Ardwick Green

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Ardwick Green is an important public space in Ardwick, Manchester, England. It began as a private park for the residents of houses surrounding it. Manchester acquired this in 1867 and turned it into a public park with an ornamental pond and a bandstand.

It contains a cenotaph commemorating the dead of the "Eighth Ardwicks", a former unit of the territorial army belonging to the Manchester Regiment. The old drill hall is situated at one end of the park, and is still in use by the volunteer soldiers today.

The other end of the park contains a large boulder, a glacial erratic.

The Church of St Thomas, on the north side of Ardwick Green, was consecrated as a chapel of ease in 1741. It was rebuilt and extended in the course of the late eighteenth century, and acquired a fine campanile tower in the 1830s. Sadly, many of the grand buildings have been demolished - the Ardwick Empire Music Hall (later called Manchester Hippodrome) was at the eastern end.

The business premises of Thomas Brown, Surveyor and Resident Engineer for the construction of the Peak Forest Canal were in Manchester and by 1841 he was living in Allerton Place at 16 Ardwick Green. He died here on the 30 January 1850, aged 78 years.

All the houses in Allerton Place were subsequently demolished and by 1915 a Tyre Works had been built on the site.

• Aerial photo of Ardwick Green. Other map and aerial photo sources.