Coole Pilate 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 to the 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 ...

and to the south 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. ...

. The area is predominantly rural with scattered farms, and a total population of 60 people. At the 2011 Census the population remained less than 100. Details are included in the civil 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 ...

. Nearby villages include 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 ...

, Hatherton and Newhall.

History

Coole Pilate means a

croft Croft may refer to: Occupations * Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling * Crofting, small-scale food production * Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft Locations In the Uni ...

growing pill oats. A

brine spring A brine spring or salt spring is a saltwater spring. Brine springs are not necessarily associated with halite deposits in the immediate vicinity. They may occur at valley bottoms made of clay and gravel which became soggy with brine seeped downsl ...

is shown on an 1831 map of the area, and is presumably the source of local place names such as "Brine Pit". Little is known of the early history of the area. A square perforated stone hoe believed to date from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

was found in a field to the west of Old Hall in 1936, suggesting possible settlement during that period. Coole Pilate is not mentioned by name 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 ...

of 1086. Most of the area of the modern civil parish fell within the ancient parish of Acton in the Nantwich Hundred; it was served by St Mary's Church, Acton. A loom weight was found in the area, suggesting that

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

was carried out locally around the 16th century. There is evidence of a local

brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for ...

and

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

around the 18th–19th centuries. In around 1836, landowners in the parish included the

Earl of Kilmorey Earl of Kilmorey () is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1822 for Francis Needham, 12th Viscount Kilmorey, a General in the British Army and former Member of Parliament for Newry. He was made Viscount Newry and Mourne, in th ...

, a major landowner locally, as well as Charles Wicksted, Richard Johnson and the Reverend Jeremiah Smith.Cheshire County Council: e-Mapping Victorian Cheshire
(accessed 16 August 2007) 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, was completed in 1835.Acton, Edleston and Henhull Parish Plan
(accessed 17 August 2007) The Nantwich and Market Drayton Railway, constructed in 1863, ran north–south through the parish; a halt at Coole Pilate was opened in 1935. The halt closed in 1963 and the line was subsequently dismantled, although the supports of the former railway bridge over the Shropshire Union Canal still remain near Austin's Bridge. The parish had a platoon in the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting w ...

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 ...

, which guarded the canal bridges and reinforced the

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 ...

at the nearby Hack Green Radar Station.

Governance

Coole Pilate has been administered since 1950 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 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. Coole Pilate falls in the parliamentary constituency of

, 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 a by-election in 2008.

Geography, transport and economy

The civil parish has a total area of .Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council: Parish Statistics (downloaded fro

5 April 2010) The terrain is relatively flat, with an average elevation of around 50 metres. The land use is almost entirely agricultural.Latham, p. 81 The Shropshire Union Canal runs north–south through the parish; it is crossed by the Cool Lane roadbridge and the Austin's and Hall's footbridges. 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 ...

runs along the eastern border, and Finnaker brook runs north–south in the west of the parish. Several small meres and ponds are scattered across the farmland, and there are also a few small areas of woodland.Ordnance Survey Explorer 257: Crewe & Nantwich: Whitchurch & TattenhallCheshire County Council: Interactive Mapping: Coole Pilate CP
(accessed 2 April 2008) Coole Lane, which connects

with the

A525 A5 and variants may refer to: Science and mathematics * A5 regulatory sequence in biochemistry * A5, the abbreviation for the androgen Androstenediol * Annexin A5, a human cellular protein * ATC code A05 ''Bile and liver therapy'', a subgroup of ...

near

, runs north–south through the parish and is the major road. Brine Pits Lane runs from Coole Lane to Brinepits Farm. The A529 lies to the east of the parish. 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 footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway (landscape), greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking (wilderness), backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-cou ...

runs east–west through the parish.

Demography

In 2006, the total population of the civil parish was estimated as 50. The 2001 census recorded a population of 60. Historical population figures were 39 (1801), 43 (1851), 53 (1901) and 70 (1951).Genuki: Coole Pilate
(accessed 16 August 2007)

Landmarks

Coole Pilate Chapel on Coole Lane at was built in 1850 by the Wesleyan Methodist Association.The Village of Audlem: Village History
(accessed 16 August 2007)Latham, pp. 70–71 Other landmarks include the large farms of Old Hall at the junction of Coole Lane and Brine Pits Lane (), and Brinepits at the end of Brine Pits Lane ().

Education

There are no educational facilities within the civil parish. Coole Pilate 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

.Cheshire County Council: Interactive Mapping: Coole Pilate CP: Primary and secondary schools
(accessed 2 April 2008)

Notable residents

Isabella Whitney Isabella Whitney (most likely born between 1546 and 1548, died after 1624); fl. 1566–1600) was arguably the first female poet and professional woman writer in England. More specifically, Whitney is credited with being the first Englishwoman to h ...

, the first woman known to have published secular poetry in the English language, is thought to have been born at Coole Pilate. Her brother,

Geoffrey Whitney Geoffrey (then spelt Geffrey) Whitney (c. 1548 – c. 1601) was an English poet, now best known for the influence on Elizabethan writing of the ''Choice of Emblemes'' that he compiled. Life Geoffrey Whitney, the eldest son of a father of the sa ...

, is likewise believed to have been born there; also a poet, he is known for his collection ''Choice of Emblemes''.''Dictionary of National Biography'', vol. LXI, pp. 142–143 (Oxford University Press, 1900)