TODMORDEN  , a

market town and municipal borough in the Sowerby parliamentary division of the West Riding of York-shire, England, extending into the Middleton parliamentary division of Lancashire; 19 M . N.N.E. of Manchester, on the Lancashire & Yorkshire railway . Pop . (1901), 25,418 . It lies on both sides of the river Calder, and the scenery of the valley is beautiful in spite of the numerous factories . Todmorden Hall, a picturesque old mansion of various dates, was the seat of the Radcliffes, but they sold the manorial rights about the close of the 17th century . The town hall is a hand-some classical building erected in 1875; it bridges the county boundary, the Calder, enabling the magistrates to exercise jurisdiction in both counties . There is a bronze statue to John Fielden (1784—1849), to whose energy in developing the cotton manufacture the town owes much of its prosperity . The staple industry is the spinning and weaving of cotton, and there are also foundries and machine-works . The municipal borough, incorporated in 1896, is under a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors . Area, 12,773 acres .