Wrenbury-cum-Frith 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 ...
in 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. It lies on the
River Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included ...
, around 8.5 miles south-west of
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
.
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 ...
of Wrenbury cum Frith also covers the small settlements of Gaunton's Bank, Pinsley Green, Porter's Hill, Smeaton Wood, Wrenbury Heath and Wrenburywood. It has a total population of around 1,100, being measured at the 2011 Census as 1,181.
History
The village is 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 ...
as ''Wareneberie'',
and became Wrennebury in 1230. The name is said to mean "old forest inhabited by wrens". Wrenbury formed part of the extensive lands of William Malbank (also William Malbedeng), who owned much of the Nantwich hundred.
As a chapel attached to
St Mary's Church, Acton
St Mary's Church is an active Anglican parish church located in Monk's Lane, Acton, a village to the west of Nantwich, Cheshire, England. Since 1967 it has been designated a Grade I listed building. A church has been present on this sit ...
, Wrenbury was included in the lands donated to the
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
Combermere Abbey
Combermere Abbey is a former monastery, later a country house, near Burleydam, between Nantwich, Cheshire and Whitchurch in Shropshire, England, located within Cheshire and near the border with Shropshire. Initially Savigniac and later Cisterci ...
in around 1180, shortly after the abbey's 1133 foundation by Hugh Malbank, second Baron of Nantwich.
In 1539, after the
Dissolution
Dissolution may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books
* ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers
* ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music
* Dissolution, in mu ...
, the land was granted to George Cotton,
and the Cotton family remained important local landowners for centuries.
A free school by the church was endowed by Ralph Buckley in 1605.
Governance
Wrenbury cum Frith is administered by Wrenbury-cum-Frith Parish Council.
From 1974 the civil parish was served by
Crewe and Nantwich
Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Cheshire, England. It had a population (2001 census) of 111,007. It contained 69 civ ...
Borough Council, which was succeeded on 1 April 2009 by the
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
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 ...
. Wrenbury cum Frith falls in the parliamentary constituency of
Eddisbury, which has been represented by
Edward Timpson
Anthony Edward Timpson, (born 26 December 1973) is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Eddisbury in Cheshire at the 2019 general election.
He was previously MP for neighbouring Crewe a ...
since 2019, after being represented by
Stephen O'Brien
Sir Stephen Rothwell O'Brien, (born 1 April 1957) is a British politician and diplomat who was the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. O'Brien assumed office on 29 May 2015, succeed ...
(1999–2015) and
Antoinette Sandbach
Antoinette Geraldine Mackeson-Sandbach (born 15 February 1969), known as Antoinette Sandbach, is a former British politician who was elected as Member of Parliament for Eddisbury in Cheshire at the 2015 general election.
The following day, 8 ...
(2015–19).
Geography and transport
The civil parish has an area of .
Wrenbury village lies at an elevation of around 230 feet (70 m), about 5 miles south-west of
Nantwich
Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...
, Cheshire and 5 miles north-east of
Whitchurch, Shropshire. Nearby villages include
Marbury Marbury may refer to:
Places
*Marbury, Cheshire, United Kingdom
*Marbury, Alabama, United States
*Marbury, Maryland, United States
Other
*Marbury (surname)
*Justice Marbury (disambiguation)
*Marbury Hall (disambiguation) Marbury Hall may refer to: ...
,
Aston
Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre.
History
Aston wa ...
and
Audlem
Audlem is a village and civil parish located in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in North West England, approximately south of Nantwich. Close to the border with the neighbouring county of Shropshire, t ...
.
The village is on the
Llangollen branch of the
Shropshire Union Canal
The Shropshire Union Canal, nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. The Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union (SU) system and lie partially in Wales.
The canal lies in ...
. It has an unmanned
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
on the
Welsh Marches Railway. The Cheshire Cycleway runs through the village and the
South Cheshire Way
The South Cheshire Way is a long-distance footpath running east–west mainly through Cheshire, England, though parts lie in Shropshire and Staffordshire. The western section from Grindley Brook, near Whitchurch, runs through farmland; the e ...
long-distance path runs just south of it.
Demography
In 2006, the total population of the civil parish was estimated as 1,100.
[Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council: Parish Statistics (downloaded fro]
5 April 2010) In the
United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census, the recorded population was 1,060. The population has doubled since the beginning of the 20th century; the historical population figures were 404 in 1801, 490 in 1851, 491 in 1901 and 708 in 1951.
Places of worship
The red sandstone
St Margaret's Church, overlooking the village green, dates from the early 16th century. Notable features include a rare example of a
dog whipper
A dog whipper was a church official charged with removing unruly dogs from church grounds during services. They were most prominent in areas of England and continental Europe between the 16th and 19th centuries.
Those employed for the positio ...
's pew and a memorial to
Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere
Field Marshal Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere (14 November 1773 – 21 February 1865), was a British Army officer, diplomat and politician. As a junior officer he took part in the Flanders Campaign, in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War an ...
.
A
war memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Symbolism
Historical usage
It has ...
stands in the churchyard, which also contains the
war graves
War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...
of a
soldier
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer.
