Littleton is a village and

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 Borough of Cheshire West and Chester and ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is near the

A51 road The A51 is a road in England which runs for 85 miles (137 km) from Chester, Cheshire to Kingsbury, North Warwickshire. It takes on the following route: *Chester * Vicars Cross * Littleton *Tarvin (bypass opened 1984) *Duddon * Clotton *T ...

, approximately east of Chester. At the time of the 2001 census the population was 644, increasing to 647 by the 2011 census.

History

The name Littleton derives from the

Old English Old English (, ), 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 was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''lȳtel'' (little) and ''tūn'' (a settlement or farmstead). The parish has historically been a little hamlet within the manor and ancient parish of

Christleton Christleton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the outskirts of Chester, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The Shropshire Union Canal (originally Cheste ...

and has as such been known by the names ''Parva Cristentona'' (Little Christleton) in the 12th century and ''Parva Christleton'' up until at least 1795. The name Littleton was used in preference to ''Parva Cristentona'' in ''

Magna Britannia ''Magna Britannia, being a concise topographical account of the several counties of Great Britain'' was a topographical and historical survey published by the antiquarians Daniel Lysons and his brother Samuel Lysons in several volumes between 18 ...

(Volume 2)'', circa 1810. The open land surrounding and within Littleton contains many former marl pits. The marl from the pits was used as an agricultural fertiliser and also as a component in the process of brickmaking, which seems to have been practised locally. The northern part of the village, along the A51 Tarvin Road, was known as ''Vicar’s Cross''. A stone cross had originally stood near the road until it was demolished by

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

in 1613. A modern replica has been erected near to the original site. The modern housing estate of

Vicars Cross A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

now exists to the west of the village.

Landmarks

The parish contains one building included in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

and designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

as a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. This is Hunter's Court, which originated as a barn in the late 17th century, and was later converted into two houses.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire