Henhull is 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 authorit ...

in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies to the north west of

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...

. For administrative purposes, it is combined with adjacent civil parishes of Acton and Edleston to form a total area of 765 hectares (1890 acres).Acton, Edleston and Henhull Parish Plan
(accessed 17 August 2007) The parish was predominantly rural with scattered farms and houses and no large settlements. In 2019 a 1,100-house development called Kingsbourne was being built in the east of the parish as an extension to the town of Nantwich. Henhull civil parish also includes the hamlets of Basin End, Bluestone, Welshmen's Green and part of Burford.
(accessed 17 August 2007) Nearby villages include Acton and Rease Heath. According to the 2001 census, Henhull had a population of 71. At the 2011 Census the population remained less than 100. In 2017, there were 26 households in the civil parish.

History

Different meanings have been suggested for the name 'Henhull'. Hen Heol is Welsh for 'old street', which might refer to the Roman road from

Middlewich Middlewich is a town in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, east of Chester, east of Winsford, southeast of Northwich and northwest of Sandbach. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,595 ...

to Whitchurch, excavated in 1987, which runs through the parish. Alternatively, Henhull or Henhill means a place for woodhens or other waterfowl. The hamlet of Bluestone is named after a granite boulder

glacial deposit image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

situated near the Burford crossroads in Acton civil parish, which was unearthed during road building and is believed to originate from

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

. The name is thought to derive from blue porphyritic crystals, which are no longer visible. A local legend suggests that the boulder was thrown at Acton church from

Bickerton Hill Bickerton Hill refers to two low red sandstone hills that form the southern end of the Mid Cheshire Ridge in Cheshire, north-west England. The high point, Raw Head, lies on the northerly hill and has an elevation of 227 metres. Parts of the ...

by the Devil. The

Battle of Nantwich The Battle of Nantwich was fought on 25 January 1644 in Cheshire during the First English Civil War. In the battle, Sir Thomas Fairfax in command of a Parliamentarian relief force defeated Lord Byron and the Royalists. The Parliamentari ...

of 1644 took place partly in Henhull, on the site of the present Nantwich Marina. The parish of Henhull formerly had population figures of 45 (1801), 110 (1851), 102 (1901) and 59 (1951).

Geography and transport

The Shropshire Union Canal south of the Hurleston Junction runs through the parish from the south east to the north west; the southern part is raised on the Nantwich Embankment. The

River Weaver The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included ...

runs along the eastern boundary of the parish. The A51 runs east–west along the northern boundary of the parish, crossing the canal at Henhull Bridge. The Crewe and Nantwich Circular Walk runs through the parish.

Notable features

Marina (at ) is at Basin End, the meeting point of the former Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal and Chester Canal, now both part of the Shropshire Union. Sculptures by the canal in this area form part of a community art project, including the 'Nantwich Horse', by John Merrill (sculptor), John Merrill, constructed from recycled lock gates, hinges and bolts, which won a National Waterways Renaissance Award from the British Urban Regeneration Association in 2006.Borough of Crewe and Nantwich: 'Nantwich gets a wooden horse'

'Nantwich horse sculpture and community arts project nominated for national award'

Nantwich horse sculpture scoops national award
(accessed 17 August 2007) A police dog training school is located on Welshmen's Lane.

History

Geography and transport

Notable features

See also

References

Sources

External links