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Constable Of Chester
The Constable of Chester was a mediaeval hereditary office held by the Barons of Halton. The functions of the Constable are unclear, possibly they related to the custody of Chester Castle (built in 1070 by Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester), as was the main function of most mediaeval constables, but Sanders (1960) says the office-holder was constable for the entire County Palatine. Creation of office In 1071, Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester (c. 1047–1101), (also known as "Hugh Lupus"), received from his maternal half-uncle King William the Conqueror the whole of the County Palatine of Chester (excluding episcopal lands) "to hold as freely by the sword as he (the king) himself held the Kingdom of England by the crown" and was appointed Earl of Chester and Count Palatine. Hugh is believed to have appointed eight hereditary barons to serve under him, one of whom was William fitz Nigel, Baron of Halton, Hereditary Constable and Marshal.Cokayne, '' Complete Peerage'', ...
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Chester Castle - Geograph
Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West and Chester. It is also the historic county town of Cheshire and the second-largest settlement in Cheshire after Warrington. Chester was founded in 79 AD as a "castrum" or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. One of the main army camps in Roman Britain, Deva later became a major civilian settlement. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia, which later became Chester's first cathedral, and the Angles extended and strengthened the walls to protect the city against the Danes. Chester was one of the last cities in England to fall to the Normans, and William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border. Chester was granted city st ...
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River Mersey
The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part of the boundary between the historic counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. The Mersey starts at the confluence of the River Tame and River Goyt in Stockport. It flows westwards through south Manchester, then into the Manchester Ship Canal near Irlam Locks, becoming a part of the canal and maintaining its water levels. After it exits the canal, flowing towards Warrington where it widens. It then narrows as it passes between Runcorn and Widnes. The river widens into a large estuary, which is across at its widest point near Ellesmere Port. The course of the river then turns northwards as the estuary narrows between Liverpool and Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula to the west, and empties into Liverpool Bay. In total the ...
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Runcorn Priory
Norton Priory is a historic site in Norton, Runcorn, Norton, Runcorn, Cheshire, England, comprising the remains of an abbey complex dating from the 12th to 16th centuries, and an 18th-century country house; it is now a museum. The remains are a scheduled ancient monument and are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I Listed building#England and Wales, listed building. They are considered to be the most important monastic remains in Cheshire. The priory was established as an Augustinians, Augustinian foundation in the 12th century, and was raised to the status of an abbey in 1391. The abbey was closed in 1536, as part of the dissolution of the monasteries. Nine years later the surviving structures, together with the Manorialism, manor of Norton, were purchased by Sir Richard Brooke (Norton), Richard Brooke, who built a Tudor style architecture, Tudor house on the site, incorporating part of the abbey. This was replaced in t ...
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Rainhill
Rainhill is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the 2011 census was 10,853. Historically part of Lancashire, Rainhill was a township in the ecclesiastical parish of Prescot and hundred of West Derby. Following the Local Government Act 1894, it became part of the Whiston Rural District. The Rainhill Trials of 1829 resulted in the selection of Stephenson's ''Rocket'' as the world's first modern steam locomotive. History Early history Rainhill has been recorded since Norman times but its name is believed to come from the Old English personal name of Regna or Regan. It is thought that around the time of the Domesday Book Rainhill was a part of one of the townships within the "Widnes fee". Recordings have shown that in the year 1246, Roger of Rainhill died and the township was divided into two halves for each of his daughters. One half was centred on the now-standing Rainhill Manor public house, see Rainhil ...
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Cronton
Cronton is a village and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, in England. The village is surrounded by green belt land. Over the county border in Cheshire, Widnes town centre is to the south-southeast. History Historically a part of Lancashire, Cronton is an ancient village and was once a centre for the makers of watch parts and movements. There is an ancient cross, now no more than a column of stone on ruined steps. This was one of many stopping places on the way to the parish church at Farnworth. The five-holed stocks next to the war memorial in Coronation Gardens are almost unique to Cronton with few other specimens found anywhere. Many of the 19th Century residents of Cronton were farmers. There was a blacksmith in Cronton Lane (opposite what is now the Black Horse pub). Family names common in Cronton during the 19th Century census returns: Leather, Haughton, Pitt, Coughlin, Critchley, Dwerryhouse, Atherton, Hillyer, Glover and Lister. The C ...
