Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in

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. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the

Wirral Peninsula Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to t ...

, north 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 ...

, south of

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

, southwest of

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

and south of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. The town had a population of 61,090 in the 2011 census. Ellesmere Port also forms part of the wider Birkenhead urban area, which had a population of 325,264 in 2011. The town was originally established on the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is 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 ...

at the entrance to the Ellesmere Canal. As well as a service sector economy, it has retained large industries including Stanlow oil refinery, a chemical works and the

Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors LimitedCompany No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. () is a British car compa ...

car factory. There are also a number of tourist attractions including the

National Waterways Museum The National Waterways Museum (NWM) is in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England, at the northern end of the Shropshire Union Canal where it meets the Manchester Ship Canal (). The museum's collections and archives focus on the Britain's navigable inl ...

, the Blue Planet Aquarium and

Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet is an outlet centre in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. Located off Junction 10 of the M53, it is the largest outlet centre in the United Kingdom, with 145 stores and the first designer outlet village in Europe, ...

History

The town of Ellesmere Port was founded at the outlet of the never-completed Ellesmere Canal. The canal (now renamed) was designed and engineered by

William Jessop William Jessop (23 January 1745 – 18 November 1814) was an English civil engineer, best known for his work on canals, harbours and early railways in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Early life Jessop was born in Devonport, Devon, the ...

and

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...

as part of a project to connect the rivers

Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

Mersey The River Mersey () is 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 ...

and Dee. The canal was intended to be completed in sections. In 1795 the section between the River Mersey at Netherpool and the River Dee at

was opened. However the canal was not finished as first intended; it never reached the River Severn. Upon reevaluation it was decided that the costs to complete the project were not projected to be repaid because of a decrease in expected commercial traffic. There had been a loss of competitive advantage caused by steam engine-related economic advances (nationally, regionally and locally) during the first decade of canal construction. During or before the construction of the canal the village of Netherpool changed its name to the Port of Ellesmere, and by the early 19th century, to Ellesmere Port. Settlements had existed in the area since the writing of 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 ...

in the 11th century, which mentions

Great Sutton Great Sutton is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is a suburb of Ellesmere Port and, as with Little Sutton to the north, was once a sepa ...

, Little Sutton, Pool (now

Overpool Overpool is a village on the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire, England. It is a suburb of Ellesmere Port, and part of the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. History The name means "upper pool" and derives from the Old English words '' ...

) and Hooton. The settlement of Whitby was a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in the ancient parishes of Eastham and Stoak, within the

Wirral Hundred The Hundred of Wirral is the ancient administrative area for the Wirral Peninsula. Its name is believed to have originated from the ''Hundred of Wilaveston'', the historic name for Willaston, which was an important assembly point in the Wirral ...

. The township, which included the hamlets of Ellesmere Port and Whitbyheath, became a

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 1866. To enhance the economic growth of the area, the Netherpool, Overpool and Whitby civil parishes were abolished on 1 April 1911 to become parts of the new civil parish of Ellesmere Port. The first houses in Ellesmere Port itself, however, grew up around the docks and the first main street was Dock Street, which now houses the National Waterways Museum. Station Road, which connected the docks with the village of Whitby, also gradually developed and as more shops were needed, some of the houses became retail premises. The main employer at this time was Burnell's Iron Works which had been set up at the end of the nineteenth century. This was followed by the setting up of the Mersey Ironworks factory by the Wolverhampton Corrugated Iron Company In 1905 who settled on Ellesmere Port as a way of exploiting the company's international trade through the nearby ports of Birkenhead and Liverpool. Initially 300 workers and their families came from

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

and the surrounding areas to work in the factory, settling in a specially built worker's village named “Wolverham”. As the expanding industrial areas growing up around the canal and its docks attracted more workers to the area, the town itself continued to expand. Ellesmere-port-lighthouse-1

By the mid-20th century, thanks to the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894 and the Stanlow Oil Refinery in the 1920s, Ellesmere Port had expanded so that it now incorporated the villages of Great and Little Sutton, Hooton, Whitby, Overpool and Rivacre as suburbs. The town centre itself had moved from the Station Road/Dock Street area, to an area that had once been home to a

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation o ...

