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. Historically in Lancashire, by the mid-nineteenth 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. 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 at the City of Manchester Stadium. In the late nineteenth 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. 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 1836. It contained a very rare Samuel Green organ, installed in 1787 or 1788, the first in which the sharp keys were distinguished in black. When the building ceased to be used as a church in 1978, the organ was rescued by an organ builder called George Sixsmith, and installed in St Paul's Church, Pendleton. 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 building has been used as offices for voluntary organisations. The structure is now Grade II Listed. 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