Bickerton is a village 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the unitary authority of

Cheshire East Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council, which is based in the town of Sandbach. Other towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Congleton, Wilms ...

and the ceremonial county 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, about north of Whitchurch in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. The parish also includes the small settlement of Gallantry Bank,Genuki: Bickerton
(accessed 21 February 2008) with a total population of over 200. The two

Bickerton Hill Bickerton Hill refers to two low red sandstone hills that form the southern end of the Mid Cheshire Ridge in Cheshire, north-west England. The high point, Raw Head, lies on the northerly hill and has an elevation of 227 metres. Parts of the ...

s also lie partly within the civil parish.

History

Bickerton appears in the

Domesday survey 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as ''Bicretone''. It was owned by Drogo from Robert FitzHugh, baron of Malpas, and was found waste at the time of the survey. Woodland extending to half a league (about ¾ mile or 1.2 km) was recorded. The name is

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

in origin, and relates to bees. A proposal to build a wind farm at Bickerton was abandoned in 2010 after the company responsible decided the proposed site did not receive enough wind.

Governance

Bickerton is administered jointly with Egerton by the Bickerton & Egerton Parish Council. From 1974 the civil parish was served by

Crewe and Nantwich Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Cheshire, England. It had a population (2001 census) of 111,007. It contained 69 ci ...

Borough Council, which was succeeded on 1 April 2009 by the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

. Bickerton falls in the parliamentary constituency of Eddisbury, which has been represented by

Edward Timpson Anthony Edward Timpson, (born 26 December 1973) is a British former Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Eddisbury in Cheshire from 2019 to 2024. Timpson was previously the MP for neighbouring Crewe ...

since 2019, after being represented by Stephen O'Brien (1999–2015) and

Antoinette Sandbach Antoinette Geraldine Mackeson-Sandbach (born 15 February 1969), known as Antoinette Sandbach, is a British barrister, farm manager and politician who was elected as a North Wales region Member of the Welsh Assembly at the May 2011 election, an ...

(2015–19).

Geography

The majority of the two

s falls within the civil parish, although the parts of the hills are in the Duckington, Larkton and Harthill parishes. Raw Head (; 227 metres) lies north of the A534, while the southerly hill (212 m) lies south of the road, immediately northwest of Bickerton village.Cheshire East Council & Cheshire West and Chester Council: Interactive Mapping: Bickerton CP
(accessed 28 May 2008) The area around Raw Head and much of the southerly hill are designated

Sites of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. A wider area covering much of the north and west of the civil parish is also designated an Area of Special County Value. Around of the southerly hill are managed by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

Demography

According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 234, in 90 households.Neighbourhood Statistics: Bickerton CP
(accessed 26 May 2008) In the 2011 Census, the population of Bickerton and adjacent Egerton was assessed as 278. The population has fallen since the nineteenth century; the historical population figures were 270 (1801), 398 (1851), 323 (1901) and 256 (1951).

Places of worship

The Church of the Holy Trinity in Bickerton village dates from 1839, and became a parish church in 1869. Built of red sandstone, with

Edmund Sharpe Edmund Sharpe (31 October 1809 – 8 May 1877) was an English architect, architectural historian, railway engineer and sanitary reformer. Born in Knutsford, Cheshire, he was educated first by his parents and then at schools locally and in ...

as the architect, it is listed at grade II. A

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

stands in the adjacent graveyard, overlooking the crossroads of Goldford Lane and Long Lane.

Other landmarks

A disused copper mine chimney in red sandstone is located near Gallantry Bank, adjacent to the A534. Dating from the early 19th century, it is a rare remnant of the copper mining industry in this area. The copper mine was owned by the Egerton family of Oulton, and is thought to have been operational in 1697. The Bickerton Poacher public house stands on the A534 by the junction with Stone House Lane.

Transport

The A534 runs east–west through the parish. Other major through routes include Long Lane running south from the A534 towards Malpas, and a lane running southeast from Long Lane to Cholmondeley which connects with the A49. The Sandstone Trail runs east from the summit of the southerly Bickerton Hill, crosses the A534, runs northwest to the summit of Raw Head and then turns south east to climb Bulkeley Hill.

Education

Bickerton Holy Trinity CE Primary School stands on Long Lane. It serves Bickerton as well as the nearby civil parishes of Bulkeley, Cholmondeley,

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

, Egerton, Ridley and part of Duckington. Bickerton civil parish falls within the catchment area of

Bishop Heber High School Bishop Heber High School is a comprehensive secondary school in Malpas, Cheshire, England. The school is named after bishop Reginald Heber (1783–1826), who was born in Malpas and is remembered as a hymn-writer. In 2011, the school was rated ...

in Malpas.Cheshire County Council: Interactive Mapping: Bishop Heber High School
(accessed 25 May 2008)

References

External links

{{authority control Civil parishes in Cheshire Villages in Cheshire