Upton-by-Chester is 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 authority ...

and a large suburb on the outskirts 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 ...

, 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. It includes the villages of Upton and Upton Heath.

History

The name Upton is from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''upp'', meaning up, higher or upon, and ''tūn'', meaning a farmstead or settlement. Listed 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 ...

of 1086 as ''Optone'' and being in the possession of Earl Hugh of Chester, its entry reads: Including the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Upton Heath, Upton-by-Chester was formerly a

township 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 ...

within the parishes of St. Mary on the Hill and St. Oswald, Broxton Hundred. Upton-by-Chester as we know it today started when the railway was built in the mid-1800s. Gentlemen's country houses were built and provided employment other than traditional rural jobs. Initially ribbon development but then housing estates were built as more people moved out of the overcrowded city. Following the post-

World War II 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 ...

building boom there is now little development land left. A permanent military presence was established with the completion of

Dale Barracks Dale Barracks is a British Army base at Moston near Chester, England. The military installation, which has accommodation and training facilities, was established shortly before the Second World War as a depot for the Cheshire Regiment. It is now ...

in 1938 at nearby Moston.

Landmarks

Old Mill House Upton by Chester - geograph

The Old Water Pump, Upton, Chester - geograph

One building of particular interest is Upton Mill, a five storeyed brick windmill which is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Built circa 1775 this was a full working flour mill with outhouses, yard and orchard. The wind sails were removed in the early 1920s when electricity was installed. The mill closed in 1953 and remained uninhabited until 1979 when it was sold and converted as a private residence. Renovation was completed in 1988.

Oakfield Manor Oakfield Manor was originally a country house in Upton-by-Chester, near Chester, Cheshire, England. Since the 1930s it has been the headquarters of Chester Zoo. The house and its stables are recorded separately in the National Heritage List fo ...

and its stable block, now in the grounds of

Chester Zoo Chester Zoo is a zoo at Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at . The zoo has a total land holding of approximately . Chester Zoo is operate ...

, are both designated Grade II listed buildings. Estimated to be over two hundred years old, the last remaining communal water pump in Upton-by-Chester is on Heath Road. The pump was used up to the end of the nineteenth century, but in the early years of World War II was temporarily brought back into use. The well has since been covered over.

Religion

Upton has four churches; one

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

, one United Reformed Church, one

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(St Columba's), and the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Church of the Holy Ascension.

Governance

Upton-by-Chester is within the City of Chester parliamentary constituency. 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 t ...

in the name of Upton exists, within the borough of

. This unitary authority replaced both Chester City Council and Cheshire County Council on 1 April 2009. Upton-by-Chester is a civil parish, combining with nearby Bache and Moston to form a joint parish council. Upton-by-Chester is twinned with

Arradon Arradon (; br, Aradon) is a commune in the Morbihan department in the Brittany region in northwestern France. Population The inhabitants of Arradon are known as ''Arradonnais''. Map See also *Communes of the Morbihan department The ...

Demography

The population was 173 in 1801, 555 in 1851, 1,769 in 1901 and increasing significantly to 6,343 by 1951. At the time of the 2001 census it was recorded as 7,806. According to the 2011 census the population of the civil parish stood at 7,956, whilst the figure for the local government ward was 8,905.

Education

There are four primary schools in Upton-by-Chester; namely Acresfield Academy, Mill View Primary School, Upton Heath Church of England Primary School (formerly known as Upton Manor) and Upton Westlea Primary School. Upton-by-Chester High School is a co-educational state secondary school established in 1968.

Community

The

Countess of Chester Hospital The Countess of Chester is the main NHS hospital for Chester and its surrounding area. It currently has 625 beds, general medical departments and a 24-hour accident and emergency unit. It is managed by the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Founda ...

is the principal NHS general hospital and accident & emergency department for the city of Chester and the surrounding area.

opened in 1931 and is now one of the largest zoos in the United Kingdom. In and around Upton-by-Chester there are several shopping areas, including Bache, Upton-Heath and Weston Grove. In the vicinity there are at least four pubs, including the Race Horse, the Frog, the Mill@Upton (formerly the Egerton Arms Hotel) and The Wheatsheaf Inn. Other local amenities include a Royal British Legion Club, the Upton-by-Chester Golf Club, a bowling green and a village hall.

Transport

Bache railway station Bache railway station serves the suburbs of Bache and Upton-by-Chester in the north of the city of Chester, England. It is the first station for Merseyrail services leaving on the Wirral Line. Passengers can alight here for the Countess of ...

, less than a mile from Upton village centre at Bache, is on the

Wirral line The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line. The Wirral line connects Liverpool to the Wirral Peninsula via the Mersey Railway Tunnel, with b ...

of the

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and Wirral Line, which are dedicated electri ...

network. It opened in January 1984, replacing

Upton-by-Chester railway station Upton-by-Chester is a former station situated on the Chester–Birkenhead line which was built by the ''Chester and Birkenhead Railway''. It was located by the Liverpool Road road bridge where it crossed the railway near Upton and not far from ...

on Liverpool Road. The Chester to Ellesmere Port section of the A41 trunk road passes through the area, separating the areas of Upton and Upton Heath. Further west is the A5116 (Liverpool Road), which joins the A41 at Moston, immediately to the north of Upton-by-Chester.

Notable people

Labour Party former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott lived with his parents in Upton after moving from Yorkshire, and married his wife Pauline (''nee'' Tilston) at Church of the Holy Ascension in 1961.

Samantha Dixon Samantha Kate Dixon is a British politician of the Labour Party who serves as Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of Chester, winning the seat in the 2022 City of Chester by-election. Between 2015 and 2019, Dixon was the leader of Cheshi ...

, who became the local Labour

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, lived in Upon-by-Chester in her early life. The actor Tom Hughes grew up in Upton-by-Chester.

References

External links

Upton-by-Chester United Reformed Church
{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire Cheshire West and Chester