Sister cities of Heywood, Greater Manchester

Heywood is a town and unparished area within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, at the 2001 census it had a population of 28,024. The town lies on the south bank of the River Roch and is 2.4 miles (3.9 km) east of Bury, 3.7 miles (6.0 km) west-southwest of Rochdale, and 7.4 miles (11.9 km) north of the city of Manchester. The town of Middleton lies to the south, whilst to the north is the Cheesden Valley, open moorland, and the Pennines. Heywood's nickname is Monkey Town, a name known to date as far back as 1857.

Heywood as a settlement is believed to date from Early Medieval England, when the Anglo-Saxons cleared the densely wooded area, and divided it into heys or fenced clearings.During the Middle Ages, Heywood formed a chapelry in the township of Heap. This chapelry was centred on Heywood Hall, a manor house owned by a family with the surname Heywood. Farming was the main industry of this sparsely populated rural area, which in the 15th century "consisted of a few cottages". The local population supplemented their incomes by hand-loom woollen weaving in the domestic system.

The factory system in the town can be traced to a spinning mill in the late 18th century. Following the introduction of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, Heywood developed into a populous mill town and coal mining district. A period of "extraordinary growth of the cotton-trade" in the mid 19th century was so quick and profound that there was "an influx of strangers causing a very dense population". The town became a municipal borough in 1881. Imports of foreign cotton goods during the mid-20th century precipitated the decline of Heywood's textile and mining industries, although this resulted in a more diverse industrial pattern.

Economically, Heywood is supported by its proximity to junction 19 of the M62 motorway, which provides transport links for large distribution parks in the south of the town. The major landmark is the 1860s-built 188-foot (57 m) tall Parish Church of St Luke the Evangelist which dominates the town's centre and skyline. Heywood was the birthplace of Peter Heywood, the magistrate who aided the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot whose family seat was Heywood Hall. Heywood has a station on the East Lancashire Railway, a heritage railway and local tourist attraction.