Baddington
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Baddington 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 authorit ...
in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies immediately to the 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. ...
and north of
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 ...
. Predominantly rural with scattered farms, the civil parish has a total population of around 100 people, increasing to 212 at the 2011 Census, and includes the dispersed settlement of Hack Green, the site of a former
RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
decoy station, radar station and Home Defence regional headquarters. Nearby villages include Aston, Broomhall Green,
Hankelow Hankelow is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village lies on the A529 road, A529, around north east of Audlem and south of Nantwi ...
,
Ravensmoor Ravensmoor is a village in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, located at . It is split between the civil parishes of Baddiley and Burland. It lies at an elevation of 65 m, around 2¼ miles sou ...
, Sound Heath and Stapeley.


History

The name Baddington is of Saxon origin, and means "Beada's Farm". It is not mentioned by name in the
Domesday survey 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 ...
, the first record being in the period 1175–84. The civil parish fell within the ancient parish of Acton in the Nantwich Hundred; it was served by St Mary's Church, Acton. In the reign of Edward III (1327–77), the land was acquired by the Bromley family, who had their seat at Baddington Hall. A famous member of that family was Sir John Bromley, who served in the wars in France and, according to Hall's ''History of Nantwich'', "heroically recovered the British Standard at Corbie" in 1415, just before the Battle of Agincourt. He was buried at Acton in 1419. In the 16th century, the Fouleshurst family were also landowners in the parish. Later the land passed to the Lords Kilmorley, the owner in 1800, who was a major landowner in this part of Cheshire. A gazetteer entry of 1870–2 mentions twenty houses, with a total property value of £1,715. In 1936, a small area of the civil parish was transferred to
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. ...
.Genuki: Baddington
(accessed 4 April 2008)
Part of Baddington and the adjacent parish of
Austerson Austerson is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, lying immediately south of the town of Nantwich and north of the village of Audlem. Predominantly rural with scattered farms, th ...
was forest until at least the mid-17th century, with wood being used as fuel for salt production in nearby
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. ...
. Salt might also have been produced within the parish, as a brine spring is shown on an 1831 map of the area. The parish formerly had a small water-powered mill and a brick kiln field. Agriculture was the major land use by the early 19th century. The road between Nantwich and Edleston crossed the parish; in 1607, the right of way was 12 feet wide. Transport connections improved in the 19th century with the construction first of the
Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was a canal in England which ran from Nantwich, where it joined the Chester Canal, to Autherley, where it joined the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Forming part of a major link between Liverp ...
, now part of the Shropshire Union (1835),Acton, Edleston and Henhull Parish Plan
(accessed 17 August 2007)
and then the now-dismantled Nantwich and Market Drayton Railway (1863).The Village of Audlem: Village History
(accessed 5 April 2008)


Governance

Since 1950, Baddington has been administered by Sound and District Parish Council. From 1974 the civil parish was served by
Crewe and Nantwich Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It had a population (2001 census) of 111,007. It contained 69 civil parishes and one unparished area: the town of Crewe. It now fo ...
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. Baddington 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 Crew ...
since 2019, after being represented by Stephen O'Brien (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 a total area of .Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council: Parish Statistics (downloaded fro

5 April 2010)
The area is relatively flat, with an average elevation of around 50 metres. The Shropshire Union Canal runs broadly north–south through the parish.Ordnance Survey Explorer 257: Crewe & Nantwich: Whitchurch & TattenhallCheshire County Council: Interactive Mapping: Baddington CP
(accessed 4 April 2008)
The Baddington section of the canal contains the two Hackgreen Locks as well as two cast-iron canal mile posts; all date from around 1826 and are listed at grade II. It is also crossed by two road bridges, Baddington Lane Bridge (A530) and Burrow's Bridge (French Lane), as well as Hack Green footbridge; all three canal bridges are listed at grade II. A short stretch of 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 ...
near Nantwich Lake runs through the northern tip of the parish, and Shrew Bridge (A530) lies on the parish boundary. Several small meres and ponds are scattered across the farmland. There are two small woods, Broomhall Gorse and Gorse Covert, which lie to the west of the canal, as well as other smaller areas of unnamed woodland. The A530 (known successively as Whitchurch Road, Baddington Lane and Shrewbridge Road) runs through the parish from the south west to the north-east. Coole Lane runs north–south, joining the A530 at the north of the parish; French Lane/French Lane End runs east–west. The Welsh Marches Railway runs immediately to the north-west of the parish, being less than 50 metres beyond the boundary at the closest point. The
Crewe and Nantwich Circular Walk The Crewe and Nantwich Circular Walk is a long-distance walkers' path in the Cheshire East area of Cheshire, England. As the name suggests, the walk forms a circuit around the towns of Crewe and Nantwich. It is one of two circular walks i ...
crosses the northern tip of the parish.


Demography

In 2006, the total population of the civil parish was estimated as 100. The 2001 census recorded a population of 98, in 38 households. Historical population figures were 121 (1801), 155 (1851), 123 (1901) and 132 (1951).


Hack Green

During 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 opposi ...
, Hack Green was at first used as a decoy for Crewe railway junction. In 1941, an
RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
camp was established there, with a fixed ground-controlled intercept
radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...
station, one of a network of twenty-one across the country. After the war, the site was equipped with a partially underground
bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...
protecting an air-defence radar installation, part of the
ROTOR Rotor may refer to: Science and technology Engineering * Rotor (electric), the non-stationary part of an alternator or electric motor, operating with a stationary element so called the stator *Helicopter rotor, the rotary wing(s) of a rotorcraft ...
network. Between 1958 and 1966, Hack Green served as a joint civil and military
air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
site. In 1976–84, the abandoned RAF site was converted into a nuclear bunker complex, which was the Home Defence regional headquarters for a large area of the North West until 1993.Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker: Bunker History


(accessed 4 April 2008)
The site, now known as "
Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker The Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker is a former government-owned nuclear bunker located at Hack Green, Cheshire, England. History The first military use of the area was in World War II, when a Starfish site was established at Hack Gr ...
" (), became a museum in 1998. In addition to the Hack Green installations, the museum houses
Ballistic Missile Early Warning System The RCA 474L Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS, "474L System", Project 474L) was a United States Air Force Cold War early warning radar, computer, and communications system, for ballistic missile detection. The network of twelve ra ...
equipment from
RAF High Wycombe RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station, situated in the village of Walters Ash, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It houses Headquarters Air Command, and was originally designed to house RAF Bomber Command in the late 1930s ...
, as well as decommissioned
nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
s from various sites.


Other landmarks

Hack House on French Lane () is a
timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...
farmhouse with brick infill, featuring small framing. Dating originally from the early 17th century, it is listed at
grade II* 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 ...
. Also on French Lane is the grade-II-listed Hack House Farm House (), a roughcast brick farmhouse dating originally from the early 17th century. Baddington Bank Farm on Baddington Lane () is an L-shaped red-brick farmhouse dating from the late 17th century, and is also listed at grade II. Other landmarks within the civil parish include a dry moated site.Latham, p. 22


Education

There are no educational facilities within the civil parish. Baddington falls within the catchment areas of Sound and District Primary School in
Sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' b ...
and Brine Leas High School in
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 County Council: Interactive Mapping: Baddington CP: Primary and secondary schools
(accessed 4 April 2008)


See also

* Listed buildings in Baddington


References


Sources

*Latham FA, ed. ''Acton'' (The Local History Group; 1995) ()


External links


Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker
{{authority control Civil parishes in Cheshire Villages in Cheshire