Worleston is a village (at ) 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 ...

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, 2½ miles north 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. ...

and 3 miles west of

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

. The civil parish, which also includes Beambridge, Rease Heath, Mile End and Rookery, had a population at the 2011 Census of 452.

History

Historically, Worleston civil parish was included within the

ancient 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. ...

Acton Acton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Acton Australia * Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie * Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton Canada ...

, and

St Mary's Church, Acton St Mary's Church is an active Anglican parish church located in Monk's Lane, Acton, a village to the west of Nantwich, Cheshire, England. Since 1967 it has been designated a Grade I listed building. A church has been present on this sit ...

was the parish church.Latham, p. 9 The small civil parish of Alvaston was added to Worleston in 1899, and part of the parish was transferred to Nantwich in 1936.Genuki: Worleston
(accessed 15 August 2007)

Geography and transport

Nearby villages include

Aston juxta Mondrum Aston juxta Mondrum is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is about four miles north of Nantwich. The civil parish also includes part of Worleston village. Etym ...

, Willaston and

Wistaston Wistaston is a civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, in North West England. It is approximately west of Crewe town centre and east of Nantwich town centre. It has a pop ...

. 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 ...

forms the eastern boundary of the parish, with a tributary running east–west across the parish, south of

Rookery Hall Rookery Hall is a Georgian style mansion located off the B5074 road near the village of Worleston in Cheshire, England. Dating originally from 1816 but extensively altered in the late 19th century, the hall is listed at grade II. Since 2 ...

. Other Weaver tributaries form parts of the south-eastern, western and northern parish boundaries. The

Reaseheath College Reaseheath College is a land-based further education college offering a range of diplomas, apprenticeships, and adult courses. It is mainly located on the outskirts of Nantwich in Cheshire, England. The college offers courses in adventure sports, ...

at Rease Heath has a lake, and there are numerous small meres and ponds scattered across the farmland. The A51 runs east–west along the southern boundary of the parish, and the

B5074 road B roads are numbered routes in Great Britain of lesser importance than A roads. See the article Great Britain road numbering scheme The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in Gr ...

runs north–south through it, crossing the tributary of the Weaver at Rookery Bridge. The

–

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 ...

railway line crosses the northern tip of the parish. The civil parish has relatively few

public footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

s, with none to the east of the B5074; the longest footpath cuts west from the B5074 to Rease Heath.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 404, with 96 households. The historical population figures were 269 (1801), 337 (1851), 485 (1901) and 383 (1951); the changes partly reflect boundary alterations (described previously).

Landmarks

:''See also Listed buildings in Worleston''

, a grade-II-listed mansion dating from 1816, is located off the B5074 near Worleston village; it is now a hotel and restaurant. The Royal Oak public house, on the B5074 in Worleston village, is a timber-framed building dating originally from the 1730s. The small settlement of Rease Heath (also spelled Reaseheath), adjacent to

, contains

, as well as the grade-II-listed Rease Heath Old Hall, an L-shaped farmhouse in red brick dating from the late 18th century. A moated site () at Rease Heath is a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. The

Crewe Alexandra F.C. Academy The Crewe Alexandra F.C. Academy is the player development centre of English Football League club Crewe Alexandra F.C. Set up by manager Dario Gradi in the late 1980s, it achieved official status as an FA Youth Academy in the late 1990s. By concen ...

is adjacent to the college.

Places of worship

The grade-II-listed St Oswald's Church, founded 1873, is in Worleston village (within

civil parish). A major fire in 1997 damaged the roof, chancel and organ loft; the church has since been restored. St Oswald's has been administered since 1991 as a united benefice, the Cross Country Group of Parish Churches, with St Mary's, Acton, St Bartholomew's, Church Minshull, and St David's,

Wettenhall Wettenhall is a village (at ) and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village lies 3½ miles to the south west of Winsford and 6 miles to the north west of Crewe. The pari ...

. It falls into the rural deanery of

and the diocese of

. Since 2007, the vicar has been the Reverend Peter Lillicrap. A magazine, ''Cross Country'', is circulated across all four churches.Acton, Edleston and Henhull Parish Plan
(accessed 17 August 2007) Worleston Methodist Chapel was founded in 1871 and closed in 1969.

Education

The village is served by the nearby St Oswald's CE Primary School (), originally Worleston National School, on Church Road,

.Latham, pp. 91–2

References

Sources

*Latham FA, ed. ''Acton'' (The Local History Group; 1995) ()

External links

{{authority control Civil parishes in Cheshire Villages in Cheshire