The name of Ardwick is thought to have been derived from 2 words - "Ard" and "Wic". Ard was the abbreviated form of King Aethelred and Wic was a word for a farm or small hamlet. Therefore, Ardwick was, in old Saxon at least, the farm or hamlet of Aethelred. Certainly, by the fourteenth century there were extensive fisheries and cornfields in the district.

Ardwick is bounded by the River Medlock to the north, and Cornbrook in the South. By the early 19th century, Ardwick was a pleasant and elegant suburb of Manchester and Ardwick Green was a popular and sought-after neighbourhood in which to live. It was here that James Potter, great-grandfather of the Lakeland writer Beatrix Potter, lived. Nowadays, Arwick Green is a busy traffic intersection where Hyde Road and Stockport Road converge to meet the City of Manchester. In Victorian times it had been pleasant gardens with an ornamental pond.