Blakenhall is a small 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 authorit ...

in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, about south-east 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. ...

. It lies on the county boundary with Staffordshire. The parish has an area of and also includes the small settlements of The Den and Gonsley Green, with a total population of 125 in 2001. Nearby villages include

Wybunbury Wybunbury is a village (at ) and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village lies 3¼ miles to the south east of Nantwich and 3¾ miles to the south of Crewe. The parish al ...

in Cheshire and Betley and

Wrinehill Wrinehill, also called Checkley cum Wrinehill, is a village in the north-west of Staffordshire on the A531 road lying adjacent to the southern border of Cheshire in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. The population taken at the 2011 census can ...

in Staffordshire. Blakenhall was first recorded 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 ...

as ''Blachenhale'', and the parish had one of Cheshire's early ironworks in the 17th and 18th centuries. The area is rural and predominantly agricultural, with small areas of

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

and the nature reserve of Blakenhall Moss, a rejuvenating lowland

raised bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation (ombrot ...

. The Crewe-to- Stafford railway line runs through the parish and it is on the proposed route of

HS2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...

History

''Blachenhale'' was a small manor at the time of the

of 1086. It was tenanted by Gilbert the hunter

Gilbert de Venables Gilbert de Venables, aka Gilbert the Hunter, was a Norman lord who participated in the Norman Conquest of England. He was born in Venables, Eure, presumably the son of Odo II, Count of Blois (since he is mentioned as younger brother of Stephen, ...

, and assessed at 12 shillings annually, an increase from 10 shillings before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

, when it was held by Godwin. Six households, five ploughlands, two plough teams, a wood measuring 2 by 1 leagues, and a hawk's eyrie were recorded. Manorial courts were once convened in the parish. 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 ...

, soldiers were housed here. The earliest known forge in Cheshire was recorded nearby in 1619 on Checkley Brook at Tib or Tip Green, just on the Cheshire side of the Staffordshire border, probably the same as one subsequently recorded in

township, now in Staffordshire. By the time of the Civil War, Doddington iron

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

had been founded on Checkley Brook, at the edge of Blakenhall parish on Mill Lane, near the boundary with Doddington – one of four ironworks then recorded in Cheshire. It was owned by Sir Thomas Delves of Delves Hall, and produced hammers and anvils; in 1667, it output 500 tons of pig iron. The ironworks remained in operation in 1766 and appear on P. P. Burdett's 1777 map, but had closed by 1781. A building on the site of the ironworks was being used as a coin mill in 1892. Later it was a flour mill which had a "French Bun" millstone from the

River Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

; it closed in 1925. The parish fell within the estate of Doddington Hall prior to 1917. In the late 19th century it had a school.Cheshire Federation of Women's Institutes, pp. 33–34 For several years in around 1820, the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

missionary Nathaniel Turner (1793–1864) lived and preached in the parish, which was associated with his family, and in 1900 a Wesleyan Methodist chapel was constructed. Agriculture was the predominant occupation for men in 1881, with 60 of 68 men recorded in the census as working in that sector.

Governance

Blakenhall is administered by Doddington and District Parish Council, which also administers the parishes of

Bridgemere Bridgemere is a village (at ) and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is around south east of Nantwich and west of Stoke-on-Trent. The southern boundary of the parish is on ...

, Checkley cum Wrinehill, Doddington, Hunsterson and

Lea Lea or LEA may refer to: Places Australia * Lea River, Tasmania, Australia * Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows * RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA" England * Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish * Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...

. 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 new

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. Blakenhall falls in the parliamentary constituency of

, which has been represented by

Kieran Mullan Kieran Mullan (born 6 June 1984) is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Crewe and Nantwich at the 2019 general election. Early life and career Mullan was born in 1984. He grew up in so ...

since 2019, after being represented by Laura Smith (2017–19),

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 ...

(2008–17) and

Gwyneth Dunwoody Gwyneth Patricia Dunwoody (née Phillips; 12 December 1930 – 17 April 2008) was a British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Exeter from 1966 to 1970, and then for Crewe (later Crewe and Nantwich) from February ...

(1983–2008).

Geography, ecology and transport

The civil parish has an area of . The area is rural and predominantly agricultural; farms include Half Moon Farm, Gonsley Green Farm, Lower Den Farm, Manor Farm, Doddington Mill Farm and Grange Farm. Forge Brook runs along the western boundary, Checkley Brook along the southern boundary and Mere Gutter and a tributary along or near part of the eastern boundary. Parts of these watercourses lie in steep-sided valleys. The terrain is undulating with low hills; the high point of is in the south-east corner of the parish, and there is a

trig point A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...

at near Manor Farm, just to the north of Blakenhall village. There are several areas of woodland, including Mill Covert, Robin Knight's Rough and Ash Coppice by Forge and Checkley Brooks, as well as Blakenhall Moss. Some is

: Ash Coppice has hazel, which was historically coppicing, coppiced, together with some alder, with Hyacinthoides non-scripta, bluebells among the vegetation; Robin Knight's Rough has alder, with vegetation including bluebells, Euonymus, spindle and Chrysosplenium alternifolium, alternate-leaved golden saxifrage. Both woods are local wildlife sites.Cheshire Wildlife Trust, pp. 16, 24–26, 31 Mill Covert is marked on tithe maps and might also be ancient. Numerous small meres and ponds are scattered across the area, especially within the woodland. Checkley Brook/Forge Brook, a tributary of the River Weaver, forms an important wildlife corridor. The woodland of Blakenhall Moss, a Cheshire Wildlife Trust (CWT) nature reserve, was formerly a lowland

, and has been managed by CWT to restore it to this state by interrupting drainage and felling trees, as part of the Meres and Mosses of the Marches Nature Improvement Area initiative funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The drier areas have oak and Betula pubescens, downy birch woodland with bluebells, and the area supports birdlife including marsh tits, owls and Eurasian sparrowhawk, sparrowhawks. Forge Brook and Mill Covert - geograph

The Crewe-to- Stafford railway line runs through the parish from the north west to the south east; there are no stations within Blakenhall. The proposed route of Phase 2a of the

railway line runs through the parish. Den Lane crosses the parish from the north west to the south east, crossing the railway at Den Bridge near the eastern boundary. Mill Lane runs south west from Den Lane, connecting with the A51 road, A51 in the adjacent parish of Doddington. A short stretch of Checkley Lane, including Checkley Bridge over Checkley Brook, falls within the south of the parish. Blakenhall village lies along Mill Lane.Search a
Cheshire East Council Public Map Viewer
(accessed 2 March 2020)

Demography

According to the 2001 census, the civil parish had a total population of 125, a decline from the 19th-century figures. At the 2011 census, the population was recorded – jointly with the adjacent civil parishes of Checkley cum Wrinehill and

– as 283 in 115 households. Historical population figures are 199 (1801), 226 (1851), 196 (1901) and 169 (1951).

Landmarks

The parish contains one building designated by English Heritage as a listed building. This is Blakenhall Farmhouse, which is listed at Grade II. Grade II is the lowest of the three gradings given to listed buildings and is granted to "buildings of national importance and special interest". The farmhouse dates from the 17th century, and is constructed in brick with a tiled roof. It is in two storeys, and has a three-bay (architecture), bay entrance front with three gabled dormers. Inside the farmhouse is an inglenook with a bressumer. A red-brick former Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Blakenhall village dates from 1900.

Education

There are no educational facilities in Blakenhall. The civil parish falls within the catchment areas of Shavington Academy and Wybunbury Delves Church of England Primary School.

References

;Sources * *Joan Beck (1969), ''Tudor Cheshire''. ''A History of Cheshire'' Vol. 7 (J. J. Bagley, ed.), Cheshire Community Council * * *B. M. C. Husain (1973), ''Cheshire under the Norman Earls: 1066–1237''. ''A History of Cheshire'' Vol. 4 (J. J. Bagley, ed.), Cheshire Community Council *

External links

{{Authority control Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire