250px, Lime tree avenue in park Marbury Country Park is a

country park A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a special meaning. There are around 250 recognised coun ...

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. It lies in the heart of

Northwich Community Woodlands Northwich Woodlands (formerly Northwich Community Woodlands) is an area of 373 hectares of publicly accessible countryside near Northwich in Cheshire, England. It comprises nine separate woods, country parks, lakes and parks, many of which are ...

, an integral part of the

Mersey Forest The Mersey Forest is a network of woodlands and green spaces being created across Merseyside and North Cheshire by a wide-ranging partnership of different organisations including local authorities, community groups and businesses. The Mersey Fore ...

. Former industrial land is gradually being transformed to create a rich and green environment stretching from

Marbury Marbury may refer to: Places *Marbury, Cheshire, United Kingdom *Marbury, Alabama, United States *Marbury, Maryland, United States Other *Marbury (surname) *Justice Marbury (disambiguation) *Marbury Hall (disambiguation) Marbury Hall may refer to: ...

Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

. Many of the features of the Country Park, including the lime avenues and the

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

, are a legacy of the days when Marbury was a grand estate. The last Marbury Hall, built in the 1850s, was a fine-looking house modelled on the French chateau at

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...

, with an imposing carriage drive entrance. Originally owned by the Smith-Barry family, the hall became a country club in the 1930s, and then a P.O.W. camp during the Second World War. After this the hall served as a hostel for ICI employees during its considerable post-war expansion and some of the P.O.W. camp huts persisted as accommodation for the workforce. By the 1960s the hall had fallen into disrepair and had to be demolished. The history of the hall was told in a community play in 2002. The Friends of Anderton and Marbury (FOAM) are a group involved with looking after both parks and organising walks, talks, conservation tasks and events.

References

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External links

Discovercheshire website (Marbury Country Park page).Northwich Woodlands (Discovercheshire).
Parks and open spaces in Cheshire

See also

References

External links