Norley 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 authority ...

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, north of

Delamere Forest Delamere Forest is a large wood in the village of Delamere in Cheshire, England. The woodland, which is managed by Forestry England, covers an area of making it the largest area of woodland in the county. It contains a mixture of deciduous and ...

, near the village of Cuddington. The population at the 2011 census was 1,169. Its name is derived from “Norlegh”, which means “north clearing”.

History

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 manusc ...

, Norley was included under the manor of Kingsley. During the reign of Henry III the manor of Norley was granted to Richard de Kingsleigh, and Roger de Norley was granted land within the manor. Later the area was dominated by two estates, Norley Hall and Norley Bank.

Norley Hall

The first Norley Hall was built at the beginning of the 15th century and the present hall dates from 1782 when it was built by William Hall. In the 19th century the hall was bought by the Woodhouse family of Liverpool. It was later occupied by Charles F. Bell and then the Dronsfield family. It has now been divided into apartments.

Norley Bank

Norley Bank was built by James Croxton in the 18th century and later acquired by Rev. Rowland Egerton. His eldest son was

Rowland Egerton-Warburton Rowland Eyles Egerton-Warburton (14 September 1804 – 6 December 1891) was an English landowner and poet from the Egerton family in Cheshire. He was a devout Anglican in the high church tradition and a local benefactor. He paid for the re ...

who inherited the

Arley Arley may refer to: Places England * Arley, Cheshire, a village ** Arley Hall, Cheshire * Arley, Warwickshire, a village * Upper Arley Upper Arley () is a village and civil parish near Kidderminster in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershi ...

and Warburton estates, and who built the present

Arley Hall Arley Hall is a country house in the village of Arley, Cheshire, England, about south of Lymm and north of Northwich. It is home to the owner, Viscount Ashbrook, and his family. The house is a Grade II* listed building, as is its adja ...

. Hon. Arthur Lascelles bought the house in about 1852 and it remained in private ownership until in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when it was used as a British

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

hospital. In 1953 it was bought by

Liverpool Corporation Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor J ...

with the intention of converting it into an approved school, but this did not materialise and in 1957 it was sold and demolished.

Geography

Norley lies in rural farmland to the north of

and is connected to the surrounding villages by unclassified roads. To the northwest is

Kingsley Kingsley may refer to: People * Kingsley (given name) * Kingsley (surname) Places Australia * Kingsley, Western Australia Canada * Rural Municipality of Kingsley No. 124, Saskatchewan England * Kingsley, Cheshire * Kingsley, Hampshire *Kingsley ...

, to the north

Crowton Crowton is a civil parish and village within the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is located approximately 6 miles west of Northwich. The civil parish includes the small settlem ...

, and to the east are Cuddington and

Sandiway Sandiway is a village in the civil parish of Cuddington, Vale Royal, Cuddington, Cheshire, England. It lies to the southeast of and is contiguous with the village of Cuddington. Sandiway was the birthplace of John Douglas (English architect), ...

Landmarks

The Church of St John the Evangelist stands to the northwest of the village. It is a Grade II* listed building dating from 1879 which was designed by J. Loughborough Pearson. In the churchyard is a monument to the Woodhouse family which is listed Grade II. The other Grade-II-listed building in the village is Norley Hall and its adjoining farm. The

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

in the village is the Tiger's Head. This was originally a farmhouse and opened as a beerhouse in 1840. There's also a shop called the stores that services the local area.

Education

Norley Church of England School was founded in 1836 as a Sunday school and became a day school in 1844. It was paid for by Samuel Woodhouse of Norley Hall and later supported by the Lascelles family of Norley Bank. In 1989 it was replaced by Norley Church of England County Primary School in Hough Lane.

Notable people

Martin Lewis Founder of

Money Saving Expert MoneySavingExpert.com is a British consumer finance information and discussion website, founded by financial journalist Martin Lewis in February 2003. The website's focus is to provide people with information on saving money in the form of dea ...

grew up in the village where his father was the Headmaster at the local Jewish school

References

External links

Norley Methodist ChurchNorley Church of England County Primary School
{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire