Handley 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 West and Chester Cheshire West and Chester is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to l ...

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. It is part of the

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Tattenhall Tattenhall is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Tattenhall and District, south-east of Chester, in the unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. In the 2001 cens ...

, a larger settlement approximately to the east. The hamlet of Milton Green is to the north west of the village. The

A41 road The A41 is a trunk road between London and Birkenhead, England. Now in parts replaced by motorways, it passes through or near Watford, Kings Langley, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Bicester, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, New ...

, which previously passed through the village now bypasses it, having been re-routed further to the east. In the 2001 census Handley had a population of 149. The census statistics have been combined with the neighbouring civil parishes of Chowley and Golborne David, and the figure was given as 227. In the 2011 census these parishes were again combined, with the population recorded as 253.

History

The name Handley means "at the high wood/clearing" and likely derives from the

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 ...

words ''hēah'' (a high place) and ''lēah'' (a wood, forest, glade or clearing). Handley was mentioned in the

Domesday Book 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 ...

of 1086 as ''Hanlei'', under the ownership of Osbern, son of Tezzo. The entry lists only four households (two villagers, one

smallholder A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technolo ...

and one slave/servant), making it amongst the smallest 20% of settlements recorded in the survey. The village was a township and parish within Broxton Hundred, which became a civil parish in 1866. The population was recorded at 203 in 1801, then 307 in 1851, 259 in 1901 and increasing to 277 by 1951.

Landmarks

All Saints Church, Handley All Saints Church stands to the north of the village of Handley, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. The church is an active Anglican parish church in the d ...

, is a Grade II*

listed building 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 ...

. Nearby

Calveley Hall Calveley Hall is a country house to the west of the village of Milton Green, Cheshire, England. It was built in 1684 for Lady Mary Calveley. After Lady Mary's death the estate passed by marriage to the Leghs of Lyme. In 1818 it was remodelled ...

History

Landmarks

See also

References

Notes

Citations

External links