Dobcross is a village in Saddleworth—a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, and since 1974 part of the administrative county Greater Manchester, England. It is located in a valley in the South Pennines, along the course of the River Tame and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, 4.2 miles (6.8 km) east-northeast of Oldham and 13 miles (21 km) west-southwest of Huddersfield.
Historically and culturally a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Dobcross was anciently a chapelry in the Quickmere division of Saddleworth. For centuries, Dobcross was a hamlet, sustained by domestic flannel and woollen cloth production. Many of the original 17th and 18th century barns and weavers' cottages survive today as listed buildings.
Together with neighbouring Delph, Dobcross is, geographically, "considered as the centre of Saddleworth", although is not its largest village centre by some margin. Industrial tycoon Henry Platt was born in Dobcross in 1770. John Schlesinger's 1979 film Yanks was filmed on location in Dobcross, and an annual Yanks festival, coupled with a brass band contest on Whit Friday, each contribute to the village's cultural calendar.
Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets amongst the west side of the Pennine hills: Austerlands, Delph, Denshaw, Diggle, Dobcross, Friezland, Grasscroft, Greenfield, Grotton, Lydgate, Scouthead, Springhead, Uppermill.
Saddleworth, which lies east of the large town of Oldham and 11 miles (17.7 km) east-northeast of the city of Manchester, is broadly rural, has a scattered population of 24,351, making it one of the larger civil parishes in the United Kingdom.
Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, for centuries Saddleworth was a centre of woollen cloth production in the domestic system. Following the Industrial Revolution, Saddleworth became a centre for cotton spinning and weaving during the 18th and 19th centuries, so much so that by the end of Queen Victoria's reign, mechanized textile production had become a vital part of the local economy. The boom in industry called for greater transport links, including the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and several railways.