Acton was an

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Nantwich Hundred of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. At one time it included the

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

s of Acton,

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. Ety ...

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, t ...

Baddington Baddington is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies immediately to the south-west of Nantwich and north of Audlem. Predominantly rural with scattered farms, the civil ...

Brindley Brindley is a village (at ) and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cheshire, England. The village lies 3¾ miles to the west of Nantwich. The parish also includes the settlements of Brindley Lea, Ryders Bank and part of Radmore Green,

Burland Burland is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Burland and Acton, in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, about miles west of Nantwich. The civil parish also included t ...

Cholmondeston Cholmondeston (
(accessed 31 March 2010)) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the un ...

, Edleston,

Faddiley Faddiley is a small village (at SJ 590 530) and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village is located 4 miles to the west of Nantwich. The parish also includes the small set ...

, Henhull,

Hurleston Hurleston was a civil parish until April 2023 and now forms part of the civil parish of Stoke and Hurleston, within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies to the north west of Nantwi ...

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...

, Worleston, most of Coole Pilate, parts of Dodcott cum Wilkesley, Newhall and

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'' by the br ...

, and possibly all or part of

Baddiley Baddiley is a scattered settlement and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The civil parish also includes the north-western part of the village of Rave ...

.Dunn FI. ''The Ancient Parishes, Townships and Chapelries of Cheshire'' ( Cheshire Record Office and Cheshire Diocesan Record Office; 1987) ()Latham FA, ed. ''Acton'', p. 9, (The Local History Group; 1995) () It also contained the chapelries of

Church Minshull Church Minshull is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village is approximately north west of Crewe, just west of the River Weaver and Shropshire Union Canal. ...

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

Wrenbury Wrenbury-cum-Frith is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies on the River Weaver, around south-west of Crewe. The civil parish of Wrenbury cum Frith also c ...

.'Houses of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Combermere', pp. 150–156. In: ''A History of the County of Chester'' (Vol. 3) (1980) (accessed 25 February 2008).
/ref> By around 1870, the townships and chapelries of Baddiley, Church Minshull, Dodcott cum Wilkesley, Nantwich, Newhall, Sound and Wrenbury had been lost from Acton; the total area of the ancient parish was then 15,542 acres (6,290 hectares), with a population of 3,125.Wilson JM. ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (1870–72). Quoted in
A Vision of Britain Through Time: Acton, Cheshire
(accessed 22 February 2008) Acton church served as the main parish church for a wide area to the west of

. Subsidiary churches were chapels of ease;

St Mary's Church, Nantwich St Mary's Church is an Anglican parish church in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It has been called the "Cathedral of South Cheshire" a ...

, for example, despite its size, remained a chapel of ease to Acton until the 17th century.Pevsner N, Hubbard E. ''The Buildings of England: Cheshire'', p. 285 (Penguin Books; 1971) ()

References

History of Cheshire {{Cheshire-geo-stub