a parliamentary borough and market-town of England, in the county of Lancaster, in a beautiful valley on the Roch, here crossed by five bridges, 10 miles N.N.E. of Manchester, and 200 N.W. by N. of London. It stands on both sides of the river, and has been recently very much improved. Most of the houses are built of brick, and roofed with stone instead of slate; but some are of freestone quarried in the vicinity. In the principal street, which is broad, and, like most of the others, well paved, stand the market-house and town-hall, the latter a neat edifice, serving also as a news-room. On a height, approached by a flight of 126 steps, stands the parish church, an ancient building in the Norman and early English styles. It has a square embattled tower, several richly-carved windows, an ancient font, and some interesting tombs. The plain brick church of St Mary was built in 1740, and that of St James in 1814. Other places of worship there are, belonging to Roman Catholics; Independents; Baptists; Wesleyan, Association, and Primitive Methodists; Quakers; Unitarians, and others. To most of these Sunday schools, largely attended, are attached. The grammar school of Rochdale, founded in 1564, had only nine pupils in 1854. The school-house has recently been rebuilt in the Elizabethan style. A large national school, two endowed schools, and others, are among the educational establishments of the town. A literary institute, an atheum, a people's institute, with libraries and reading-rooms, also contribute to the diffusion of knowledge among the inhabitants; and the relief of the poor is provided for by a dispensary, poor-house, and other charitable institutions. It is chiefly, however, for its industrial importance that the town is remarkable. Woollen and cotton goods, especially the former, form the staple of the manufactures. Baize, flannel, friezes, and blankets, are the principal kinds of woollen, and strong calico the most important among the cotton fabrics made here. Hat-making and cotton-yarn spinning furnish employment to a great number of the people. Rochdale has also iron and brass foundries and machine-works. In most of the factories steam-power is employed. Within the bounds of the parish there are coal-pits, iron-mines, and quarries of sandstone, &c. Two markets are held weekly, one for manufactures and other articles, and the other for provisions; and there are fairs three times a year. The trade of the town is facilitated by the Rochdale Canal, which passes at a short distance from it, and unites the Duke of Bridgewater's canal at Manchester with the waters of the Calder and Ribble near Halifax. It is 33 miles long, and was constructed at a great cost, and opened in 1804. The railway between Manchester and Leeds has a station here. The borough was not represented in Parliament before the Reform Act of 1832, but it now returns one member. It is governed by the magistrates of the county, and has a county court and a convenient jail. Rochdale is a place of much antiquity, as even under the Romans there was a station in the neighbourhood; but the history of the town presents few events of importance. In the reign of Edward III. the woollen manufacture was introduced by some Flemish emigrants; and Rochdale acquired a celebrity for such articles, which it retained in the time of Elizabeth. As early as 1610 there were five fulling-mills in the parish. The beautiful manor of Rochdale, near the town, was long the property of the Byron family, but was sold by the poet. Pop. of the borough (1851) 29,195.