Aldford is a village and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

, now in the parish of Aldford and Saighton, in the county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England. (). The village is approximately to the south of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, on the east bank of the River Dee. The

Aldford Brook Aldford is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Aldford and Saighton, in the county of Cheshire, England. (). The village is approximately to the south of Chester, on the east bank of the River Dee. The Aldford Brook joins ...

joins the Dee just north of the village. In the 2001 census, the population of the village was 213. The population of the civil parish was recorded as 272 in the 2011 census.

History

The name Aldford means "Old

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

" and likely derives from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

. Aldford Castle dates back over 800 years. The village was a township in Broxton Hundred. A civil parish from 1866, it was abolished in 2015 to form Aldford and Saighton civil parish. The population was 331 in 1801, rising to 521 in 1851, then 113 in 1901 and decreasing to 96 by 1951. Between 1960 and 1991, the village was the location of a

Royal Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December ...

monitoring bunker, to be used in the event of a nuclear attack. No trace of the bunker remains today.

Landmarks

Most of the building stock was constructed as a ''designed village'' in the middle of the 19th century by Sir

Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster (27 January 1795 – 31 October 1869), styled The Honourable Richard Grosvenor from 1795 to 1802, Viscount Belgrave from 1802 to 1831 and Earl Grosvenor from 1831 to 1845, was an English pol ...

, in almost rectangular form. A number of buildings in the village were designed by the architect John Douglas. These include the Grade II listed St John's church and the Grosvenor Arms

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

. The River Dee outside the village is crossed by the

Aldford Iron Bridge Aldford Iron Bridge is a bridge crossing the River Dee north of the village of Aldford, Cheshire, England, linking the village with Eaton Hall, forming part of the Buerton Approach to the hall (). It is recorded in the National Heritage List ...

, which was built in 1824 by

William Hazledine William Hazledine (1763 – 26 October 1840) was an English ironmaster. Establishing large foundries, he was a pioneer in casting structural ironwork, most notably for canal aqueducts and early suspension bridges. Many of these projects were c ...

for the 1st Marquis. Iron Bridge Lodge, adjacent to this bridge, was designed by Douglas & Fordham in 1894 and is listed Grade II.

Aldford Hall Aldford Hall is a farmhouse to the south of the village of Aldford, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. The house was designed by John Douglas for Hugh Gro ...

and the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

road Watling Street are outside the village.

References

{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Former civil parishes in Cheshire Cheshire West and Chester

History

Landmarks

See also

References