Chowley is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

and

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 ...

in the Borough of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial 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. It is approximately south east 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 ...

and about south west of

Tattenhall Tattenhall is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Tattenhall and District, south-east of Chester, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. In the 2001 census, t ...

. In the 2001 census Chowley had a population of 23. The census statistics have been combined with the neighbouring civil parishes of Handley and

Golborne David Golborne David is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is part of the local government ward of Tattenhall. In the 2001 census it had a population of 55. The Office ...

, and the figure was given as 227. In the 2011 census these parishes were again combined, with the population recorded as 253.

History

The name Chowley means "Ceola's wood/clearing" and likely derives from the

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 ...

personal name ''Ceola'' and the word ''lēah'' (a wood, forest, glade or clearing). Mentioned as ''Celelea'' in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086, it was partial woodland and consisted of only two households, which belonged to "riders" (roadmen). The landowner was Robert FitzHugh (son of

Hugh Lupus Hugh d'Avranches ( 1047 – 27 July 1101), nicknamed ''le Gros'' (the Large) or ''Lupus'' (the Wolf), was from 1071 the second Norman Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. Early life and career Hugh d'Avra ...

), having previously been in the possession of Wulfeva, a free woman. Chowley was a township in Coddington parish, Broxton Hundred, which became a civil parish in 1866. Its population was 56 in 1801, then 58 in 1851, 35 in 1901 and increasing to 65 by 1951.

Landmarks

The parish contains one structure designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

as a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

; this is Chowley Lodge, which is listed at Grade II. It was built in 1868 as a lodge to

Bolesworth Castle Bolesworth Castle is a country house south of the village of Tattenhall, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. History Bolesworth Castle was built for George ...

and was designed by

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known f ...

History

Landmarks

References

Notes

Citations

External links