Ince 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 situated immediately to the east of the

Stanlow Oil Refinery Stanlow Refinery is an oil refinery owned by Essar Energy in Ellesmere Port, North West England. Until 2011, it was owned by Royal Dutch Shell, Shell UK. The refinery is situated on the south bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, which is used to ...

. It shares Ince & Elton railway station with the village of

Elton Elton may refer to: Places England * Elton, Cambridgeshire (formerly Huntingdonshire), a village ** Elton Hall, a baronial hall * Elton, Cheshire, a village and civil parish * Elton, County Durham, a village and civil parish in the Borough of ...

, which it runs into. According to the 2001 census it was recorded as having a population of 209. By the 2011 census this had marginally reduced to 203. Ince Park is being developed near the village.

History

The name Ince, first 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as ''Inise'', is from the

Primitive Welsh The history of the Welsh language () spans over 1400 years, encompassing the stages of the language known as Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Welsh language, Modern Welsh. Origins Welsh evolved from British language (Celtic), Briti ...

''ïnïs'', meaning "island". The name refers to the village's position on a low ridge in the marshlands around the rivers Gowy and

Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it ...

. Ince was a township split between the ancient parishes of both Ince and Stoak, within the Eddisbury Hundred. It existed as a civil parish between 1866 and 1950, when it was absorbed into

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 Unite ...

civil parish. The population stood at 443 in 1801, 422 in 1851 and 290 in 1901. The present civil parish was separated from Ellesmere Port in 1987, with smaller boundaries.

Landmarks

The remains of Ince Manor, one of the earliest recorded properties of

St Werburgh's Abbey Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint ...

(now Chester Cathedral), were given Grade I

listed status 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 ...

in 1963.

Governance

From 1983 to 2024, Ince formed part of the

Ellesmere Port and Neston Ellesmere Port and Neston was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It covered the southern part of the Wirral Peninsula, namely that part which is not included in the Metropolitan Borou ...

parliamentary constituency. Following the

2023 review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency boundaries were approved by the Privy Council on 15 Nov ...

, it became part of the

Runcorn and Helsby Runcorn and Helsby is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election. The incumbent MP is Sarah Poch ...

constituency. The unitary authority of

replaced

Chester City Council Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West and Chester. It is ...

and

Cheshire County Council Cheshire County Council was the county council of Cheshire. Founded on 1 April 1889, it was officially dissolved on 31 March 2009, when it and its districts were superseded by two unitary authorities: Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East. ...

on 1 April 2009. Ince is within the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

of Gowy Rural. Ince is represented by its own parish council.

Transport

Ince & Elton railway station serves both Ince and Elton villages, but it is just within the Elton boundary. There are infrequent Monday to Saturday services to

, Stanlow & Thornton,

Helsby Helsby is a village, Civil parishes in England, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Overlook ...

Liverpool Lime Street Liverpool Lime Street is a railway station complex located on Lime Street, Liverpool, Lime Street in Liverpool city centre. Although publicly a single, unified station, it is operationally divided into two official railway stations: Liv ...

, and Warrington Bank Quay. It was the worst performing English station for cancellations in the four weeks to 1 February 2025, according to data from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), with 22.8% of trains cancelled. The nearest station with better services and facilities is either

. The X2 bus visits Ince hourly in each direction and operates from Chester bus station with a destination of

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

. The service is operated by

Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire is a major operator of bus services in North West England. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered in Liverpool. History Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire can trace i ...

. Ince also has a few morning and evening journeys on service DB8 to Chester Business Park. Public transport in Ince is supported by the North Cheshire Rail User Group. It campaigns for better rail services and improved public transport interchange.

Economy and industry

Landowners

The Peel Group The Peel Group is a British infrastructure and property investment business, based in Manchester. In 2022, its Peel Land and Property estate extends to of buildings, and over of land and water. Peel retains minority stakes in its former ports ...

are developing a industrial site on a former water meadow at Ince Park. The Protos "energy and resource hub" houses a

biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...

power station, a timber recycling plant and designated "nature areas". The construction of a facility to recover energy from non-recyclable waste began in 2020.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire