Halton, formerly a separate village, is now part of the town of Runcorn,

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 name ''Halton'' has been assumed by the Borough of Halton, which includes Runcorn, Widnes and some outlying parishes.

History

There is evidence of human occupation in the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

and during the Roman era. The village is recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) in the hundred of Tunendune and towards the end of the 11th century the first castle, which became the seat of the

Barons of Halton The Barony of Halton, in Cheshire, England, comprised a succession of 15 barons and hereditary Constables of Chester under the overlordship of the Earl of Chester. It was not an English feudal barony granted by the king but a separate class of ...

, was built on the hill. The Tunendune hundred court was absorbed into

Bucklow hundred The hundred of Bucklow was an ancient division of the historic county of Cheshire, in northern England. It was known to have been in existence at least as early as 1260, and it was formed from the earlier Domesday hundreds of Bochelau and Tune ...

by 1260 so government statistics for Halton over many later centuries are indexed by Bucklow hundred. During the medieval period a deer park measuring lay to the south and the west of the village. At this time Halton had a weekly market and annual fair. The village held a

court leet The court leet was a historical court baron (a type of manorial court) of England and Wales and Ireland that exercised the "view of frankpledge" and its attendant police jurisdiction, which was normally restricted to the hundred courts. Etym ...

and the castle was used as a prison. During the Civil War the castle was held by the Royalists and twice besieged by Parliamentary forces. Following this the castle fell into ruin. The importance of Halton declined with the coming of the Industrial Revolution and the development of the chemical and other industries in Runcorn.

Geography

The village stands in an elevated position at compared with the surrounding area which lies at about . At its centre is an outcrop of sandstone which rises to a height of . On the summit of the outcrop are the ruins of Halton Castle. The major road, Main Street, passes below the castle, to its west and south, and Castle Road leads up to the castle.

Demography

Population statistics were recorded separately for the parish of Halton until the village was incorporated into its larger neighbour under the Runcorn New Town (Designation) Order 1964. The population of Halton Village in 1664 has been estimated as 375.

Today

Halton Trinity Methodist Church - geograph

The village is now entirely residential. It is surrounded to the west and north by the estates of Runcorn New Town. To the south is

Halton Lea Runcorn Shopping City, formerly Halton Lea and Runcorn Shopping Centre, is a medium-sized indoor shopping centre in Runcorn, England. Opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1972, it is the main shopping area in Runcorn and has over 125,000 visitors per w ...

, a shopping mall, and other retail and entertainment outlets. To the east is Town Park. The castle is a Grade I listed building and a scheduled ancient monument, and there are a number of other listed buildings in the village. There are two public houses, the Castle Hotel, which is incorporated into the structure of the castle and which contains the former courthouse, and the Norton Arms. In the village are two active churches, the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Church of St Mary Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

and Trinity Methodist Church. The Village has a

Millennium Green Millennium Greens are areas of green space for the benefit of local communities. 245 were created in cities, towns and villages across England to celebrate the turn of the Millennium. Their creation was funded in part by the National Lottery via ...

, one of a series of 245 charity-run public Greenspaces created at the Turn of the Millennium.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{authority control Villages in Cheshire Runcorn