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| Lees | |
|---|---|
 Lees village centre | |
  Lees Location within Greater Manchester | |
| Population | 4,500 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | SD955045 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | OLDHAM |
| Postcode district | OL4 |
| Dialling code | 0161 |
| Police | Greater Manchester |
| Fire | Greater Manchester |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
Lees is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England,[1] amongst the Pennines east of the River Medlock, 1.8 miles (2.9 km) east of Oldham, and 8.2 miles (13.2 km) northeast of Manchester.
In the 14th century, when John de Leghes was a retainer of the local Lord of the Manor, Lees was a conglomeration of hamlets, ecclesiastically linked with the township of Ashton-under-Lyne. Farming was the main industry of this rural area, with locals supplementing their incomes by hand-loom weaving in the domestic system. At the beginning of the 19th century, Lees had obtained a reputation for its mineral springs; ambitions to develop a spa town were thwarted by an unplanned process of urbanisation caused by the rise of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution.[2][3]
Lees expanded into a mill town in the late-19th century, on the back of neighbouring Oldham's boom in cotton spinning. Lees Urban District had eleven cotton mills at its manufacturing zenith.
- ^ "Greater Manchester Gazetteer". Greater Manchester County Record Office. Places names – I-L. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
- ^ Manchester City Council. "Oldham Towns; Lees". spinningtheweb.org.uk. Archived from the original on 14 March 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
- ^ "The Oldham Boroughs: Lees". visitoldham.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 May 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.