(indeed, the former

Ellesmere Port and Neston Ellesmere Port and Neston was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It covered the southern part of the Wirral Peninsula, namely that part which is not included in the Metropolitan Borough of ...

Borough Council officially referred to the town centre as Stud Farm for housing allocation purposes) around the crossroads of Sutton Way/Stanney Lane and Whitby Road. The foundation stone for Ellesmere Port Civic Hall was laid by the Chairman of Ellesmere Port Borough Council, Horace Black, on 2 May 1953. It was designed in the modernist style and completed in 1955. In the 20th century, a number of new housing estates were developed, many of them on the sites of former farms such as Hope Farm and Grange Farm. Many estates consisted of both

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

and privately owned houses and flats. Ellesmere Port, in more recent times has had an influx of immigrants from

. Thus demand for housing increased with the opening of the

car plant in 1962. Opened as a components supplier to the

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

plant, passenger car production began in 1964 with the

Vauxhall Viva The Vauxhall Viva is a small family car that was produced by Vauxhall in a succession of three versions between 1963 and 1979. These were designated as the HA, HB and HC series. The Viva was introduced a year after Vauxhall's fellow GM compa ...

. The plant is now Vauxhall's only car factory in Britain, since the end of passenger car production at the Luton plant in 2004 (where commercial vehicles are still made). Ellesmere Port currently produces the

Vauxhall Astra The Vauxhall Astra is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) that has been sold by Vauxhall since 1980. It is currently produced at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. For its first two generations, the nameplate was applied to right-han ...

model on two shifts, employing 2,500 people. In the mid-1980s, the Port Arcades, a covered

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

was built in the town centre. By the 1990s, it was the retail sector rather than the industrial that was attracting workers and their families to the town. This was boosted with the building of the Cheshire Oaks outlet village and the Coliseum shopping park, which also included a

multiplex Multiplex may refer to: * Multiplex (automobile), a former American car make * Multiplex (comics), a DC comic book supervillain * Multiplex (company), a global contracting and development company * Multiplex (assay), a biological assay which measu ...

cinema; prior to this since the closure of the cinema in Station Road, Little Sutton (King's cinema) and the Queen's cinema adjacent to Ellesmere Port railway station in the 1960s the town's only cinema had been a single screen in the EPIC Leisure Centre. Since 1974 Ellesmere Port has been an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparish ...

when the civil parish of Ellesmere Port was abolished and all its functions were assumed by the new district of

. The district was abolished in 2009, and the town no longer has its own council. In August 2012,

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

opened their largest store (apart from Marble Arch in London) on a site near the Coliseum shopping park.

Governance

Ellesmere Port was nearly included into the

Metropolitan Borough of Wirral The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of 321,238, and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, ...

, in

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, when that was formed on 1 April 1974. It was removed from the proposals before the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

had its first reading, and instead remained in Cheshire as part of the borough of

. Plans were announced which proposed combining the borough of Ellesmere Port and Neston with the

and

Vale Royal A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municipa ...

districts to form a new "West Cheshire"

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

. The new unitary authority came into being on 1 April 2009 as Cheshire West and Chester. The Conservatives won control of this council in shadow elections in May 2008, winning a majority of seats in the Ellesmere Port area for the first time. At national level, Ellesmere Port is part of the

parliamentary constituency. , the current

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) is

Justin Madders Justin Piers Richard Madders (born 22 November 1972) is a British Labour Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellesmere Port and Neston since the May 2015 general election. Early life and education Madders studied l ...

(Labour).

Demography

Joseph Groome Towers, Ellesmere Port (1)

Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Ellesmere Port

The 2011 census records 27,134 households in Ellesmere Port, with 40.9% of the population aged between 30 and 59. It lists the

ethnicity An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

of the town as 95.2% White British, 0.8% White Irish, 1.6% White Other, 0.8% mixed ethnicity, 1.1% Asian, 0.2% Black and 0.1% other. 97.8% speak English as a first language.

