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

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, north east of Malpas and 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 ...

. It includes the small settlements of Croxton Green () and Dowse Green (), with a total population of a little over a hundred,Neighbourhood Statistics: Cholmondeley CP
(accessed 25 May 2008)
(accessed 14 August 2007) increasing to 157 at the 2011 Census. Nearby villages include Bickerton to the north east, Bulkeley to the north, No Man's Heath to the south west, and Bickley Moss to the south. The name means "clearing of Ceolmund", this being an Old English forename made up of the elements ''ceol'', "ship", and ''mund'', "protection".

Cholmondeley Castle Cholmondeley Castle is a English country house, country house in the civil parish of Cholmondeley, Cheshire, Cholmondeley, Cheshire, England. Together with its adjacent formal gardens, it is surrounded by parkland. The site of the house has be ...

is in Cholmondeley and much of the civil parish falls within the Cholmondeley Estate, owned by the

Marquess of Cholmondeley Marquess of Cholmondeley ( ) is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for George Cholmondeley, 4th Earl of Cholmondeley. History The Cholmondeley family descends from William le Belward (or de Belward), the ...

. Its parkland includes mixed woodland and plantations, lakes, gardens and farmland.

Geography, transport and economy

The civil parish has a total area of .Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council: Parish Statistics (downloaded from www.cheshireeast.gov.uk
5 April 2010)] The Cholmondeley Castle, Cholmondeley Estate stretches from the A49 in the east to the Cholmondeley lane to the west and the parish boundary to the south; it is designated an area of special county value. The parkland extends to 251.5 hectares. The parish contains part of the large mixed woodland of Moss Wood (centred on ), as well as Long Plantation (), Marl Piece (), Garden Covert (), Nevill's Wood (), Coronation Wood () and several unnamed smaller woods and plantations. There are two large lakes, Chapel Mere () and Deer Park Mere (), as well as several smaller meres. Chapel Mere has been designated as a

Site 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 ...

. The high point is 125 metres on Castle Hill in Cholmondeley Park, at . 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 1721 and the work, which included ...

runs through the parish from the north west to the south east.Cheshire County Council: Interactive Mapping: Cholmondeley CP
(accessed 25 May 2008) The A49 runs north–south through the parish. Other through routes include an unclassified road running broadly east–west, crossing the A49 at , which connects with the settlements of Bickerton,

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 ...

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 ...

. The land use is predominantly agricultural, with cattle pasture 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 ...

. Cholmondeley Park supports rare-breed cattle, sheep and goats, including longhorn cattle.Castles and Cottages: The View from the Estates. ''The Sandstone News'', issue 3 (June 2005) (downloaded from ; 25 May 2008) The Bankhouse horse-racing stables are in the parish. Cholmondeley Castle gardens are a tourist attraction.

Demography

In 2006, the total population of the civil parish was estimated as 130. The 2001 census recorded a population of 136, in 63 households. The population has decreased since 1951; the historical population figures were 292 (1801), 269 (1851), 298 (1901) and 266 (1951).

Cholmondeley Castle and Park

is a grade-II*-listed castellated mansion house located at , from Malpas and from

. The sandstone building dates from 1801 to 1804; turrets and towers were added in 1817–19 by Robert Smirke to give the "castle" its present appearance. The surviving parts of the grade-II-listed Old Hall date from 1707; the hall formerly included an Elizabethan building which was demolished in 1801. ;Parkland The parkland of the castle was originally laid out in the late 17th century, and is included in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens (grade II). The gates at the south-west entrance to the park date from 1722 and are listed at grade II*. The castle gardens contain several grade-II-listed structures; Temple Gardens has a sandstone temple, a lead statue of three winged cherubs supporting a flower basket, a rotunda, a stone bridge over a lily pond carved with dolphins and a gated entrance; the stone bridge across Chapel Mere is also listed. ;Chapel The castle's private chapel, dedicated to St Nicholas, is of a much earlier date and is listed at grade I. The original

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

building dates from the late 15th century; it was rebuilt in brick in 1717 by

John Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restor ...

and extended during the 19th century.

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...

suggests that the attribution to Vanbrugh is incorrect since Thomas Fetherston contracted for the work in 1716. The transepts were added in 1829. The chancel roof is medieval and the furniture of the chancel is of about 1552. The north and south gates to the chapel date from 1722 and were formerly fences to the Old Hall; they are listed at grade II. ;Gate lodges The park has five grade-II-listed gate lodges, Beeston Lodge, Deer Park Lodge, Nantwich Lodge, Park House Lodge and Somerset Lodge. Other estate buildings also listed at grade II include Castle Farm House, Park House, Scotch Farm, Shingles Cottages and The Mews.

Other landmarks

The Cholmondeley Arms public house, a converted schoolhouse on the A49 at , is included in the ''Good Pubs Guide''. The Cholmondeley Castle Farm Shop, in the Castle Farm House at , sells produce from the Cholmondeley Estate and incorporates a post office. The

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, Hi ...

Field's Farmhouse () dates originally from 1648 and was restored in 1903. A three-bay farmhouse with

timber framing Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

and brick infilling, it features

jetties A jetty is a man-made structure that protrudes from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signif ...

and

close studding Close studding is a form of timber work used in timber-framed buildings in which vertical timbers ( studs) are set close together, dividing the wall into narrow panels. Rather than being a structural feature, the primary aim of close studding is ...

with a middle rail. Higginsfield House () was formerly the Cholmondeley Estate's

dower house A dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the previous owner of an English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish estate (house), estate. The widow, often known as the "dowager", usually moves into the dower house fr ...

; a five-bay, two-storey, white-painted brick house with a projecting porch, it dates from the early 19th century and is listed at grade II.

Education

Cholmondeley civil parish falls within the catchment areas of Bickerton Holy Trinity CE Primary School in Bickerton and

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