Clutton 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 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 lies nine miles from

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

and 11 miles from

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 ...

. It had a population of 371 according to the 2011 census. It has a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

primary school.

History

The name "Clutton" means 'rocky-hill farm'. It is derived 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 ...

''clūd'' (rocky hill) and ''tūn'' (farmstead or settlement). The village is also principally where the surname of Clutton originated from. Clutton was 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 manusc ...

in 1086 as ''Clutone'', under the ownership of

William fitz Nigel William fitz Nigel (died 1134), of Halton Castle in Cheshire, England, was Constable of Chester and Baron of Halton within the county palatine of Chester ruled by the Earl of Chester. Origins Traditionally, he succeeded his father Nigel as bar ...

. It was recorded to have to four households: three were villagers and one was a Frenchman. In 1066 the landowners had been Edward of Grappenhall and Wulfwin Chit, with the value of the land being £1. By 1086 this was £0.4 for two ploughlands. In the 1870s, Clutton was described as "a township in Farndon parish, Cheshire; 5½ miles N of Malpas. Acres, 609. Real property, £947. Pop., 74. Houses, 12. Williamson, the antiquary, was a native." Approximately 1.1 km north east of Clutton is a spring named Holy Well, situated at the settlement Holywell. It is said that the spring arose after the body of

Saint Winifred Saint Winifred (or Winefride; cy, Gwenffrewi; la, Wenefreda, Winifreda) was a Welsh virgin martyr of the 7th century. Her story was celebrated as early as the 8th century, but became popular in England in the 12th, when her hagiography was fi ...

was laid there on the way to

Shrewsbury Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Shrewsbury (commonly known as Shrewsbury Abbey) is an ancient foundation in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire, England. The Abbey was founded in 1083 as a Benedictine monastery by the Norm ...

. This spring today now provides the drinking water for two houses. Although the village itself does not have a church, the church that has traditionally served the village is St Chad's Church in Farndon, approximately 5 km to the west of Clutton. Although first recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, it is likely that there were buildings as far back as

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

times.

Geography

Clutton is situated 253 km north west of London and 13.5 km south of

. The nearest train stations can be found in Wrexham or Chester. The nearest airport is

Liverpool John Lennon Airport Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport in Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey south-east of Liverpool city centre. Scheduled domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern services are operated fr ...

, 33 miles away. The village is 60 metres above sea level.

Geology

Clutton sits on sandstone formed approximately 206 to 248 million years ago during the

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

period. The bed rock also contains sand and gravel formed by river channels. During the Triassic period the sea level was higher than current levels and parts of Cheshire were submerged by seawater. This left salt deposits across Cheshire. The geology was more recently by glacial deposition up to 2 million years ago. These glacial deposits were made up of sand and gravel.

Climate

Clutton's location means that it has a temperate climate. Average temperatures range from an average maximum of 21 °C to an average minimum of 2 °C.

Demography

Population

Up until the 1950s, the population of Clutton remained under 100 people (72 in 1801, 89 in 1851, 78 in 1901 and 67 in 1951). By 2001 the village had a population of 259. According to the 2001 census, the civil parish was combined with neighbouring Carden civil parish and the figure was given as 328, with the combined figure increasing further to 371 in the 2011 census. The population of Clutton has expanded the most in the past few decades which coincided with the counter-urbanisation movement of the population in the UK. Occupations of Clutton population in 1881

Occupation history

The main industry in Clutton was agriculture until recent years. In the 2011 census the main occupation of Clutton is listed as Professional Occupations. As parts of Cheshire were submerged by seawater during the Triassic period, it is likely that the workers classified as "Workers in various mineral substances" were employed to work in salt mines.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire