Malpas is an ancient

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

and 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 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 Govern ...

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. Malpas is now referred to as a village after losing its town status. It lies near the borders with

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to t ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, and had a population of 1,673 at the 2011 census.

Etymology

The name derives from

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intell ...

and means "bad/difficult passage".

History

Medieval (Norman 1066–1154)

After the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqu ...

of 1066 Malpas is recorded 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

of 1086 as belonging to

Robert FitzHugh Robert FitzHugh (d.1436) was Bishop of London and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Origins FitzHugh was the second son of Henry FitzHugh, 3rd Baron FitzHugh (-1425), KG, of Ravensworth Castle in North Yorkshire, by his wife Elizabe ...

, baron of Malpas. Malpas and other holdings were given to his family for defensive services along the Welsh border. A concentrated line of castles protected Cheshire's western border from the Welsh; these included

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

castles at Shotwick, Dodleston, Aldford,

Pulford Pulford is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Poulton and Pulford, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is on the B5445 road, to the south west of Ches ...

, Shocklach, Oldcastle and Malpas. The earthworks of Malpas Castle are still to be found to the north of St. Oswald's Church.

Medieval (Plantagenet 1154–1485)

Malpas retains its general layout established in the medieval period. Malpas was granted a Market Charter for a weekly market and annual fair in 1281, thus making it an official "Market Town"

Tudor – Elizabethan (1485–1603)

The seventh son of Sir Randolph Brereton of Shocklach and Malpas, Sir William Brereton, became chamberlain of Chester, and groom of the chamber to

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

. He was beheaded on 17 May 1536 for a suspected romantic affair with

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

. These accusations may have been politically motivated.

Civil War and the Stuarts (1603–1714)

Cheshire was strategically very important during the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...

as it controlled the north–south movement of troops from the west of the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...

to the east of the Clwydian range – Chester, as the main port to Ireland was supremely important as

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

had an army there.

Transport

Malpas was once served by a

a station , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor, creative director, and writer. He appeared in a number of Japanese TV dramas, including '' Mei-chan no Shitsuji'', '' Hanazakari no Kimitachi e'' and '' Zettai Kareshi''. Additionally, he was well ...

on the Whitchurch and Tattenhall Railway. The B5069 road passes through the village from the Welsh border, towards 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 ...

near Hampton Heath. The B5395 road diverges from the A41 at Grindley Brook and heads towards Malpas.

Demography

According to the 2001 census, the

had 1,628 residents living in 720 households. This increased slightly in the 2011 census to 1,673 residents, composed of 767 (45.8%) males and 906 (54.2%) females, in 810 households.

Governance

Malpas was formerly a township and ancient parish within Broxton Hundred, which became a civil parish in 1866. It has had a parish council since their formation in 1894. Prior to that, Malpas had been administered through Vestry Meetings held in St Oswald's Church. Between 1894 and 1936 the village had its own rural district council. Under a Cheshire County review order in 1936, the boundaries of several rural districts were adjusted. Malpas Rural District was abolished and most of the area absorbed into Tarvin Rural District. On 1 April 1974 this was merged into Chester District. Further changes occurred on 1 April 2009 when the Cheshire West & Chester unitary authority was formed. An

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

in the same name exists. This ward stretches north to

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...

and south to Wigland. The total population of this ward taken at the 2011 census was 3,975. Malpas is within the Eddisbury parliamentary constituency.

Listed buildings

Religion

* Church of England, see: St Oswald's Church, Malpas * High Street Church, an ecumenical partnership bringing together traditions of the United Reform Church and the Methodist Church.

Education

* Primary School − Malpas Alport Endowed Primary School * Secondary School − Bishop Heber High School, named after Bishop Reginald Heber

Notable people

* Ian Bartholomew, ''Coronation Street'' actor, lives in Malpas * Ralph Churton, Anglican churchman and biographer *

Anthony Harvey Anthony Harvey (3 June 1930 – 23 November 2017) was an English filmmaker who began his career as a teenage actor, was a film editor in the 1950s and moved into directing in the mid-1960s. Harvey had fifteen film credits as an editor, and he ...

, filmmaker, was a resident from 1968 * Bishop Reginald Heber (1783–1826), Bishop of Calcutta and poet *

Matthew Henry Matthew Henry (18 October 166222 June 1714) was a Nonconformist minister and author, who was born in Wales but spent much of his life in England. He is best known for the six-volume biblical commentary ''Exposition of the Old and New Testaments ...

(1662–1714), Presbyterian minister and biblical commentatorBritish Listed Buildings: Cenotaph to Matthew Henry on Grosvenor Street Roundabout, Chester Castle
Matthew Henry's Birthplace *

Mark Rylands Mark James Rylands (born 11 July 1961) is a British former Anglican bishop. From 2009 until 2018, he was the area Bishop of Shrewsbury in the Church of England. Early life Rylands was born on 11 July 1961, the son of Michael Rylands and Denise ...

, Anglican Bishop of Shrewsbury 2009–18, Malpas resident 1961–1988 * Chris Stockton, former jockey, owner of rare cattle, BTCC racing driver

References

External links

Malpas Community Website
which includes sections on history, art, events, sports and social groups and businesses.
Visions of Britain
– ''

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes ...

'' (1870–72)
Visions of Britain, John Bartholomew, ''Gazetteer of the British Isles'' (1887)

K. Matthews: Saxon Cheshire
{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire Cheshire West and Chester