Dispersed about the Saddleworth hillsides are groups of sturdy, stone-built farmhouses and weavers cottages. The farmhouses are the former homes of 17th century farmer-weavers and the weavers' cottages are 18th century additions. These small hamlets or 'folds' serve as graphic reminders of the Saddleworth landscape before the Industrial Revolution.

From the 13th century until the mid-19th century, Saddleworth was dominated by such small groups of buildings, located between the ill-drained valley floors and the inhospitable upper slopes. The hamlet of Dobcross was in just such a location; it was also at the crossing of two packhorse routes and, as a result, became the largest and most important settlement and the financial centre of Saddleworth, until the valley villages expanded during the second half of the 19th century.

Saddleworth farmers always supplemented their income by weaving, but as their pastures encroached on to all but the most barren moorland, the growing population was forced to depend more and more on their home industry. With the invention of the spinning jenny, many small manufacturers extended their homes to accommodate the new machinery, whilst homes built to rent to hand-loom weavers filled out the hillside settlements. The early mills for 'scribbling' wool and 'fulling' the cloth sprang up in valleys towards the end of the 18th century, creating the new industrial villages like Uppermill and Delph.

Perhaps fortunately for today's residents and visitors, Saddleworth's industrial development foundered in the mid-19th century. There was little coal here to fuel the mill engines and transport of raw materials and finished goods was never easy. The march of the Accrington-brick cotton mills stopped on the Oldham boundary and the stone-built woollen mills never outgrew the agricultural landscape in which they were placed.