Hooton is a suburban 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

on the

Wirral Peninsula The Wirral Peninsula (), 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 Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpo ...

, within the unitary authority of

Cheshire West and Chester Cheshire West and Chester is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to l ...

and the ceremonial county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England. It was once a separate village but was incorporated into

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 Unite ...

as the town expanded outwards during the twentieth century. The 2011 census recorded the population of the Hooton built-up area as 385.

History

The name Hooton means "hill-spur farm/settlement" and likely derives from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

words ''hōh'' (s sharply projecting tract of land) and ''tūn'' (a farmstead or settlement). In 1070

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

granted the lands of Hooton to Adam de Aldithly. 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as ''Hotone'' in the hundred of ''Wilaveston'' (later called 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, Cheshire West, Willaston, which was an important asse ...

) under the ownership of Richard de Vernon and consisting of nine households (one villager, four smallholders and four 'riders'). Eventually the lands passed to the

Stanley family The Stanley family (or Audley-Stanley family) is an English family with many notable members, including the Earl of Derby, Earls of Derby and the Baron Audley, Barons Audley who descended from the early holders of Audley, Staffordshire, Audley ...

through a series of marriages. After the

Battle of Bosworth The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field ( ) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 ...

, Hooton had a new hall and the first Lord Derby in Lancashire. Sir William Stanley obtained a

licence to crenellate In medieval England, Wales and the Channel Islands a licence to crenellate (or licence to fortify) granted the holder permission to fortify his property. Such licences were granted by the king, and by the rulers of the counties palatine within the ...

in 1487 but built a

half timbered Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the struc ...

manor house in 1488 which survived until 1788 when it was demolished. The old house was replaced by a mansion called Hooton Hall, built from local stone from the quarries at

Storeton Storeton is a small village and former civil parish in the Wirral district, in the county of Merseyside, England, on the Wirral Peninsula. It is west of the town of Bebington and is made up of Great Storeton and Little Storeton, which is classi ...

. It was designed by the architect

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the Neoclassicism, neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to ...

in the Italian

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

style for the fifth

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, Sir William Stanley. The family sold the estate in the nineteenth century after Sir Massey Stanley had gone bankrupt due to his high living. The construction of the

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, Merseyside, Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it ...

nearby contributed to the last private owner, Richard Naylor, abandoning it as a place of residence. The empty hall was requisitioned at the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and used as a military hospital and officer's mess, with barracks erected in the grounds. Hooton Hall was demolished due to neglect in 1932. Part of the building's façade was reconstructed as 'The Gloriette' at the tourist village of

Portmeirion Portmeirion (; ) is a folly* * * tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Dwyryd in the community (Wales), community of Penrhyndeudraeth, from Porthmadog and from Minffordd railway station. Portmeirion was d ...

in North Wales. In 1917

RAF Hooton Park Royal Air Force Hooton Park or more simply RAF Hooton Park, on the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire, is a former Royal Air Force station originally built for the Royal Flying Corps in 1917 as a training aerodrome for pilots in the First World War. D ...

airfield was built with three double Belfast

Hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

s to train pilots for World War I from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

saw the airfield utilised as a military base, and three RAF auxiliary squadrons were based there until disbandment in 1957. Much of the airfield (including the site of the Hall) was transformed in 1962 into a factory for

Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors Limited , ;Company 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 Automoti ...

which as of is home to the

Vauxhall Astra The Vauxhall Astra is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) that has been sold by Vauxhall Motors, Vauxhall since 1980. Over its eight generations, it has been made at several GM/Opel/Stellantis plants around Europe - however most versio ...

range of cars. In 1990 the former RAF base was leased by Vauxhall to a charity called The Griffin Trust which managed the site until 2000 when The Hooton Park Trust was formed and tasked with restoring the

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

hangars. Hooton was once a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

and

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...

in the parish of Eastham in the

, becoming a separate

in 1866. It was administered as part of

Wirral Rural District Wirral Rural District was a rural district on the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire, England from 1894 to 1933. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 from the Wirral Rural Sanitary District. From the beginning of the twentieth centu ...

until 1933 when it was transferred to Ellesmere Port Urban District. The civil parish was abolished on 1 April 1950 and the area subsumed into Ellesmere Port. The population was 91 in 1801, 110 in 1851 and stood at 200 by 1901. In 1931 the parish had a population of 246.

Geography

Hooton is in the southern part of the Wirral Peninsula, lying within a

green belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...

area bordering

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

and Cheshire. It is near to the town of

and is a short distance away from the villages of Eastham and Willaston.

Transport

Hooton railway station Hooton railway station is situated in the south of the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire, England. It lies on the Wirral Line north of Chester and south west of Liverpool Lime Street railway station, Liverpool Lime Street on the Merseyrail network, ...

lies on the Wirral line of the

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network which serves Merseyside and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire in the North West England, North West of England. Merseyrail serves 69 Railway station, stations, 67 of which it manages, across two lin ...

network, with frequent trains to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

and

. The station provides an extensive

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...

facility. Immediately south of the station is the junction of the lines to Chester and Ellesmere Port. The trackbed of the former GWR/LM&SR Joint branch line from Hooton to

West Kirby West Kirby () is a coastal town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. In the north west of the Wirral Peninsula and at the mouth of the River Dee, the town is contiguous with Hoylake. It lies within the historic county bo ...

now forms the

Wirral Country Park Wirral Country Park lies on the Wirral Peninsula, England; it is split between the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in the county of Merseyside and in the borough of Cheshire West & Chester in Cheshire. It was the first designated country park in ...

. Hooton is to the south of junction 5 of the

M53 motorway The M53 is an motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside and the Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough of Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is also referred to as the Mid Wirral ...

. The A41 trunk road between

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

and Chester passes through the area, with the

A550 road List of A roads in zone 5 in Great Britain starting north/east of the A5, west of the A6, south of the Solway Firth The Solway Firth is an inlet on the west coast of Great Britain, forming part of the border between England and Scotland ...

diverging from it towards North Wales.

Notable people

* John Owen (1827 in Marchington – 1901 in Twickenham) an English vicar and strong amateur chess master. He was vicar of Hooton, from 1862 to his retirement in 1900. He played chess in British tournaments into the 1890s and performed strongly in several matches against top British players, who were essentially chess professionals. * John Kebty-Fletcher (1869–1918) a British Conservative politician. MP for

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

1910–1913, when he resigned causing a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

. In 1912 his address was given as "The Paddock", Hooton, Cheshire. *

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 ...

(1884 in Hooton – 1954) a British politician and Conservative MP for Croydon South 1932–1945; grandfather of

Fiona Mactaggart Fiona Margaret Mactaggart (born 12 September 1953) is a British politician and former primary school teacher who has been chair of the Fawcett Society since 2018. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Slough from ...

Labour MP for

Slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...

1997–2017. * Sir

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 ...

OBE (1924 in Hooton - 2018) an entrepreneur who pioneered package holidays to Spain and former chairman of

Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional Association football, football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English foot ...

References

External links