Ledsham 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. The civil parish includes parts of the hamlets of Badger's Rake and Two Mills. It is located on the

Wirral Peninsula The Wirral Peninsula (), known locally as the Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide, and is bounded by the Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpo ...

, approximately to the north of the city of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, 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 an ...

and to the west of

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 ...

. At the 2011 Census, the village had a population of 181.

History

In 1085, Ledsham was 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 ''Levetesham''. The landowner was Walter de Vernon. The land passed by will from the Massey family to Sir Thomas Stanley of Hooton in 1715. Formerly a township in

Neston Neston is a market town and civil parish in Cheshire, England. It is within the part of the Wirral Peninsula that belongs to the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. The built up area (as defined by the Office for National Statistic ...

parish of the Wirral Hundred, it became a civil parish in 1866. The population was recorded at 56 in 1801, 94 in 1851, 82 in 1901, 116 in 1951 and 88 in 2001. The village was served by Ledsham railway station on the former Chester and Birkenhead Railway. A local cottage had been used as the station building, until the provision of more substantial facilities. At its height, Ledsham station had four platforms and was situated at the southern end of the railway's quadrupled section. The station never achieved the commercial potential expected by its owners, primarily due to its remote rural location. Ledsham station closed completely on 20 July 1959. However, two tracks of the line are still part of the

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network which serves Merseyside and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire in the North West England, North West of England. Merseyrail serves 69 Railway station, stations, 67 of which it manages, across two lin ...

network.

Governance

Ledsham is within the Chester North and Neston parliamentary constituency. At local government level the area is divided between Ledsham & Manor and Saughall & Mollington wards. as of .

Geography

The village centre is located approximately to the north west of

Capenhurst Capenhurst is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is two miles south west of Ellesmere Port, at the southern end of the Wi ...

, with the area around the former railway station to the north, in the vicinity of Little Sutton.

Transport

To the north and west of Ledsham, the A550 Welsh Road connects the A41 and A540. The nearest station is Capenhurst railway station on Merseyrail's Wirral line, with services between

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Landmarks

Inglewood 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 ...

in Ledsham, which was built as a private house in 1909. As of the building is the Inglewood Manor Hotel.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire