The 'Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale' is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester. The town of Rochdale is the administartive centre of the 'Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale', which includes the towns of Middleton, Littleborough, Milnrow and Heywood and the village of Wardle. It is the largest of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester.
The administrative headquarters are based at the Victorian Gothic revival Town Hall in Rochdale. The Town Hall periodically plays host to wedding fairs. Much of the borough of Rochdale is industrialised, though there are still rural open spaces within the borough. Before Rochdale was chosen for the name of the borough, it was suggested that it be named Chadwick, refering to Sir Edwin Chadwick, the nineteenth century social reformer
The town of Rochdale is situated on the River Roch, at the foothills of the Pennines and was historically part of Lancashire.
The town was heavily involved in the textile industry and the Co-operative Movement was born in Rochdale. Founded in 1844, the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society was the country's first modern cooperative.