY 3.0
Failsworth, UK - panoramio
Failsworth, UK - panoramio · oleg jasenovic, CC BY 3.0
Ashton-under-Lyne War Memorial (1)
Ashton-under-Lyne War Memorial (1) · Rept0n1x, CC BY-SA 3.0
Brownfields Mill, Ancoats, Manchester
Brownfields Mill, Ancoats, Manchester · KJP1, CC BY-SA 3.0
Brunswick Mill 5217
Brunswick Mill 5217 · Photograph by Clem Rutter, Rochester, Kent. (..., CC BY-SA 3.0
Express Building Manchester
Express Building Manchester · Stephen Richards, CC BY-SA 2.0

Failsworth, United Kingdom

Failsworth is a town of 20,555 people in England, United Kingdom.

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Population20,555 GeoNames
RegionEngland
Elevation318 ft 97 m
Time zoneEurope/London
Nearest airportManchester Airport (MAN) 12 mi
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Why visit Failsworth

Townapedia lists 21 museums and landmarks, 28 parks and trails, 69 places to eat, 4 places to stay and 5 attractions in and around town.

Highlights include Alhambra Theatre, Tameside Hippodrome, Ashton Under Lyne War Memorial and Brownsfield Mill.

About Failsworth

Failsworth () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of Manchester and 3 miles (4.8 km) south-west of Oldham. The M60 ring-road motorway skirts it to the east. The population at the 2011 census was 20,680. Historically in Lancashire, Failsworth until the 19th century was a farming township linked ecclesiastically with Manchester.

From the Wikipedia article Failsworth (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Things to do5

Alhambra Theatre

Cinema and theater · 2.2 mi

Former theatre and cinema in Openshaw, Manchester, England, later a bingo hall and sports venue

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Tameside Hippodrome

Cinema and theater · 3.1 mi

Theatre and former cinema in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England, UK

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Hope Mill Theatre

Cinema and theater · 2.6 mi

Theatre in Manchester, UK

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Oldham Theatre Workshop

Cinema and theater · 3.3 mi

Youth theatre group based in the north west of England

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Queen's Park Hippodrome, Harpurhey

Cinema and theater · 2.1 mi

Former theatre in Harpurhey, Manchester, England

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Museums and landmarks21

Ashton Under Lyne War Memorial

Monument and historic site · 3.4 mi

War memorial in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, UK

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Brownsfield Mill

Monument and historic site · 3.0 mi

Cotton mill in Manchester, England, UK

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Brunswick Mill, Ancoats

Monument and historic site · 2.4 mi

Grade II listed mill in Manchester, United Kingdom

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Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art

Museum · 3.3 mi

Contemporary art gallery based in Manchester, UK, which aims to advance the education of the public in contemporary Chinese arts and culture

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Daily Express Building

Monument and historic site · 3.0 mi

Building in Manchester, England

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Gallery Oldham

Museum · 3.4 mi

Art gallery in Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom

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Greater Manchester Police Museum and Archives

Museum · 3.2 mi

Museum in Manchester, United Kingdom

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Jackson's Warehouse

Monument and historic site · 3.1 mi

Warehouse in Manchester, UK

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Manchester Jewish Museum

Museum · 3.0 mi

Museum in Manchester, England, United Kingdom

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Manchester Piccadilly station

Monument and historic site · 3.3 mi

Railway station in Manchester, England, UK

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Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester

Museum · 2.8 mi

Museum in Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom

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Manchester Art Museum

Museum · 2.8 mi

Art museum in Manchester, England, UK (1877-1953)

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9 more on the map.

