Rode Heath is a small village in the

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 ...

Odd Rode Odd Rode is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It borders the Staffordshire parish of Kidsgrove, and includes the settlements of: * Scholar Green * ...

, near

Alsager Alsager ( ) is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located to the north-west of Stoke-on-Trent and east of Crewe. The town's population was 13,389 at the 2021 census. ''The Mere'' is a ...

and within the unitary authority of

Cheshire East Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council. Towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Co ...

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 county t ...

, England. According to the 2001 census, Rode Heath had a population of 2,150.2001 census data In the 2011 census the figure had dropped to 2,019 and a 2016 estimate put the population at 1,943. The village was previously two villages, Rode Heath and Thurlwood. Since extensive housing developments in Thurlwood the two are known simply as Rode Heath. The

Trent and Mersey Canal The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middle ...

runs through Rode Heath. The village has two pubs, a primary school, post office, shop and takeaway. There are two churches: the Church of the Good Shepherd, one of the three churches that make up the Parish of

, and the Rhema Mission Church (Rode Heath Chapel). Close by is

Rode Hall Rode Hall, a Georgian country house, is the seat of the Wilbraham family, members of the landed gentry in the parish of Odd Rode, Cheshire, England. The estate, with the original timber-framed manor house, was purchased by the Wilbrahams fro ...

, the gardens of which are a tourist attraction.Rode Hall web site
Retrieval Date: 19 November 2009. The current owner of Rode Hall is Lady Wilbraham. The village has a number of gentle walks along the canal and through the countryside, popular with dog walkers.

History

There was a salt works at Rode Heath run by James Sutton (1799–1868), who was also a canal boat carrier and High Sheriff of Derbyshire. In the past, Rode Heath and Thurlwood were separate settlements. From 1864 to 1962 there was a Primitive Methodist Chapel in Thurlwood. Many of the original inhabitants of Thurlwood were canal-boat families and some of the older houses, such as those in Faram's Road, had stables for the horses that towed the boats. Rode Heath and Thurlwood are now effectively joined, although the major 'link' and where you can see the end of one village lies on the southernmost lock.

References

{{authority control Villages in Cheshire