Mollington 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 two miles 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 ...

, with the A41

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 ...

–Chester trunk road and

Shropshire Union Canal The Shropshire Union Canal, sometimes nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. It is the modern name for a part of the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company network. In the leisure age, two of the branches of that netwo ...

to the east and southeast, the A540

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 ...

trunk road to the south and west and the A5117 link road to the north. Nearby settlements include Backford,

Blacon Blacon is a suburb that is predominately a council estate on the outskirts of Chester, England. It was once one of the largest council housing estates in Europe. Geography Blacon is next to the England–Wales border, Welsh border, on a hill o ...

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 ...

and

Saughall Saughall is a village in the civil parish of Saughall and Shotwick Park, in the unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Located between Shotwick and Blacon, it is approximately nor ...

. At the 2011 census, the village had a population of 626.

History

The name derives from

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 ...

, meaning 'a farmstead or settlement (''tūn'') connected with a person named Moll'. Mollington 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 ...

as ''Molintune'' and comprised eleven households (three villagers, three smallholders and five slaves/servants). The village previously consisted of two separate settlements. Great Mollington was formerly known as Mollington Tarrant and was a township in the parish of Backford. It had a population of 111 in 1801, and 122 in 1851. Little Mollington (Mollington Banastre) was a township in the parish of St. Mary on the Hill,

Wirral Hundred The Hundred of Wirral is the ancient administrative area for the Wirral Peninsula. Its name is believed to have originated from the ''Hundred of Wilaveston'', the historic name for Willaston, Cheshire West, Willaston, which was an important asse ...

. Its population was previously 23 in 1801, 16 in 1851 and 44 in 1901. Both settlements were combined into Mollington civil parish in 1901 with a total population of 232, increasing to 335 in 1951 and 663 in 2001.

Mollington railway station Mollington railway station was on the Chester and Birkenhead Railway near to the village of Mollington in Cheshire, England. The station opened on 23 September 1840 at the same time as the railway line and closed to passengers on 7 March 1960 d ...

, linking the village directly with Chester and with Liverpool via the Wirral, was closed on 7 March 1960; the station building is now a private residence. In 1982, Mollington became the first place in Britain to have a

Neighbourhood Watch A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime a ...

scheme, following the success of similar programmes in North America.

Description

Mollington is a small semi-rural

commuter village A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

of approximately 300 homes, served by St. Oswald's Primary School (formerly Mollington Church of England Primary School) and a village hall. All other facilities are now located in other nearby suburbs of Chester following the closure of the village shop and post office. Mollington's parish church is located in the neighbouring village of Backford. The village is served by two local bus routes, but with an infrequent service most residents move about by private transport. Mollington is characterised by tree-lined lanes with grass verges and farmland as well as sizeable family homes. It has an open, rolling and green aspect, which made it a pleasant location for the former Mollington Hall, a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

residence, now demolished. The old red-brick boundary wall of this substantial estate still remains and is now a feature of the village obvious to those who pass through. Neighbouring large houses on the edge of the village are now luxury hotels, including the Mollington Banastre and Crabwall Manor (formerly

Crabwall Hall Crabwall Manor (original name Crabwall Hall) is a former country house, later a hotel, in the village of Mollington, Cheshire, England. The present building dates from the 18th century. It replaced an early 17th-century house built for the ...

Governance

Mollington is a

and local government ward, within the unitary authority of

. In 2001, it had a population of 2,077, which included the settlements of Backford,

, Ledsham and

Wervin Wervin is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is situated between Chester and Ellesmere Port, near the Shropshire Union Canal and the M53 mot ...

. By 2011 this ward had been combined with

, with a total population of 4,463.

Sport

Mollington is home to Mollington Cricket Club (MCC), a village team that plays friendly matches across

, the

and North Wales. There is evidence of a Mollington cricket team competing in local fixtures dating back to at least 1903. The modern team traces its roots back to the 1980s when villagers organised a supposedly one-off match on the school field. As the team started to play more fixtures they settled at the Dale Army Camp in Upton, Chester, before relocating to Whitby in

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 ...

. Since 2012 the team has had a nomadic existence and just played away games. The annual fixtures start towards the end of May and the team play on a midweek day throughout the summer, weather permitting. The team takes its players from residents of Mollington, Backford,

and surrounding areas. The MCC has previously played in the National Village Competition and the Cheshire Plate.

Popular culture

Mollington is name-checked in a song by

Half Man Half Biscuit Half Man Half Biscuit are an English rock band, formed in 1984 in Birkenhead, Merseyside. Known for their satirical, sardonic, and sometimes surreal songs, the band comprises lead singer and guitarist Nigel Blackwell, bassist and singer Neil Cr ...

. The title of the song is "The Unfortunate Gwatkin" from the ''

Urge for Offal ''Urge for Offal'' is the thirteenth album by UK Wirral-based rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, released 20 October 2014 on Probe Plus Records. The album reached #68 on the UK album chart. Nigel Blackwell of Half Man Half Biscuit has discussed ...

'' album. It makes reference to the fact that the unfortunate victim in the song's narrative was returning from the fictional Pessimist Festival in Mollington. The lyrics also mention the nearby churchyard of St Lawrence and Wervin Turnpike.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Areas of Chester Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire