Dunham-on-the-Hill 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 Dunham-on-the-Hill and Hapsford, 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

A56 road The A56 is a road in England which extends between the city of Chester in Cheshire and the village of Broughton in North Yorkshire. The road contains a mixture of single and dual carriageway sections, and traverses environments as diverse as t ...

, approximately from

Helsby Helsby is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Overlooking the Mersey estuary, it is approximately north east of Chester and south wes ...

and from

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 ...

. The village is above sea level, south west of

Helsby Hill Helsby is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Overlooking the Mersey estuary, it is approximately north east of Chester and south we ...

. Originally a small hamlet, it has gradually enlarged over the twentieth century, although the village retains a semi-rural character. Council housing was built shortly after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

behind ‘The Wheatsheaf' pub, with many of these properties now owner occupied. Other in-fill building in the village has increased the population of the parish from fewer than 300 in the early 1900s to 534 recorded in the 2001 census. This decreased slightly to 501 at the time of the 2011 census. The civil parish was abolished in 2015 to form Dunham-on-the-Hill and Hapsford, part also went to Manley.

History

The name Dunham-on-the-Hill means "hill village or homestead", deriving 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 ...

''dūn'' (a hill) and ''hām'' (a village, community or homestead). The village is mentioned 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 as ''Doneham'' under the ownership of Earl Hugh of Chester. The entry lists eleven households (seven villagers, three smallholders and one 'smiths'). Comprising farmland, meadow and some woodland, Aescwulf of

Landican Landican () is a hamlet on the Wirral Peninsula, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The hamlet is on the outskirts of Birkenhead, near to Woodchurch and the M53 motorway. Historically part of the county of Cheshire, it ...

had previously been the owner in 1066. Dunham-on-the-Hill was a township in Thornton parish, Eddisbury Hundred, which became a civil parish in 1866. Its population was recorded as 260 in 1801, then 332 in 1851, 282 in 1901, 446 in 1951 and increasing to 534 by 2001.

Dunham Hill railway station Dunham Hill railway station was a railway station in Dunham-on-the-Hill, 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, Derbys ...

opened in 1850 as part of the

Birkenhead Railway The Birkenhead Railway was a railway company in North West England. It was incorporated as the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway (BL&CJR) in 1846 to build a line connecting the port of Birkenhead and the city of Chester with ...

. It closed in 1952, although the tracks passing through the station site are still operational as the

Chester–Warrington line The Chester–Warrington line is a railway line running between and in North West England. There are two passenger trains per hour in each direction between Chester and Warrington. One (operated by Northern Trains) continues to Manchester Vic ...

. ROF Dunham on the Hill was an explosives storage depot built during World War II. The facility had its own on-site railway, with access provided via a branch line near the railway station. The depot closed during the 1960s and most of the land has been given over to agriculture. Some of the old storage sheds can still be seen from the

M56 motorway The M56 motorway, also known as the North Cheshire motorway, serves the Cheshire and Greater Manchester areas of England. It runs east to west from junction 4 of the M60 at Gatley, south of Manchester, to Dunkirk, approximately north of Chester ...

. The village school closed in 2008. The 'Dunham Arms' pub reopened in 2010.

Churches

The parish church of St Luke was built in the 1860s as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

. Before this villagers had to walk across the fields to

Thornton-le-Moors Thornton-le-Moors is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. At the census of 2001 it had a population of 260, reducing slightly to 253 at the 2011 census ...

in order to attend church services. Services are held here at 9.30 every Sunday morning. The village also has two Methodist chapels, both now converted into dwellings. The Wesleyan Methodist church in the centre of Dunham was the first place of worship to be built in the village. Hapsford Methodist Church is on the A56 between Dunham and its neighbouring village, Hapsford.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunham-on-the-Hill, Cheshire Villages in Cheshire Former civil parishes in Cheshire Cheshire West and Chester

History

Churches

See also

References

External links