Described in Samuel Lewis's "A Topographical Dictionary of England" (1848) as being in "aspect rather wild", Royton lies in a shallow valley amongst undulating land. The sources of the rivers Irk and Beal are to the northeast and east respectively. The Irk meanders southwesterly into Chadderton, and then onwards to Middleton into Manchester before uniting its waters with the River Irwell in Manchester city centre. The general slope of the land decreases in height away from the Pennines, from east to west, but reaches high points of at Tandle Hill and at the summit of Oldham Edge, a ridge of elevated land which leads to Oldham. The soils of the town are broadly sand with subsoils of clay.