Bunbury is a village in Cheshire, England, south of

Tarporley Tarporley is a large village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. The civil parish also contains the village of Rhuddall Heath. Tarporley is bypassed by the A49 and A51 roads. At the 2011 census, the population was 2,614. History Tarporle ...

and north 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. ...

on the Shropshire Union Canal. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 1,195.

History

Bunbury was reputedly derived from Buna-burh, meaning the "redoubt of Buna". Just prior to 1066 it was held by a certain Dedol of Tiverton. It was listed as Boleberie in the Domesday Survey of 1086 and the lord of the fief was Robert FitzHugh. A Norman family later acquired the surname of De Boneberi, and were linked to Rake Hall during and after the reign of King Stephen. They were allegedly a cadet line of the Norman family of De St Pierre, associated with Hugh "Lupus" Earl of Chester, one of the famous "marcher lords" of the Welsh Marches. Much later, in the era of the English Civil War and on the date of 23 December 1642 some of the prominent gentlemen of Cheshire met in Bunbury and drew up the Bunbury Agreement. The terms of the agreement were intended to keep Cheshire neutral during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. It proved to be a forlorn hope because the national strategic importance of Cheshire and the city port of Chester meant that national interests overruled local ones. Bunbury was a victim of the

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

during

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 opposing ...

. German aircraft returning from a night raid on

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

in 1940 jettisoned surplus bombs over the village, obliterating Church Row (the houses have since been rebuilt). The blast caused minor damage to the exterior of St Boniface's Church and the immediate area. The original village centre surrounding the church was hit, damaging shops beyond repair. This has largely caused the current centre to evolve in the geographical heart of the village. Four old villages have combined to form the modern-day Bunbury. These are: *Higher Bunbury (centred on the church and the Dysart Arms), *Lower Bunbury (the main part of the village today), *Bunbury Heath (essentially School Lane) and *Bunbury Common (from Higher Bunbury towards Bunbury Locks). The last three have coalesced to form a single village. The River Gowy is a natural division between Higher and Lower Bunbury. Bunbury was used in the autumn of 2014 as the setting for the fictional village of 'Great Paxford' in the ITV drama '' Home Fires''.

Landmarks

Bunbury Locks
is a working

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

with some "high-rise" staircase

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

and canal horse stables. Bunbury Mill is a

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

dating from 1844, although there has been a mill on this site since 1290. Following damage caused by a flood in 1960, the mill closed in 1966. It was restored to working order and reopened to the public as a museum by North West Water Authority (later part of

United Utilities United Utilities Group plc (UU), the United Kingdom's largest listed water company, was founded in 1995 as a result of the merger of North West Water and NORWEB. The group manages the regulated water and waste water network in North West Engla ...

). It was closed again in 2010, and passed into the ownership of the Bunbury Watermill Trust, who have reopened it to visitors. The Chantry House is a grade-II*-listed

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 ...

building dating from around 1527, which originally housed the two

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area i ...

priests of the Ridley chantry of St Boniface's Church, and later formed part of the free grammar school founded by Thomas Aldersey.

Community

The main lane in Bunbury is Bunbury Lane which contains three shops (butcher, general convenience store/Post Office and fish and chip shop), two hairdressers, and three pubs - the Nags Head, the Dysart Arms (Cheshire Dining Pub of the Year 2009) and the Yew Tree (formerly the Crewe Arms) which re-opened in 2010. Bunbury Aldersey C of E Primary school is in School Lane. The parish church is dedicated to Saint Boniface and is built on the highest point of the village. It is over 1,000 years old and is built on an older pagan site. This was a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...

built in the 14th century; the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

arcades and

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

windows are about 100 years later than this. There is an

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

effigy of the founder of the college, Sir Hugh Calveley, other effigies, and a 17th-century tomb. It was restored after bomb damage during the Second World War. Bunbury has amenities such as a cricket pavilion, sports pitches, tennis courts, a scout hut (with a new one under construction in 2011) and a village hall. It also has some clubs and societies. Sadlers Wells Woods is located near the A49 road. The wooded area was also mentioned 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 manus ...

written in the time of William the Conqueror.

Notable residents

* Thomas Aldersey (1521/2–1598), a London merchant and philanthropist, was born in Bunbury and founded a free grammar school there in 1575. * William Hinde (1568/9–1629), a well-known

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

and author, was curate at St Boniface's from around 1603 until his death.

References

External links