Hoole is a suburb in the east 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 ...

, in the unitary authority of

Cheshire West and Chester Cheshire West and Chester is a unitary authority with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 local government changes, by virtue of an order under the Local Governm ...

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 coun ...

, England. The area is contiguous with Newton to the north and Vicars Cross to the south. 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, ...

marks the suburb's eastern boundary, with the separate Hoole Village approximately away. At the 2011 census the population of the electoral ward of Newton and Hoole was 9,359.

History

The settlement was first mentioned in the Register of the Abbey of Saint Werburgh in 1119. The name derives from the Old English word ''hol'' and is believed to mean "at the hollow" (or hole), possibly referring to the "hollow way" formed by a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

roadway. Hoole 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, C ...

in Broxton Hundred which became a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in 1866. The population was recorded at 177 in 1801, 427 in 1851, 5,341 in 1901 and rising to 9,056 by 1951. Hoole was also a separate urban district in Cheshire until 1 April 1954 when it was made part of the

County Borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent t ...

of Chester. The civil parish was also abolished at the same time. On 17 July 2009 sixteen flats on Hoole Lane were destroyed following an explosion on the first floor. More than thirty firefighters tackled the resulting fire at the two-storey building in Wharton Court.

Community

Bowling green Alexandra Park, Hoole - geograph

Hoole is a residential area consisting of mainly Victorian terraced houses and 1930s semi-detached houses. Hoole Road is a designated

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

. Due to the proximity of the area to Chester city centre, Chester railway station and the

M53 motorway The M53 is an motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is also referred to as the Mid Wirral Motorway. It runs between the Kingsway Tunnel, at Wallasey in the north, and the A55 at ...

, the area is home to many hotels, guest houses and

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

establishments. The main shopping streets are Faulkner Street and Charles Street, Hoole has a

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

branch with cash machine facilities. Open spaces in Hoole include Alexandra Park which provides tennis courts, bowling greens and a children's play area and the Coronation Playing Fields. A large area of allotments is accessible from both Canadian Avenue and Hoole Lane. The annual Hoole Christmas Lights switch-on by a local celebrity attracts crowds of thousands to Faulkner Street. The event celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2019.

Places of worship

There are four churches in Hoole: Anglican ( All Saints' Church), Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed. These churches work together to host Hoole's largest free annual event 'Funday on a Sunday', which attracted more than 6,000 people in July 2006. This event was held in previous years in Alexandra Park, but in 2006 moved to the nearby, larger, Coronation Playing Fields. The Funday event was held on the Coronation Playing Fields again in 2007 and 2008, by which time it had become part of the Chester-wide Chesterfest organised by churches in Chester.

Transport

The A56 Hoole Road is the main thoroughfare through the suburb. It connects Chester city centre with the A41, the A55 the

(at junction 12). The Millennium Greenway footpath and cycle way runs along a former railway trackbed. Chester railway station is less than away from Hoole.

Notable residents

RAF pilot and charity founder

Leonard Cheshire Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire, (7 September 1917 – 31 July 1992) was a highly decorated Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot and group captain during the Second World War, and a philanthropist. Among the honours Cheshire received as ...

was born (on 7 September 1917) at 65 Hoole Road, which is now a guest house. Russ Abbot (born Russell Allan Roberts on 18 September 1947), is the lead singer of the Black Abbots and later become a solo comedian. Ainsley Harriott lives in Hoole with his girlfriend and son.

References

External links

A Virtual Stroll Around HooleHoole Lawn Tennis Club
{{Authority control Areas of Chester