Halton, formerly a separate village, is now part of the town of

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

, Cheshire, England. The name ''Halton'' has been assumed by the

Borough of Halton ("Industry fills the ship") , image_skyline = Runcorn Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 1701094.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The Silver Jubilee Bridge at dusk , image_flag ...

, which includes Runcorn,

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

and some outlying parishes.

History

There is evidence of human occupation in the Stone Age and during the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

era. The village is recorded 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

(1086) in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of Tunendune and towards the end of the 11th century the first castle, which became the seat of the Barons of Halton, was built on the hill. The Tunendune hundred court was absorbed into Bucklow hundred by 1260 so government statistics for Halton over many later centuries are indexed by Bucklow hundred. During the medieval period a deer park measuring lay to the south and the west of the village. At this time Halton had a weekly market and annual fair. The village held a court leet and the castle was used as a prison. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

the castle was held by the

Royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

and twice besieged by

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

forces. Following this the castle fell into ruin. The importance of Halton declined with the coming of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

and the development of the chemical and other industries in Runcorn.

Geography

The village stands in an elevated position at compared with the surrounding area which lies at about . At its centre is an outcrop of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

which rises to a height of . On the summit of the outcrop are the ruins of

Halton Castle Halton Castle is a castle in the village of Halton, part of the town of Runcorn, Cheshire, England. The castle is on the top of Halton Hill, a sandstone prominence overlooking the village. The original building, a motte-and-bailey castle beg ...

. The major road, Main Street, passes below the castle, to its west and south, and Castle Road leads up to the castle.

Demography

Population statistics were recorded separately for the parish of Halton until the village was incorporated into its larger neighbour under the Runcorn New Town (Designation) Order 1964. The population of Halton Village in 1664 has been estimated as 375.

Today

Halton Trinity Methodist Church - geograph

The village is now entirely residential. It is surrounded to the west and north by the estates of Runcorn New Town. To the south is Halton Lea, a shopping mall, and other retail and entertainment outlets. To the east is Town Park. The castle is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

, and there are a number of other listed buildings in the village. There are two public houses, the Castle Hotel, which is incorporated into the structure of the castle and which contains the former courthouse, and the Norton Arms. In the village are two active churches, the Anglican Church of St Mary and Trinity Methodist Church. The Village has a Millennium Green, one of a series of 245 charity-run public Greenspaces created at the Turn of the Millennium.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{authority control Villages in Cheshire Runcorn