Abbey Hills

Abbey Hills
Abbey Hills Abbey Hills shown within Greater Manchester
OS grid reference	SD942037
Metropolitan borough	Oldham
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	OLDHAM
Postcode district	OL8
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Oldham East and Saddleworth

Abbey Hills (archaically Wabbow Hills) is an area of Oldham in Greater Manchester. It is contiguous with Glodwick and Alt.

Lying on the eastern border of the historic Oldham township, Abbey Hills was the location of a large housing estate, the Abbey Hills Estate. It was built in the 1930s but was largely demolished during the late 1980s.

History

Until the early part of the 20th century the area around Abbey Hills was moorland and farmland. At this time it was still known by its archaic name, Wabbow Hills, centred around a farmstead, Wabbow Hills Farm.

Other than minor development in the vicinity of Pitses, there was little change in the area until well into the 20th century. By 1922 the new Abbey Hills Road from Glodwick had reached a point just beyond its junction with the also new Manor Road, with Pitses and Alt still served by the old road running between the Moorhey area of Oldham and the industrial settlement of Park Bridge.

The first major change to the area came in the 1930s with the building by Oldham Borough Council of the Abbey Hills Estate, laid out on Garden City principles on land north and south of Abbey Hills Road, which was then extended to meet Lees New Road, completing the modern–day route to Ashton.

The estate was built right–up to what was then the administrative edge of the Borough of Oldham. Construction of the estate and the extension of Abbey Hills Road necessitated the demolition of Abbey Hills House (formerly Wabbow Hills). The Manor Inn, built by the Oldham Brewery in 1936–7, occupies a part of its site.

The housing of the Abbey Hills Estate was built to a lower standard than earlier Council housing, add to which it was unpopular due to its isolated location. Families left and the estate became run–down and neglected. Improvements were carried out between 1976 and 1978, though in 1988 nearly all of the 1930s houses south of Abbey Hills Road were demolished (the only survivals are those fronting the main road). The land was turned over to developers and new houses built in their stead, with the surviving lengths of road renamed.^[1]

Transport

First Greater Manchester provides service 425 to Holts Village and to Fitton Hill via Glodwick and Oldham.

Manchester Community Transport provides service 408 to Oldham via Glodwick and to Stalybridge via Hurst Cross.^[2]

References