Saughall is a village and former
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 ...
in the unitary authority of
Cheshire West and Chester
Cheshire West and Chester is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 str ...
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. Located between
Shotwick
Shotwick is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Puddington, on the southern end of the Wirral Peninsula in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village ...
and
Blacon, it is approximately north west of
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
and from
Sealand
SeaLand, a division of the Maersk Group, is an American intra-regional container shipping company headquartered in Miramar, Florida with representation in 29 countries across the Americas. The company offers ocean and intermodal services using ...
across the
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
border. The civil parish was abolished on 1 April 2015 to form
Saughall and Shotwick Park
Saughall is a village and former civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Located between Shotwick and Blacon, it is approximately north west o ...
, with parts also incorporated into the parish of
Puddington and the
unparished area
In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparish ...
of Chester.
At the
2001 census, there were 3,084 residents in the village
[
] reducing to 3,009 at the
2011 census. A total of 3,585 people living in the
ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
of Saughall, with 48.5% male and 51.5% female.
This electoral ward was called Saughall and Mollington at the 2011 census. The total ward population at this census was 4,463.
Etymology
The name Saughall is
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
in origin, meaning "willow nook" or "corner where willows grow".
History
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 ...
of 1086 mentions the village as ''Salhale''. Most of the land is recorded as in the possession of a
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
baron, William Malbank (or Malbanc). The remainder was held by
St Werburgh Abbey in Chester.
Saughall was a
fishing village
A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 m ...
until cut off from the sea by
land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...
in the
Dee estuary
The Dee Estuary ( cy, Aber Dyfrdwy) is a large estuary by means of which the River Dee flows into Liverpool Bay. The estuary starts near Shotton after a five-mile (8 km) 'canalised' section and the river soon swells to be several miles ...
. The river had flowed to the sea along the current border between Wales and England, until in the 18th century when it was diverted into its present
channelized course to try to improve ship access from the sea to
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
.
[
The village previously consisted of two ]townships
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
in the parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
of Shotwick
Shotwick is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Puddington, on the southern end of the Wirral Peninsula in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village ...
, Wirral Hundred
The Hundred of Wirral is the ancient administrative area for the Wirral Peninsula. Its name is believed to have originated from the ''Hundred of Wilaveston'', the historic name for Willaston, which was an important assembly point in the Wirral ...
. Great Saughall had a population of 147 in 1801, 493 in 1851 and 703 in 1901.
Little Saughall had a population of 48 in 1801, 69 in 1851 and 137 in 1901.
The civil parish of Saughall was created in 1948 by uniting both settlements, with a combined population of 1,518 in 1951.
Between 31 March 1890 and 1 February 1954, Saughall railway station
Saughall was a railway station on the former Chester & Connah's Quay Railway between Chester Northgate and Hawarden Bridge. It was from the village of Saughall, Cheshire. Although it was named for the village, it was actually in Flintshire, W ...
on the Chester & Connah's Quay Railway
The Chester & Connah's Quay Railway ran from Chester Northgate in Chester, Cheshire, England to Shotton, Flintshire, Wales. It was in use for its full length from 1890 to 1992.
At Dee Marsh Junction it connected with the North Wales and Liverpo ...
served the village. The station has been demolished and the trackbed is now a cycleway.
Community
The village had two local schools: The Ridings Community Infant School and Thomas Wedge Church of England Junior School. The latter, originally known as Great Saughall School, was built and endowed by Thomas Wedge of Sealand, Flintshire
Sealand (Welsh: Gwlad-y-Môr) is a community in Flintshire and electoral ward, north-east Wales, on the edge of the Wirral peninsula. It is west of the city of Chester, England, and is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England borde ...
, at his own expense in 1852 as a gift to the people of Saughall and Sealand. In late 2006 Cheshire County Council
Cheshire County Council was the county council of Cheshire. Founded on 1 April 1889, it was officially dissolved on 31 March 2009, when it and its districts were superseded by two unitary authorities; Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire Eas ...
agreed to embark on a process that would ultimately lead to the merger of the two schools. In March 2008 the plans were submitted and included building an entirely new united primary school on the school field behind the current Thomas Wedge building. This was completed in 2010; the old schools have been demolished and replaced with Saughall All Saints Primary School.
Saughall Windmill is more commonly known as Gibbet Mill and is now a private residence. Some distance outside the village, its name likely dates from the 18th century. It was the location of the murder of a farm labourer by two fellow workers after a disagreement over earnings near the mill. After their trial and execution, their bodies were hung in chains, or "gibbeted" from a nearby ash tree
''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are evergree ...
, as a warning to other criminals.
See also
* Listed buildings in Saughall
* Saughall Massie
Saughall Massie () is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England. It is part of the Moreton West & Saughall Massie Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and the parliamentary constituency of Wallasey. A small village primarily ...
, a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of 321,238, and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Be ...
, Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
* All Saints Church, Great Saughall
All Saints Church, Great Saughall, is located in Church Road in the civil parish of Saughall and Shotwick Park, formerly Saughall and before that Great Saughall, in the county of Cheshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in th ...
References
External links
Saughall and Shotwick Park Parish Council website
{{authority control
Villages in Cheshire
Former civil parishes in Cheshire
Cheshire West and Chester