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Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is Preston, Lancashire, Preston, and the county town is the city of Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster. The county has an area of and a population of 1,490,300. Preston is located near the centre of the county, which is urbanised and includes the towns of Blackburn and Burnley; the seaside resort of Blackpool lies to the west, and Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster is in the north. For Local government in England, local government purposes the county comprises a non-metropolitan county, with twelve districts, and two Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas: Blackburn with Darwen and Borough of Blackpool, Blackpool. Lancashire County Council and the two unitary councils collaborate through the ...
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Widnes
Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap#Runcorn Gap, Runcorn Gap. Directly to the south across the Mersey is the town of Runcorn. Upstream to the east is Warrington, and 4 miles downstream to the west is Speke, a suburb of Liverpool. Before the Industrial Revolution, Widnes was a small settlement on marsh and moorland. In 1847, the chemist and industrialist John Hutchinson (industrialist), John Hutchinson established a chemical factory at Spike Island, Widnes, Spike Island. The town grew in population and rapidly became a major centre of the chemical industry. The demand for labour was met by large-scale immigration from Ireland, Poland, Lithuania and Wales. The town continues to be ...
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William Fitz Nigel (d
William fitz Nigel (died 1134), of Halton Castle in Cheshire, England, was Constable of Chester and Baron of Halton within the county palatine of Chester ruled by the Earl of Chester. Origins Traditionally, he succeeded his father Nigel as baron of Halton and Constable of Chester, although modern sources doubt the position was held by his father. He held lands in Halton, throughout Cheshire and also in Normandy. Through his heiress mother (eldest daughter of Yorfid) he obtained Widnes and the Lancashire manors of Widnes, Appleton, Cronton and Rainhill. In 1115 he established Runcorn Priory, of the Augustinian Order of Canons Regular. He died in 1134 at Halton Castle and was buried at Chester. Marriage and issue By his wife, Agnes, daughter of Gilbert de Gant Gilbert de Gant (Giselbert de Gand, Ghent, Gaunt) (c. 1040 – 1095) was the son of Ralph, Lord of Aalst near Ghent, and Gisele of Luxembourg, the sister-in-law of Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders. Gilbert de Gant ...
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Castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private fortified house, fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a mansion, palace, and villa, whose main purpose was exclusively for ''pleasance'' and are not primarily fortresses but may be fortified. Use of the term has varied over time and, sometimes, has also been applied to structures such as hill forts and 19th- and 20th-century homes built to resemble castles. Over the Middle Ages, when genuine castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain wall (fortification), curtain walls, arrowslits, and portcullises, were commonplace. European-style castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries after the fall of the Carolingian Empire, which resulted ...
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Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to build with unskilled labour, but still militarily formidable, these castles were built across northern Europe from the 10th century onwards, spreading from Normandy and Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire, as well as the Low Countries it controlled, in the 11th century, when these castles were popularized in the area that became the Netherlands. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries. By the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries. Architecture Structures A motte-and-bailey castle wa ...
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Rhuddlan
Rhuddlan () is a town, community, and electoral ward in Denbighshire, Wales. Its associated urban zone is mainly on the right bank of the Clwyd; it is directly south of seafront town Rhyl. It gave its name to the Welsh district of Rhuddlan from 1974 to 1996. As of the 2001 census, the population was 4,296 decreasing to 3,709 in the 2011 census. It was historically in Flintshire. Etymology The name of the town is a combination of the Welsh words ' "red" + ' "riverbank". History In AD 921, the Anglo-Saxon king, Edward the Elder, founded a burh named (mouth of the Clwydd) at Rhuddlan. In the following century, before the Norman Conquest and subsequent Norman occupation of lower Gwynedd, the Perfeddwlad, Rhuddlan was the site of a Welsh cantref and served as the seat of government and capital of Gwynedd for the Welsh king Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (ruled 1055–1063). Following the Conquest, in 1086, Rhuddlan was recorded in the Domesday Book as a small settlement withi ...
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Welsh People
The Welsh () are an ethnic group and nation native to Wales who share a common ancestry, History of Wales, history and Culture of Wales, culture. Wales is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. The majority of people living in Wales are British nationality law, British citizens. In Wales, the Welsh language () is protected by law. Welsh remains the predominant language in many parts of Wales, particularly in North Wales and parts of West Wales, though English is the predominant language in South Wales. The Welsh language is also taught in schools in Wales; and, even in regions of Wales in which Welsh people predominantly speak English on a daily basis, the Welsh language is spoken at home among family or in informal settings, with Welsh speakers often engaging in code-switching and translanguaging. In the English-speaking areas of Wales, many Welsh people are Multilingualism, bilingually fluent or semi-fluent in the Welsh language or, to varying degrees, capable o ...
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