This article is about the English town. For other Rochdales see, Rochdale (disambiguation)

Rochdale is a town in Greater Manchester in north-west England with a population of 205357. It is the main town in the metropolitan borough of Rochdale, and gets its name from its position on the River Roch at the edge of the Pennines. Rochdale is twinned with the towns of Bielefeld in Germany, Tourcoing in France and Sahiwal in Pakistan.

The borough's location as a crossroads to trade between east and west England saw the building of George Stephenson's Summit Rail Tunnel and the Rochdale Canal from Manchester to Yorkshire (re-opened in 2003 following years of neglect after an east-west motorway cut through it) supporting local textile industries of cotton, wool and silk.

The Manchester and Leeds railway opened a station serving the town, but the line passed about a mile south of the town centre. The station remains open though much reduced in size from its heyday. The town is to be served by an extension of the Manchester Metrolink system, but this scheme is currently in abeyance. The M62 motorway also passes to the south of the town.

Rochdale is perhaps best known for being the birthplace of the Co-operative movement. A museum now exists at Toad Lane, the site of the Rochdale Pioneers. Rochdale College, in Toronto, Canada, a co-operative housing and alternative education experiment, was named in honour of the town of Rochdale. England, as a tribute to its historic importance for the co-operative movement.

It has a fine Victorian Town Hall.

Otherwise, it's known as the home town of the 1930s–1960s singing star Gracie Fields, larger than life Liberal politician Cyril Smith, comedian Steve Coogan, singer Lisa Stansfield, musicians Autechre, and actress Anna Friel.