Religion

According to the 2011 census, the main religion of Ellesmere Port is Christianity with 72.1% of the population. 20% have no religion, 6% are unspecified, 0.4% are Muslim, 0.2% are Buddhist, 0.1% Hindu and 0.2% other.

Landmarks

Entrance to the Blue Planet Aquarium, Ellesmere Port

A very wet day at Cheshire Oaks shopping centre - geograph

* Blue Planet Aquarium, largest aquarium in the UK 1998–1999 *

, largest outlet village in the UK 1995–present, largest outlet village in Europe 1995–1998. It is the location of the UK's largest artificial Christmas tree, tall and wide *The Coliseum Retail Park, retail outlet located next to Cheshire Oaks Outlet *Ellesmere Port Hospital, located in Whitby * Ellesmere Port Sports Village, a £15 million sports village opened in late 2015 *

, second largest store in the UK *

, largest canal boat collection in the world * Stanlow Oil Refinery, second largest industrial space in the UK *Whitby Hall, listed Victorian building in

Whitby Park Whitby Park is the main urban park in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. It is managed by Cheshire West and Chester Council. History The park was formerly the grounds of Whitby Hall, a Victorian house built in the 1860s by the Grace family, unti ...

and home of Action Transport Theatre company

Geography

Ellesmere Port is located at the southern end of the

, in the county of Cheshire. Its suburbs include

to the north west,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

to the north, Rossmore to the north east, with Whitby and Wolverham to the south.

Parks and green spaces

* Rivacre Valley Local Nature Reserve * Stanney Woods Nature Reserve

Transport

Road

Ellesmere Port is located near the interchange of the M56 and the M53 motorways. The

A41 road The A41 is a trunk road between London and Birkenhead, England. Now in parts replaced by motorways, it passes through or near Watford, Kings Langley, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Bicester, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, ...

between

and

, also passes through the area. The M56 carries the European Route E22 in this area.

Buses

There is a bus station in the town centre with frequent services to Chester,

Elton Elton may refer to: Places England * Elton, Cambridgeshire (formerly Huntingdonshire), a village ** Elton Hall, a baronial hall * Elton, Cheshire, a village and civil parish * Elton, County Durham, a village and civil parish * Elton, Derbyshire ...

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 we ...

Frodsham Frodsham is a market town, civil parish, and electoral ward in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Its population was 8,982 in 2001, increasing to 9,077 at the 2011 Census. It is s ...

, Birkenhead and

Neston Neston is a town and civil parish on the Wirral Peninsula, in Cheshire, England. It is part of the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. The village of Parkgate is located to the north west and the villages of Little Neston and Nes ...

. There are also services to

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not ...

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

operated by Stagecoach. Occasional National Express coaches serve the bus station. Most services are operated by Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire with one service operated by Helms of Eastham and another by Arrowebrook Coaches.

Rail

Ellesmere Port railway station Ellesmere Port railway station is located in the town of Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. The station was an intermediate though station on the Hooton–Helsby line. Now all passenger services terminate at the station from both directions. It ...

is on the

Wirral line The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line. The Wirral line connects Liverpool to the Wirral Peninsula via the Mersey Railway Tunnel, with ...

of the

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line (Merseyrail ...

network and has a half-hourly electric train service to Liverpool via Birkenhead. The line was

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

from Hooton to Ellesmere Port by British Rail in 1994. There is also an infrequent service to Warrington.

Canal

The Manchester Ship Canal joins the Mersey estuary north-west of Ellesmere Port at Eastham, but the town is also the northern terminus of the Shropshire Union Canal (which used to exchange goods with seagoing boats at what is now the National Waterways Museum).

