Fourteen buildings and other structures in the English

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 ...

of Wrenbury cum Frith have been officially designated as

listed building 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 ...

s for their "special architectural and historic interest". Three of the listed buildings are classified as being in grade II* and the remainder in grade II; the parish has no grade-I-listed buildings. Wrenbury cum Frith is in the Cheshire East division of the ceremonial county of Cheshire, situated on the

Cheshire Plain The Cheshire Plain is a relatively flat expanse of lowland within the county of Cheshire in North West England but extending south into Shropshire. It extends from the Mersey Valley in the north to the Shropshire Hills in the south, bounded b ...

. 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 ...

and the

Llangollen Canal The Llangollen Canal ( cy, Camlas Llangollen) is a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, Shropshir ...

both cross the civil parish. Before the railway network reached the area, the canal was important for the transport of locally produced cheese and other dairy products from this dairy farming region to Chester, North Wales and the Midlands. Three timber canal lift bridges of the drawbridge type were constructed by Thomas Telford, probably in the 1790s, after his appointment as engineer to what was then known as the Ellesmere Canal. Two of the lift bridges are footbridges serving farms, which are still operated manually using the original counterweight system; they are listed at grade II*. The third, believed to be one of only two lift bridges of this type in the country to carry road traffic, has had a mechanical crank fitted. A fourth

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

road bridge crosses the Weaver. A

lock 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 ...

on the canal is also listed. The village of Wrenbury is the only substantial settlement in the civil parish. Many of the listed buildings and structures in the civil parish are located within the conservation area that protects much of its centre and spreads north-west to beyond the canal. Five cluster around the village green and the adjacent parish church dedicated to St Margaret, the third grade-II*-listed structure. The church dates from the early 16th century and is the oldest listed structure in the civil parish. The four half-timbered "black and white" cottages to have listed status all date from the 17th century; this century accounts for half of the timber-framed buildings in Cheshire.McKenna p. 21 The earliest are believed to be Elm House on the village green and a small cottage within the churchyard, thought to be a former almshouse and a schoolmaster's house associated with the free school founded in 1605, also located in the churchyard.Latham, pp. 122–123Latham, pp. 88–89 Later listed buildings are built in brick, a reflection of the shift in domestic architecture from timber framing to brick construction, also observed in unlisted buildings. The most recent listed building is the village primary school of 1879, which is typical of the local schools built after the

Education Act Education Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States that relates to education. The Bill for an Act with this short title wil ...

of 1870.Latham, pp. 89–90

Listed buildings and structures

Notes and references

Sources

* Latham, Frank A. (ed.) ''Wrenbury and Marbury'' (The Local History Group; 1999) * McKenna, Laurie. ''Timber Framed Buildings in Cheshire'' (Cheshire County Council; 1994) () * Smiles, Samuel.
The Life of Thomas Telford, Civil Engineer
' (John Murray; 1867) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wrenbury cum Frith Listed buildings in the Borough of Cheshire East Lists of listed buildings in Cheshire

Listed buildings and structures

See also

Notes and references

Sources