Parks, trails and playgrounds28

Broadhurst Park

Park · 1.0 mi

Park in Manchester, United Kingdom

330 Lightbowne Road, Manchester

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Alexandra Park

Park · 3.2 mi

Park in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, UK

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Ardwick Green

Park · 3.3 mi

Public park in Ardwick, Manchester, England

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Belle Vue Zoological Gardens

Park · 3.0 mi

Former zoo, amusement park, exhibition hall complex and speedway in Manchester, England

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Boggart Hole Clough

Park · 1.9 mi

Park in Manchester, Greater Manchester, UK

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Daisy Nook

Park · 1.8 mi

Country park in Greater Manchester, England

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Mayfield Park

Park · 3.2 mi

Park in Manchester, United Kingdom

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Piccadilly Gardens

Park · 3.4 mi

Public park in England

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Clayton Vale

Park · 1.0 mi

Valley in Clayton, Manchester, England, UK

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Crumpsall Park

Park · 2.9 mi

Park in Manchester, Greater Manchester, England

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Debdale Park

Park · 3.1 mi

Park in Manchester, United Kingdom

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Philips Park

Park · 1.6 mi

Park in Clayton, Manchester, UK

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16 more on the map.

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Restaurants and cafes69

Desi Lounge

Restaurant · Indian

236-238 Oldham Road, Manchester

Mo-Sa 17:00-23:00, Su 17:00-22:00

Open in Google Maps · +44 161 683 0723

Old School Barbecue Bus

Restaurant · American, Barbecue · 1.4 mi

Alford Street, Oldham

We-Th 16:00-22:00; Fr-Sa 12:00-23:00; Su 12:00-22:00

Open in Google Maps · +44 161 682 5006

Corner Slice

Restaurant · Pizza · 0.4 mi

141 Lord Lane, Manchester

Open in Google Maps · +44 161 688 8167

Whitegate Inn

Restaurant · British · 1.2 mi

Broadway, Oldham

Open in Google Maps · +44161 681 1373

Caffè Nero

Cafe · Coffee Shop · 0.7 mi

Mo-Fr 07:00-19:00; Su 08:00-18:00

Open in Google Maps · +441616412431

Kurry Hut

Restaurant · Indian · 1.3 mi

333 Hollinwood Avenue, Manchester

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New Moston Inn

Bar and pub · 0.8 mi

52-54 Belgrave Road, Manchester

Mo-Sa 14:00-00:00; Su 14:00-23:00

Open in Google Maps · +44161 6812382

Sul Lago

Restaurant · Pizza · 1.5 mi

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Costa Drive Thru

Cafe · Coffee Shop · 1.3 mi

Olive Claydon Way, Oldham

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Mumbai Spice

Restaurant · Indian · 1.3 mi

327-329 Hollinwood Avenue, Manchester

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The Millgate

Bar and pub

Ashton Road West, Manchester

Open in Google Maps · +44 161 688 4910

Wong Kwok

Restaurant · Chinese · 1.5 mi

838 Hollins Road, Oldham

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57 more on the map.

History

Early settlement rested on a road that runs today between Manchester and Yorkshire. This Roman secondary road formed part of a network from Manchester up north, probably to Tadcaster near York. The section that ran through Failsworth is still known as Roman Road. It was built above marshland and laid on brushwood with a hard surface. Roman Road has also been known as "Street", a Saxon term meaning "metalled road", indicating that it was also used that later period.

Early sources suggest the area was occupied in Saxon times. The small hamlet of scattered dwellings made of rough local stone, mud and clay with thatched roofs, may have been stood on ground higher than the surrounding marshland. Daily life would have centred on animal husbandry and agriculture.

Unmentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, Failsworth appears in a record of 1212 as Fayleswrthe, a settlement was documented as a thegnage estate or manor comprising four oxgangs of land. Two oxgangs at an annual rate of 4 shillings were payable by the tenant, Gilbert de Notton, to Adam de Prestwich, who in turn paid tax to King John. The other two oxgangs were held by the Lord of Manchester as part of his fee simple. The Byron family came to acquire the whole township in the mid-13th century. Apart from a small estate held by Cockersand Abbey, Failsworth passed to the Chetham family and was then sold on to smaller holders.