Sports

Speedway racing operated at the stadium in Thornton Road in the mid to late 1970s and in the 1980s; since March 2013, the stadium has been back in use for greyhound racing. Ellesmere Port Gunners raced in the lower tier Leagues. The Gunners' best season was their last, 1985, when they won the National League championship. The campaign was marred by a career-ending injury sustained by inspirational captain Joe Owen. Owen was hurt in a track crash at Birmingham. Ellesmere Port Town F.C. was once of town's main football team before the founding of Vauxhall Motors F.C. in 1963. Ellesmere Port Town F.C. was founded in 1948 and folded in 1973. The club's main achievements were playing in the Northern Premier League (The 7th tier in the English Football Pyramid) and reaching the F.A. Cup First Round in the 1971–1972 season, losing 3–0 to Boston United.

Vauxhall Motors F.C. Vauxhall Motors Football Club is a football club based in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Rivacre Park, known as the vanEupen Arena for sponsorship reasons. It was originally the works team ...

are the local football team. In 2009

Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...

and his run around the UK for

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Educat ...

saw him pass through Little Sutton village centre and Hooton. The footage is only minutes long however. In 2012 Ellesmere Port played host to the Paralympic Flame as part of the Paralympic Torch Relay celebrations.

West Cheshire College West Cheshire College was a further education, vocational college in the North West of England. It had over 20,000 students at its two main campuses in Ellesmere Port and Chester as well as in workplaces and community venues. In March 2017 i ...

s campus in Ellesmere Port was one of the drop off points for the flame as well as the EPIC leisure centre and the David Lloyd Leisure Centre. Events included sporting demonstrations and the parade of the Paralympic flame. Construction began in January 2014 for the new multimillion-pound Sports Village in Stanney Grange which initially was to incorporate an Olympic sized swimming venue (now smaller), tennis courts, football pitches and other sport halls, and will be the new home of

Cheshire Phoenix The Cheshire Phoenix are a professional basketball team based in Ellesmere Port, England. Founded in 1984, they are members of the British Basketball League and play their home games at the Cheshire Oaks Arena. From 1993 until 2015 the team was ...

, the local professional

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs howeve ...

team from the start of the 2015/16 BBL Championship season. The village is situated on site of the old Stanney High School by Cheshire Oaks, the Coliseum and M&S.

Notable people

The following people are natives of Ellesmere Port, or have lived there for a period of time. * Norman Sailes (1920 in Ellesmere Port – 2012) a Fleet Air Arm pilot in WWII, awarded the Distinguished Service Cross * Arthur Goddard (born 1921) was in charge of the Land Rovers engineering development from 1947 to 1957, went to the Little Sutton Primary School * Charles Bronson (born 1952) also known as Charles Salvador, is an English criminal and ''"most violent prisoner in Britain"'' lived in Ellesmere Port in his early teens *

Hardeep Singh Kohli Hardeep Singh Kohli (born 21 January 1969) is a Scottish presenter of Sikh heritage who has appeared on various radio and television programmes. Background Kohli was born in London and moved to Glasgow, Scotland, when he was four. His parents ...

(born 1969) is a British presenter of Sikh heritage and TV presenter and personality. He lived briefly in the Little Sutton area. ;Politics *

Sir Herbert Williams, 1st Baronet Sir Herbert Geraint Williams, 1st Baronet, (2 December 1884 – 25 July 1954) was a British politician and Conservative Member of Parliament (MP). Biography Herbert Williams was born in Hooton, Cheshire, on 2 December 1884. He was educated at Li ...

(1884 in Hooton – 1954) Conservative MP for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

1924 to 1929, for Croydon South 1932 to 1945 and for Croydon East 1950 to 1954 *

John Prescott John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he w ...

(born 1938) ex-Deputy Prime Minister attended the Grange Secondary Modern School in 1948. * Andrew Miller (1949–2019) former Labour MP for

from 1992 to 2015. *

Beverley Hughes Beverley June Hughes, Baroness Hughes of Stretford (born 30 March 1950) is a British politician serving as Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, Hughes was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stretford an ...

