Ardwick
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Ardwick is an inner-city district of Manchester, England, about one mile south east of Manchester City Centre.
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[edit] Geography and administration
Ardwick ward is represented by three Labour councillors - Tom O'Callaghan, Bernard Priest, and Mavis Smitheman
[edit] Civic history
The village of Ardwick can be traced back to 1282, when it was known as Atherdwic, and the road between Manchester and Stockport runs through it. It was formerly an independent township but it became part of Manchester when the Borough of Manchester was formed in 1838. The boundary between Ardwick and Manchester is the River Medlock, which hereabouts meanders between factories and houses.
[edit] History
Prior to the industrial revolution, Ardwick was a small village situated 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 rather fine Georgian church, to which a fine 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. Sadly, these have been removed, and the church is now used as offices for voluntary organisations.
Ardwick is credited as being one of the first examples of a middle class suburb. 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. It is said that Charles Dickens visited a friend who lived on Higher Ardwick, and used their invalid son as a model for Tiny Tim.
Ardwick Cemetery was established in the 1830s as a prestigious place for fashionable burials, including that of John Dalton. It is now converted into a school playing field.
[edit] Industrial revolution
During the 19th century, Ardwick became heavily industrialised and it was characterised by factories, railways and rows of back-to-back terraced houses being juxtaposed. Ardwick Station is situated at a junction where the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, later the London and North Western Railway diverged from the line to Sheffield that became the Great Central Railway. Nichols Hospital, a fine neo-gothic building that is now a school, was constructed on Hyde Road in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
The railway bridge across Hyde Road was known by older residents as the 'Fenian Arch' as it was the scene of an attack upon a prison van carrying suspected fenian prisoners to the former Belle Vue Prison. The perpetrators were hanged, the so-called Manchester Martyrs. But one must not forget the murdered Sergeant Brett, for he was only doing his duty.
[edit] 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. There is also a cenotaph commemorating the 'Eighth Ardwicks', once a territorial army unit of the Manchester Regiment, whose former drill hall is still nearby. It was the old Volunteer Barracks, a fine Victorian castellated structure bearing the old volunteer motto "Defence Not Defiance". It is still in military use today.
The Manchester Apollo, a 1930s Art Deco structure, is one of Ardwick's most famous landmarks, playing host to high quality national and international performing artists.
[edit] External link
- Map sources for Ardwick
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