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By 1663, 50 households were registered. Life centred on natural resources, agriculture and stock farming, with many were employed as labourers to work the land, though tradesmen such as a tailor, a felt maker, a shoemaker, a joiner and a weaver supported them. The earliest record of a place of worship is Dob Lane Chapel, dating from 1698.

In 1774, the 242 Failsworth households contained some 1.400 inhabitants, of whom a high proportion were involved in cloth manufacture. Development of the English textile trade was backed by important legislation between 1500 and 1760: a number of acts were passed to encourage it by the compulsory growing of flax. Grants were made to flax growers and duties levied on foreign imports, though Manchester's extensive linen trade used yarn imported from Holland and Ireland.

In 1914 the regular Daisy Nook Easter Fair ceased with the outbreak of the First World War, but resumed in 1920. On 8 June 2007, a 1946 work by L. S. Lowry entitled "Good Friday, Daisy Nook" sold for £3,772,000, then the highest bid ever paid for one of his paintings.

From the History section of Failsworth on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

More about Failsworth

Geography

At 53°30′37″N 2°9′27″W (53.5102°, −2.1575°) Failsworth lies 163 miles (262 km) north-north-west of London, as the southern tip of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, sharing borders with Manchester (north to south-west) and Tameside (south to east). It is traversed by the A62 road between Manchester and Oldham, by the former rail line of the Oldham Loop and by the Rochdale Canal, across its north-west corner. The M60 motorway passes through. For the Office for National Statistics, Failsworth counts as part of the Greater Manchester Urban Area.

The land in Failsworth slopes gently from east to west away from the Pennines and from brooks that bound it on the north-west (Moston Brook) and south-east (Lord's Brook). Failsworth has a country park, Daisy Nook, on undulating wooded land on its eastern border largely belonging to the National Trust. It is suited to walking, horse riding, fishing and other pursuits.

Economy

Failsworth grew as a mill town around the hat-making industry, which continues in the town. This began as a cottage industry before the firm of Failsworth Hats was set up in 1903 to manufacture silk hats. For a time the company had a factory near the former Failsworth Council offices and it remains in the area to this day. Other activities include electrical goods manufacture (such as Russell Hobbs) by Spectrum Brands, formerly Pifco Ltd), and plastic production and distribution by Hubron Ltd.

In July 2007, the Tesco supermarket chain opened a 24-hour Extra branch superstore on the banks of the wharf. The move was opposed by shop-owners, who claimed they would have lost customers and may have been forced to close. Tesco's arrival had been expected to be a catalyst bringing other stores, bars and restaurants to Failsworth. The only other large store is a branch of Morrisons housed in a building constructed on the demolished site of Marlborough No. 2 Mill.

Education

The local comprehensive school is Co-op Academy Failsworth, which moved to a new building in 2008 from two buildings known as Upper School and Lower School. It caters for students aged between 11 and 16. The £28-million project brought the town's secondary schooling to come under one roof. It has specialist sports college status.

From the Wikipedia article Failsworth, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Notable people from Failsworth

Born in Failsworth, according to Wikidata (CC0). Each name links to its Wikipedia article.

Where to stay4

Churches and places of worship46

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Shopping10

Gas and EV charging9

Schools, colleges and libraries34

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Healthcare3

Map of Failsworth

229 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.

Getting there and nearby towns

Manchester Airport (MAN) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 12 miles away.

  • Hollinwood 2 mi northeast, about 3 min by car
  • Droylsden 2 mi southeast, about 3 min by car
  • Oldham 3 mi northeast, about 5 min by car
  • Manchester 3 mi southwest, about 5 min by car
  • Denton 4 mi southeast, about 6 min by car
  • Dukinfield 4 mi southeast, about 6 min by car
  • Lees 4 mi northeast, about 7 min by car
  • Royton 5 mi northeast, about 7 min by car
  • Stalybridge 5 mi east, about 7 min by car
  • Salford 5 mi west, about 8 min by car

Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.

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Page built November 10, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us or suggest a place.