Penketh 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 ...

and suburb of

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in the

Borough of Warrington (God giveth the increase) , image_skyline =Warrington from the Air - geograph.org.uk - 3153500.jpg , imagesize = 280px , image_caption = Aerial view of Warrington , image_flag = ...

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 tow ...

, England. It is located about west of

town centre. It has a population of 8,699. It is in the historic county of

. The name is derived from two

Brythonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

words: *''penno-'' (head) and *''kēto-'' (trees) (Welsh ''pen coed''); suggesting that the parish was at one time on the outskirts of a forest. The emblem/badge of Penketh is three kingfishers.

History

Penketh was originally part of

Prescot Prescot is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it lies about to the east of Liverpool city centre. At the 2001 Census, the c ...

parish but became a chapelry and then a separate parish. It grew due to the crossing over the

Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

at Fiddlers Ferry and the building of the

Sankey Canal The Sankey Canal in North West England, initially known as the Sankey Brook Navigation and later the St Helens Canal, is a former industrial canal, which when opened in 1757 was England's first of the Industrial revolution, and the first moder ...

. The area was mainly rural and agricultural until well into the 20th century, though a

tannery Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

and

boatyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

were established in the 19th century. The last 50 years has seen the area transformed into a large residential suburb.

Governance

Historically within

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, but now within Cheshire, the parish has a Parish Council and is a ward of Warrington Borough. It is in Warrington South constituency of the

United Kingdom Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

. Until the major local government reorganisation of 1974, Penketh was part of Widnes

Warrington Rural District Warrington Rural District was, from 1894 to 1974, a local government district in the administrative county of Lancashire. It was formed a rural district under the Local Government Act 1894 from the Warrington rural sanitary district, and was ...

Industry

The former tannery and boatyard were the only major industries in Penketh. Fiddlers Ferry Power Station dominates Penketh, though it is in Cuerdley parish.

Churches

There is a parish church
St Paul's

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 Brit ...

), and a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church (St Joseph's). There is a strong nonconformist tradition as exemplified by 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 ...

chapel in Chapel Road. The

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

were well represented at one time; the Meeting House was the present village hall on Meeting Lane.

Schools

The secondary schools in the area are Penketh High SchoolPenketh High School
/ref> and St Gregory's Catholic High School (which isn't actually in Penketh). The primary schools in the area are Penketh Community Primary School (a feeder school for Penketh High School), Penketh South Primary School, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School and St Vincent's Catholic Primary School.

Pubs

Pubs in the area include the Ferry Tavern, the Crown & Cushion, the Sportsman's Arms and the Red Lion.

Transport

Railway stations in the area include local services from Sankey for Penketh on the Liverpool to Manchester Line (with express services along this route available from Warrington Central), as well as Warrington Bank Quay on the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

. Frequent buses link Penketh with Warrington town centre: it is the terminus for

Warrington's Own Buses Warrington's Own Buses is a municipal bus company which operates a network of services within the Borough of Warrington and the surrounding area, including Altrincham, Leigh, Earlestown, Wigan, Halton, Bolton and Northwich. The company previou ...

(routes 30, 30B, 31 and 32A), and the north of Penketh is also served by Warrington's Own Buses routes 14 and 15.

Arriva North West Arriva North WestCompanies House extract company no 1990871

inter-urban services also serve the main road through Penketh, heading towards

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

and

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

(route 110) and to

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Belle Vale, and the neighbouring village of Roby, with which ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

(route 7). Penketh is on the A562 road linking Warrington with the

Silver Jubilee Bridge The Silver Jubilee Bridge (originally the Runcorn–Widnes Bridge or informally the Runcorn Bridge) crosses the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal at Runcorn Gap between Runcorn and Widnes in Halton, England. It is a through arch br ...

. The nearest airports are

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

Demographics

*7,340 residents *2,993 households *29.4% of all residents have no qualifications (approximately 2,158 residents) *2.06% are unemployed (approximately 154 residents)

Race and gender

*48% males to 52% females *98.3% are of white race *0.6% are of mixed origin *0.7% are of Asian origin *0.1% are of black race *0.4% are of "other" race

Housing demographics

*92.0% Owner occupied *3.7% are council accommodation *0.4% are rented from a

housing association In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost " social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budget surplus is used to maintain existing housing and to help fi ...

*2.0% are private rentals *1.3% are rentals from other sources *0.6% are undisclosed

References

External links

{{authority control Warrington Civil parishes in Warrington Villages in Cheshire