(born 1950 in Ellesmere Port) Labour MP for Stretford and Urmston and former government minister ;Creative Arts Ian Prowse

* Edgar Foxall (1906 in Ellesmere Port – 1990) was an English poet whose work features in one of the

Penguin poetry anthologies The Penguin poetry anthologies, published by Penguin Books, have at times played the role of a "third force" in British poetry, less literary than those from Faber and Faber, and less academic than those from Oxford University Press.. ''The Peng ...

, ''Poetry of the Thirties'' (1964). *

Lillian Beckwith Lillian Beckwith (25 April 1916 – 3 January 2004), real name Lillian Comber, was an English writer best known for her series of semi-autobiographical books set on the Isle of Skye. Born Lilian Lloyd in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, she married Edw ...

(1916–2004) author, born and grew up in Ellesmere Port the daughter of a grocer as chronicled in her book ''About My Father's Business'' *

Russ Abbot Russ Abbot (born Russell Allan Roberts; 18 September 1947) is an English musician, comedian and actor. Born in Chester, he first came to public notice during the 1970s as the singer and drummer with British comedy showband the Black Abbots, la ...

(born 1947) an English musician, comedian and actor, he grew up in the town's Wolverham district. *

Mike Singleton Mike Singleton (21 February 1951 – 10 October 2012) was a British video game designer who wrote various well-regarded titles for the ZX Spectrum during the 1980s. His titles include '' The Lords of Midnight'', ''Doomdark's Revenge'', ' ...

(1951–2012) an English teacher in Ellesmere Port, then a British video game designer *

Ian Prowse Ian Prowse (born 10 January 1964) is an English singer-songwriter, currently frontman of Amsterdam (band), Amsterdam and previously of Pele (English band), Pele. Biography Pele Prowse formed Pele (English band), Pele in 1989 along with Dally (d ...

(born 1964) singer, songwriter formerly of Pele and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

grew up in Little Sutton * Stevie Riks (born 1967 in Ellesmere Port) an English comedian and impressionist, comedy writer, voice-over artist and multi-instrumentalist musician. * Stove King (born 1974 in Ellesmere Port) an English musician, formerly the bassist for the rock band

Mansun Mansun were an English alternative rock band, formed in Chester in 1995. The band comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Draper, bassist Stove King, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Dominic Chad, and drummer Andie Rathbone. It was announced ...

* Lee Latchford Evans (born 1975) an English singer, dancer, stage actor, kickboxer and personal trainer, member of pop group Steps grew up here. * Pele (active 1990 to 1996) were an English indie rock band, formed in Ellesmere Port *

Hooton Tennis Club Hooton Tennis Club is a four-piece indie-rock band from the Wirral consisting of Ryan Murphy (vocals/guitar), James Madden (vocals/guitar), Callum McFadden (bass) and Harry Chalmers (drums) formed in 2013. They are signed to Heavenly Recording ...

(formed 2013) a four-piece indie-rock band including James Madden and Callum McFadden who grew up in the area. ;Sport StanCullisStatue

20150502 Lattes-Montpellier vs Bourges 001

Sam Chedgzoy Sam Chedgzoy (27 January 1889 – 7 January 1967) was an English footballer who changed the laws of the game. He played professionally for Everton, the New Bedford Whalers and Montreal Carsteel. He also earned eight caps with the England na ...

(1889 in Ellesmere Port – 1967) footballer, played 279 times for Everton between 1910 and 1926. *

Joe Mercer Joseph Mercer, OBE (9 August 1914 – 9 August 1990) was an English football player and manager. Mercer, who played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal in his footballing career, also went on to manage Aston Villa, Manchester City and Engl ...

