[a] Chorlton probably means Ceolfrith's farm or settlement from the Old English personal name and tūn, an enclosure, farmstead or village.

Hardy is derived from a personal name, Hearda, and ēg, Anglian for island or dry ground in a well-watered land.

[8] The name was adopted by Victorian property developers who arrived in the wake of the coming of the railway in 1880, to distinguish this Chorlton from Chorlton-on-Medlock.

Two of his sons entered the Order of Saint Benedict, one of them, Ambrose Barlow a missionary priest in the Leigh parish, was imprisoned several times and executed for his priesthood in 1641 at Lancaster.

[14] The tithe map reveals the township had two major landowners: Wilbraham Egerton of Tatton owned 888 acres and George Lloyd 231, the rest was shared between 21 others.

[19][21][22] Houses built in the 1880s attracted more affluent residents who worked in Manchester city centre to high quality homes in a more rural area.

They brought Roman Catholicism, and by the first decade of the 20th century a church (St Augustine's) and convent school had been established on High Lane.

[23] Further growth was aided by the arrival of Manchester Corporation's tramway before the First World War: a terminus was built on Barlow Moor Road a short distance south of the junction with High Lane.

Chorltonville was developed as a garden suburb south of Chorlton Brook: the houses are mostly large and semi-detached and individual in design, standing on tree-lined roads.

[24] Alexandra Park Aerodrome (1917–24), was Manchester's first major airfield located east of the Midland Railway overbridge on Mauldeth Road West.

[25] After the First World War came a period of residential development to the east of the new village on either side of Wilbraham Road and a council housing estate at Merseybank.

In the 2015 general election, the Labour Party's Jeff Smith won the seat with 57.3% of the vote unseating the incumbent Liberal Democrat candidate John Leech.

The ancient township of Chorlton cum Hardy[35] covered 1,280 acres (520 ha) of low-lying, flat land on the north bank of the River Mersey.

[5] Because the county boundary was determined by the course of the Mersey, it traditionally did not exactly follow the river when it changed course: this happened occasionally in the period before improved flood control measures were introduced in the 1840s.

[40] Chorltonville, a garden village covering 36 acres (15 ha), was developed in 1911 south of Chorlton Brook and became the home of professional classes who moved into the area.

It proposes investment in the district aimed at creating "a strong, vibrant and successful centre that supports the local community and has the ability to exploit the economic potential of Metrolink".

[44] In 2023 plans were formulated to redevelop the site of the shopping centre, the office block Graeme House and the municipal car park at Nicolas Road.

The single-story flat-roofed building is constructed of red brick dressed with Portland stone, and is designed in the Edwardian Baroque style.

[49] Fears that the library would then be demolished were allayed when on 21 August 2013 it was designated a Grade II listed building following a campaign by local Liberal Democrat councillor Victor Chamberlain.

Work started in 2010,[53] and the line opened on 7 July 2011,[54] providing residents with a rail journey into the city centre for the first time in 44 years.

Lord Egerton provided land for a replacement but not all parishioners supported the proposal and the old chapel remained after the new church was completed in 1866.

The foundation stone of St Werburgh's Church was laid on 5 November 1899, its chancel and transepts dedicated in 1900, it was completed and opened on 1 June 1902 and consecrated 15 July 1902.

[62] A Roman Catholic mission began in 1892 at St Peter's Chapel in Barlow Moor Road and another was established at St. Augustine's in High Lane.

[73] After the Second World War the Chorltonville owners' committee sold the recreation area and tennis courts which were absorbed into gardens of adjoining houses, and the rest became a football ground, now owned by West Didsbury & Chorlton A.F.C.

The festival first began in 1991, when two regulars from the Bowling Green Hotel came up with idea of hiring an articulated truck, a sound system and some generators for local acts Rattle 'n' Reel, Hectors House and Toss The Feathers to play on the August bank holiday Sunday on the rec (Beech Road Park), there was a good crowd and the first tug-of-war competition.

[81][82] Chorlton Big Green Festival takes place in late March/April combining live music, dancing, food, real ale, cider, arts and crafts, workshops, cycling and films.

[83] The Chorlton Arts Festival in May generally features a programme of events over nine days; in 2020, it was shifted to online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[88] Until October 2009 Chorlton was the location for the Cosgrove Hall animation studios where the children's series Chorlton and the Wheelies, Jamie and the Magic Torch, The BFG, The Wind in the Willows, Noddy's Toyland Adventures, Oakie Doke, Cockleshell Bay, Lavender Castle, Danger Mouse and Count Duckula were created.

[90] The ITV sitcom The Cuckoo Waltz, starring Diane Keen, David Roper and Lewis Collins was nominally set in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, referenced in certain episodes.

The actress Doris Speed lived in Sibson Road and, for over twenty years, she played Annie Walker, landlady of the Rovers Return in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street.