Ardwick

Ardwick
Ardwick Green Park
Ardwick Ardwick shown within Greater Manchester
Population	19,250 (2011 Census
OS grid reference	SJ856975
Metropolitan borough	City of Manchester
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MANCHESTER
Postcode district	M12 M13
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Manchester Central
Councillors	Mavis Smitheman (Labour) Bernard Priest (Labour) Tina Hewitson (Labour)

Ardwick is a district of Manchester in North West England, one mile south east of the city centre. The population of the Ardwick Ward at the 2011 census was 19,250.^[1]

Historically in Lancashire, by the mid-19th century Ardwick had grown from being a village into a pleasant and wealthy suburb of Manchester, but by the end of that century it had become heavily industrialised.^[2][3] When its industries later fell into decline then so did Ardwick itself, becoming one of the city's most deprived areas. Substantial development has taken place more recently in Ardwick and other areas of Manchester to reverse the decline, notably the construction of many facilities for the 2002 Commonwealth Games held nearby in Eastlands.

In the late 19th century Ardwick had many places of entertainment, but the only remnant of that history today is the Art Deco-style Manchester Apollo, a venue for pop and rock music concerts.^[3]

History

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, Ardwick was a small village just outside Manchester in open countryside. The principal residents were the Birch family, one of whom was a major general when Oliver Cromwell (briefly) instituted direct military rule.

One Samuel Birch was instrumental in providing a small chapel of ease, dedicated to St. Thomas, and consecrated in 1741. This soon expanded into a Georgian church, to which a brick campanile tower was added in the 1830s. It contained a very rare Samuel Green organ, the first in which the sharp keys were distinguished in black. There was also a memorial chapel to the dead of the First World War, chiefly men of the local territorial unit. These have been removed, and the church is now used as offices for voluntary organisations.

Grand terraces of regency houses (some of which still survive) were built either side of the church, and these were fronted by Ardwick Green, a private park for the residents, containing a pond. Similar housing developments to those around the Green took place along Higher Ardwick and the area known as the Polygon.

Early inhabitants included members the family of Sir Robert Peel. Charles Dickens drew many of his characters from life, and was a frequent visitor to Manchester. It is said that Dickens based the character of the crippled Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol on the invalid son of a friend who owned a cotton mill in Ardwick.^[4]

Ardwick Cemetery was established in the 1830s as a prestigious place for fashionable burials. John Dalton, the chemist and physicist best known for his advocacy of atomic theory, is amongst those buried there. The cemetery has since been converted into a school playing field.

Governance

Ardwick electoral ward within Manchester City Council.

Ardwick ward is represented by three councillors, Mavis Smitheman,^[7] Bernard Priest,^[8] and Tina Hewitson,^[9] all members of the Labour Party. Smitheman (2008–09) has served as Lord Mayor of Manchester.^[10]

     indicates seat up for re-election.      indicates seat won in by-election.

Geography and administration

Present day

Ardwick Green Park has recently been refurbished, and though the pond is no more, it still contains an interesting glacial erratic in the form of a boulder.^[13] There is also a cenotaph commemorating the Eighth Ardwicks, once a Territorial Army unit of the Manchester Regiment. Ardwick Green Barracks is a fine Victorian castellated structure bearing the old volunteer motto "Defence Not Defiance". It is still in military use today.^[14]

The Manchester Apollo, a 1930s Art Deco theatre, is one of Ardwick's most famous landmarks: it was in use as a cinema from 1943 and was renamed the ABC Ardwick in 1962. An independent operator took over in 1977 and staged pop concerts interspersed with the occasional film, until dropping films entirely.^[15] The venue now plays host to national and international performing artists.^[16]

Extensive demolition of dilapidated Victorian terraces took place around Ardwick during the 1960s. Some residents remained in the area in new council-owned houses and flats, while others were moved to overspill estates such as Hattersley.

Demographics

(According to 2011 census^[17])

• White British – 35.5%
• White Irish – 2.4%
• White Other – 5.4%
• Black or Black British – 17.7%
• Asian or Asian British – 27.4%
• Other – 5.5%
• Mixed Race – 6.0%

Notable people

• Nellie Beer Lord Mayor of Manchester
• Stephen Bradbury. Artist and illustrator. Born and brought up as a boy in Ardwick. Heywood House, Bennet Street.
• Edward Brotherton, 1st Baron Brotherton, businessman and philanthropist
• Edward Evans, the last of the five Moors Murders victims, was from Ardwick. He was 17 years old when murdered in October 1965 by Ian Brady in Hattersley.^[18]
• Edmund Peck, the illegitimate son of Sir Edmund Buckley. Peck later took the surname Buckley and became Sir Edmund Buckley, 1st Baronet
• Tom Chantrell, designer of many film posters including The Sound of Music and Star Wars^[19]
• Elizabeth Gaskell, lived in Gaskell House ^[20]
• J. Milton Hayes, actor and poet, best known for his 1911 dramatic monologue "The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God"
• Samuel Hibbert-Ware geologist
• Leslie Lever, Baron Lever, lawyer and politician, MP for Ardwick
• Johnny Marr, guitarist, most notably of the Smiths^[21]
• John Howard Nodal, journalist and philologist
• John Rylands, businessman and philanthropist
• Bill Tarmey (né William Piddington), actor and singer best known for his portrayal as Jack Duckworth in Coronation Street^[22]
• Ellen Wilkinson, MP, the Ellen Wilkinson High School, was named after her.

See also

• Listed buildings in Manchester-M12

References

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading

• Frangopulo, N. J. (1962) Rich Inheritance. Manchester: Education Committee; pp. 270–271 contain: "The history of a district, e.g. Ardwick", a list of documents held at Manchester Central Library
• Makepeace, Chris (1995) Looking Back at Hulme, Moss Side, Chorlton on Medlock & Ardwick. Altrincham: Willow

External links

• A School in Ardwick