OBE (1914 in Ellesmere Port – 1990) England football international and manager, led Manchester City to the 1968 First Division championship, won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

(1969),

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

(1970) and

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

(1970). * Stan Cullis (1916 in Ellesmere Port – 2001) former

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

player and manager, he played football for Cambridge Road School and Ellesmere Port Boys. * Michael Ainsworth (1922 in Hooton – 1978) an English cricketer who played his county cricket for Worcestershire *

Dave Hickson David Hickson (30 October 1929 – 8 July 2013) was an English professional footballer who played for Everton, Aston Villa, Huddersfield Town, Liverpool, Cambridge City, Bury and Tranmere Rovers Club career Hickson started his football ...

(1929–2013) footballer who played for Everton,

and

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

, he also worked as an ambassador for Everton *

Ralph Gubbins Ralph Grayham Gubbins (31 January 1932 – 11 September 2011) was an English professional association football, footballer who played as an inside forward. Gubbins made nearly 250 appearances in the Football League for three clubs between 1952 a ...

(1932 in Ellesmere Port – 2011) an English professional footballer who made nearly 250 pro appearances * Tony Coleman (born 1945 in Ellesmere Port) an English former footballer who made 250 pro appearances * Mick Wright (born 1946 in Ellesmere Port) an English former professional footballer who made 282 appearances for Aston Villa * Geoff Davies (born 1947 in Ellesmere Port) is an English former professional footballer who made 305 pro appearances *

Graham Turner Graham John Turner (born 5 October 1947) is an English former footballer who became a manager. His son Mark was also a professional footballer. He is third behind only Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger in terms of most games managed. After a ...

(born 1947 in Ellesmere Port) is former

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

and Aston Villa manager *

Ian Bowyer Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name ( Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in ...

(born 1951 in Little Sutton) footballer, with Manchester City and Nottingham Forest, 608 caps * Paul Jones (born 1953 in Ellesmere Port) a former professional footballer who played 445 games for Bolton Wanderers *

Barry Siddall Barry Alfred Siddall (born 12 September 1954) is an English former professional football goalkeeper. When he retired from the game he had 614 appearances to his name over a 21-year career in the Football League, playing for numerous clubs. He p ...

(born 1954 in Ellesmere Port) an English former professional goalkeeper, with 614 appearances *

Neil Whatmore Neil Whatmore (born 17 May 1955) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He made 449 appearances in the Football League and scored 150 goals, playing for Bolton Wanderers, Birmingham City, Oxford United, Burnley and Mansfield ...

(born 1955 in Ellesmere Port) an English former footballer who made 449 pro appearances *

Colin Woodthorpe Colin Woodthorpe (born 13 January 1969 in Liverpool) is an English former footballer who played for Chester City, Norwich City, Aberdeen, Stockport County and Bury before moving into management roles. Playing career Chester City Woodthorpe ma ...

(born 1969) footballer grew up in the town, attended Stanney Comprehensive School, 928 appearances for Chester City, Norwich, Aberdeen and Bury. * Rob Jones (born 1971) former footballer for Liverpool and England, 260 caps, grew up in the town. *

Anastasia Dobromyslova Anastasia Petrovna Dobromyslova-Martin (russian: Анастаси́я Петро́вна Добромы́слова; born 26 September 1984) is a professional darts player. She is a three-time Women's World Professional Darts Champion of the B ...

(born 1984) former Women's World Professional Darts Champion lives in the town. * Tony Martin (born 1981 in Ellesmere Port) Professional darts player and Team GB soft tips darts captain. * Johannah Leedham (born 1987 in Ellesmere Port) Team GB women's basketball captain for London 2012 * Paul Butler (born 1988 in Ellesmere Port) an English professional Bantamweight boxer and a former IBF Bantamweight champion *

Doug Ellis Sir Herbert Douglas Ellis, (3 January 1924 – 11 October 2018) was an English entrepreneur. He was the chairman of Aston Villa Football Club from 1968 to 1975, and again from 1982 until 2006. Ellis was knighted in the 2012 New Year Honours L ...

business entrepreneur and Aston Villa chairman.

References

External links

Local Newspaper
{{Authority control Towns in Cheshire Port cities and towns of the Irish Sea Former civil parishes in Cheshire Unparished areas in Cheshire Populated places established in 1795