Delph is a village in the Saddleworth civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on the River Tame below the village of Denshaw, east-northeast of Oldham, and north-northwest of Uppermill. It has a population of around 2,000.

The centre of the village has barely changed from the 19th century, when a number of small textile mills provided employment for the local community.

The etymology of Delph is derived from the Old English word 'Delf', meaning a quarry and refers to the bakestone quarries which lay at the lower end of the Castleshaw Valley just north of the village.

Bakestones were quarried as tiles up to three quarters of an inch thick and used to bake oatcakes and muffins. The industry was in existence well before 1330 and only died out in 1930.

The village is home to one of the Saddleworth Whit Friday brass band contests, with in the region of seventy-five bands from across the UK and beyond marching down the main street at five minute intervals on the evening of the contest which often continues into the early hours. It is also home to the Millgate Arts Centre, the home of the Saddleworth Players. This group of actors puts on six plays a year, as well as hosting a number of other events throughout the year. The main street running through the centre of Delph was used in some of the external shots of the 2001 feature film The Parole Officer, starring Steve Coogan, Om Puri and Jenny Agutter. Delph was also used in the filming of the Whit Friday scene in the 1996 film Brassed Off.

References