Droylsden is a town in Greater Manchester, England, 4.1 miles (6.6 km) to the east of Manchester city centre and 2.2 miles (3.5 km) west-southwest of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population of 23,172. This had decreased slightly at the 2011 Census for both Wards (North and South) to 22,689. Historically in Lancashire, in the mid-19th century Droylsden grew as a mill town on the Ashton and Peak Forest canals. Beginning in the early 1930s, Droylsden's population expanded rapidly as it became a housing overflow area for neighbouring Manchester.