Bulkeley () is a village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of Bulkeley and Ridley, in the unitary authority area 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. The village is on the A534 road, west 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 ...

. In the 2011 census it had a population of 239.

History

The name was first recorded as ''Bulceleia'' in 1086, from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''bulluc'' + ''leah'', "pasture where bullocks graze". Bulkeley was previously a township in Malpas parish, Broxton Hundred. It became a civil parish in 1866, which included the small settlement of Bulkeleyhay (also Bulkelehay or Bulkeley Hey) at . Between 1894 and 1974 the civil parish was part of

Nantwich Rural District Nantwich Rural District was a division of Cheshire until 1974, when it merged with the Nantwich and Crewe urban districts to create the Borough of Crewe and Nantwich Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a Non-metropolitan district, l ...

. On 1 April 2023 the parish was abolished and merged with Ridley to form "Bulkeley and Ridley.".

Governance

Bulkeley is administered jointly with Ridley by Bulkeley and Ridley 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 new

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 ...

. Bulkeley falls in the parliamentary constituency of Chester South and Eddisbury which has been represented by

Aphra Brandreth Aphra Kendal Alice Brandreth (born 18 July 1978) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chester South and Eddisbury since 2024. Background Brandreth was born in Middlesex Hospital in Lo ...

since 2024.

Geography and economy

Bulkeley Hill () forms the southern end of the Peckforton Hills.Ordnance Survey Explorer 257: Crewe & Nantwich; Whitchurch & Tattenhall It is owned 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 ...

, and its wooded slopes include 12 acres (5 hectares) of semi-natural ancient woodland. The hill has been designated a county site of biological importance for its woodland and grassland habitats. A wider area covering the northern part of the civil parish has also been designated an Area of Special County Value. Another unnamed elevation of around 135 metres is located south west of Bulkeley village at , and an unnamed brook runs east–west along the valley between it and Bulkeley Hill. Two covered reservoirs are located on Bulkeley Hill (at and ), with a pumping station at the base (); a disused inclined plane runs westwards from the pumping station. Formerly owned by Staffordshire Potteries Water Board, the facility is now operated by

Severn Trent Water Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry, England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Severn Trent, the ...

. A small wooded area of access land containing two ponds is located at , immediately east of Bulkeley village and north of the A534, and there are several other meres and ponds scattered across the farmland. The land use is predominantly agricultural, with cattle pasture, horse paddocks and some

arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

Demography

According to the 2001 census the civil parish had a population of 240 in 106 households. The population at the 2011 census had reduced marginally to 239. These figures represent an increase from the 1951 population; the historical population figures were 184 (1801), 197 (1851), 168 (1901) and 146 (1951).

Places of worship

Bulkeley Methodist Church is a red-brick chapel in Bulkeley village. Dating from 1861, it was formerly the Jubilee Primitive Methodist Chapel and is listed at grade II.

Other landmarks

Bulkeley Hall () is a three-storey mansion in brown brick which dates from the mid-18th century; it is

grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. Springfield Cottage () is a timber-framed cottage dating from the late 17th century. A former corn mill stands on Mill Lane () to the north of Bulkeley village. Bulkeley Grange () is a grade-II-listed Victorian red-brick mansion in Jacobean style; the house was rebuilt by railway builder, Thomas Brassey, in 1843. A monument consisting of four inscribed sandstone pillars connected by iron straps was erected around an oak tree near The Grange in 1845, to commemorate Brassey's fortieth birthday. In 2007, it was moved to a location just to the east of Bulkeley village, adjacent to the A534 (); the site has an interpretative sign.

Transport

The A534 (Wrexham Road) between Nantwich and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

runs east–west across the civil parish. Other through routes include Stone House Lane, which runs from the A534 to Peckforton. Mill Lane connects Stone House Lane with the A534 and Cholmondeley Lane runs south to Bulkelehay. The Sandstone Trail long-distance footpath runs over Bulkeley Hill.

Education

Bulkeley civil parish falls within the catchment areas of Bickerton Holy Trinity CE Primary School in Bickerton and Bishop Heber High School in Malpas.

References

External links

A Vision of Britain Through Time: Bulkeley Tn/CPBulkeley and Ridley Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Former civil parishes in Cheshire Borough of Cheshire East National Trust properties in Cheshire