Etymology
The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...
of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and a soldier and
airman
An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred as a soldier in other definitions.
In civilian aviation usage, t ...
of 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 ...
.
Other landmarks
The centre of Wrenbury village is a
conservation area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
.
Two black-and-white cottages overlook the village green; Elm House is a
Grade II listed
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 ...
cottage with prominent brick chimneys dating from the 17th century, while Stanley House dates from 1859. In the churchyard stands a small Grade II listed black-and-white cottage with brick infill, dating from the 17th century, which is possibly a former almshouse. Hawk House, formerly the Hawk and Buckle Inn, is a Grade II listed brick cottage near the post office which dates from the early 18th century. There are also several black-and-white farmhouses and cottages within the Wrenbury cum Frith parish, some of which date from the 17th century.
Wrenbury Hall was the home of the Starkey family, prominent local landowners, until 1920; parts of the house date from the 17th century, although the front was refaced in Elizabethan style in 1916–19.
[Wrenbury Hall](_blank)
/ref> It is said to have been used as shelter for the Parliamentary forces in 1643 when Nantwich was besieged before the Battle of Nantwich
The Battle of Nantwich was fought on 25 January 1644 in Cheshire during the First English Civil War. In the battle, Sir Thomas Fairfax in command of a Parliamentarian relief force defeated Lord Byron and the Royalists.
The Parliamentari ...
, 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 policies ...
.
In 1922 the house was re-purposed as a small sanatorium of 50 beds, mainly to cater for World War I army veterans suffering from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. This was superseded by the larger Cheshire Joint Sanatorium, at Loggerheads, Staffordshire
Loggerheads is a village and civil parish in north-west Staffordshire, England, on the A53 between Market Drayton and Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Name
The village takes its name from that of the public house, which used to be known as The Three Log ...
. However, patients from Loggerheads would be sent to retrain at Wrenbury. The site closed in 1980 and is now in private ownership, though a charity offering services for children continues to occupy a building on the site.
The Shropshire Union Canal near the village has three rare single-span timber lift bridges dating from 1790, which are among Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...
's earliest works. They are of the drawbridge
A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...
type, with a wooden platform hinged at the north end which is raised and lowered by counterbalancing beam weights. Two are Grade II* listed footbridges; the Grade II listed third bridge now carries road traffic and incorporates a modern mechanical crank.
Education
The Grade II listed red-brick village primary school dates from 1879 and features a bellcote and weathervane. It won the "Champion School" category of the "Your Champions" Awards 2007, sponsored by Scottish Power
Scottish Power is a vertically integrated energy company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of Spanish utility firm Iberdrola.
ScottishPower is the distribution network operator for Central and Southern Scotland, Merseyside, North ...
and Trinity Mirror.
Culture and community
The village has a post office and general stores, and a doctor's surgery. Sports facilities include a pavilion, bowling green, tennis courts and football pitches, and the Wingate Centre, just outside the village, has a gymnasium. Local organisations meet at St Margaret's village hall. The mobile library
A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookm ...
service visits Wrenbury and Wrenbury Heath every three weeks.
The village has two public houses, both of which serve food. The Cotton Arms, named after the Cotton family, is on Cholmondeley Road near the canal. The Dusty Miller occupies a 19th-century corn mill by the canal at Wrenbury Bridge, and is listed in ''The Good Pub Guide''. Facilities for tourists include a caravan site near the canal and the Alvechurch Boat Centre, a boat hire company, which operates from Wrenbury Mill, beside Wrenbury Bridge.
Wrenbury is known for its annual scarecrow
A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley B ...
trail, which started in 2000. Held the first weekend in July as part of a summer fayre, around a hundred and fifty scarecrows were on display in 2006.
Notable residents
Puritan preacher Julines Herring (1582-1644/45) lived in Wrenbury during an interval (1635–37) between ministering in Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
and Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, assisting in parish work.
The Very Reverend Alan Brunskill Webster
Alan Brunskill Webster (1 July 1918 – 3 September 2007) was a British Anglican priest. He had a varied career, serving in parish roles, heading a theological college, and leading two cathedrals as their dean. As Dean of Norwich from 1970 ...
(1918–2007), author and Dean of the cathedrals of Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
and St Paul's, was born in Wrenbury. The son of John Webster, vicar of St Margaret's Church, he lived at the vicarage until 1935. Trampolinist Bryony Page
Bryony Kate Frances Page (born 10 December 1990) is a British individual trampoline gymnast. She is the 2021 women's individual trampoline world champion, and part of the British team that won team gold at the 2013 world championships.
Page be ...
was brought up in Wrenbury; she won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
, Britain's first Olympic medal in the discipline.
See also
*Listed buildings in Wrenbury cum Frith
Fourteen buildings and other structures in the English civil parishes in England, civil parish of Wrenbury cum Frith have been officially designated as listed buildings for their "special architectural and historic interest". Three of the liste ...
References
External links
Wrenbury village website
Wrenbury Parish Council Website
{{authority control
Villages in Cheshire
Civil parishes in Cheshire
Borough of Cheshire East