Duddon is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Duddon and Burton, in the unitary authority of

Cheshire West and Chester Cheshire West and Chester is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 str ...

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 on the

A51 road The A51 is a road in England which runs for 85 miles (137 km) from Chester, Cheshire to Kingsbury, North Warwickshire. It takes on the following route: *Chester *Vicars Cross * Littleton *Tarvin (bypass opened 1984) *Duddon * Clotton *Tar ...

and is east of the city 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 ...

. Local features include Duddon St. Peter's Church and St. Peter's Primary School. The church was erected in 1835 as a chapel of ease to the parish church at

Tarvin Tarvin is a village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It had a population of 2,693 people at the 2001 UK census, rising to 2,728 at the 2011 Census, and the ward covers about . ...

. It was built in the early English style at a cost of £603 to the designs of

William Railton William Railton (1800–77) was an English architect, best known as the designer of Nelson's Column. He was based in London, with offices at 12 Regent Street for much of his career. Life He was born in Clapham (then in Surrey) on 14 May 1800, ...

. The civil parish absorbed Burton on 1 April 2015, and on 1 July 2017 the new parish was renamed to Duddon and Burton.

Legend of the "Headless Woman"

The name of the Headless Woman public house name recalls the local legend of Grace Trigg who died in about 1664. She was a servant at nearby

Hockenhull Hall Hockenhull Hall is a mansion house to the southwest of the village of Tarvin, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. Hockenhull Hall dates from the 17th ...

, found hiding in a cellar there by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

's parliamentarian soldiers after the royalist owners had fled. They tortured her to force her to reveal where the family valuables were hidden and, when she would not tell them, beheaded her in the attic, dragged her body downstairs and dumped it off one of the "Roman Bridges" (three medieval packhorse bridges on the

River Gowy The River Gowy is a river in Cheshire, England, a tributary of the River Mersey. It rises in western Cheshire in the hills near Peckforton Castle, very close to the source of the River Weaver. While the Weaver flows south initially, the Gowy f ...

, still standing today at the end of Platts Lane in

Hockenhull Hockenhull is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Tarvin, in the Borough of Cheshire West and Chester and ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. In 2001 it had a population of 19. The civil parish was abolished in 2015 and merged int ...

). Legend has it that, 250 years following her beheading, the inn's owners, after researching the story, ascended to the attic to discover the bloodstains were still present where she had been killed. For nearly 300 years, her ghost has been reported to wander the roads about Duddon, visiting the local park and bridges, and has been seen returning to her place of execution at the Headless Woman pub. Local farmers have reported seeing her ghost walking through rows of maize. She reportedly carries her severed head beneath her arm. The most common sightings of her ghost have been at the Roman Bridges in Hockenhull. In 2009, a professional

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...

investigation took place at the pub and bridges by local investigators to gather evidence of her ghost. With their instruments, they were able to detect unexplained sounds and many more mysterious pieces of evidence that could reveal her actual presence. The pub was demolished in 2014.

References

External links

Duddon St. Peter's School Website
Villages in Cheshire Former civil parishes in Cheshire Cheshire West and Chester {{Cheshire-geo-stub

Legend of the "Headless Woman"

See also

References

External links