Moulton is a

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 ...

and village in

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, south of

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

and north of

Winsford Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is on the River Weaver, south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining indus ...

History

The village can trace its history back to the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. Moletune is listed 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 being among the estates of Baron Richard de Vernon of Shipbrook. George Ormerod described the village in 1882 thus: 'Moulton occupies a high ridge of ground, running parallel with the general course of the

Weaver Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainmen ...

, and commanding a most extensive view over the vales of that river, and of the

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 ...

, in the several directions of Delamere Forest and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

.' During the 19th century the character of the village changed from purely agricultural to a more mixed economy. Many workers in the salt mining industry, which lined the banks of the

River Weaver The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1721 and the work, which included ...

, made their homes in Moulton. The factory owners built the terraced housing in Church Street and Regent Street for their employees, and in 1884 they opened the Verdin Institute complete with reading room, library, and billiard tables and gave it to the community. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Moulton was bombed several times. On one occasion, German bombers fire-bombed down the backs of the Regent Street houses, thereby missing all dwellings and resulting in no casualties. After the War the salt-mining industry quickly declined as new methods of abstracting salt by solution mining replaced the old fashioned pumping of wild brine and its attendant subsidence. The village quickly became a residential area with most folk working in nearby Northwich or Winsford. New housing development in the mid-1960s increased the population by over 60%. Moulton is now a thriving community of about 3,000 people. The local hall is run by St Stephen's Church and is host to a range of organisations including the Moulton Drama Group and Moulton Adventure Group. Moulton School provides primary education to the children of the village. The school has strong links with the local secondary school, the County High School Leftwich, which is a Converter

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. Moulton is home to the Moulton Verdin F.C., which plays in the Mid Cheshire Sunday League.

Buildings

The Methodist chapel dates from 1875; the Co-operative store was built in 1894; and nearby Moulton Cottage with its dated clock of 1871 was formerly Mr. Wilson's Shoe Shop, where

clog Clogs are a type of footwear that has a thick, rigid sole typically made of wood, although in American English, shoes with rigid soles made of other materials are also called clogs. Traditional clogs remain in use as protective footwear in a ...

s were made. In 1877 the Revd. Thomas France-Hayhurst of Bostock Hall sponsored the building of a new church dedicated to St Stephen the Martyr. In January 1884 the Verdin Institute was opened, comprising reading room, library and billiards room. This was a gift from the Verdin family in memory of their late father Joseph Verdin who with his brother Richard, founded Verdin & Sons at the time the largest salt manufacturer in the UK. This is now the Moulton Verdin Working Mens Club. A

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

in Main Road was unveiled in 1920.

Notable people

* Jane Felix-Browne, daughter-in-law of

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

, was a parish councillor in Moulton. *Geoff Crompton (1933–2021), founder of the Moulton Adventure Group. Author of ''34 Men'', ''Another Dozen'' and ''Thirty Years of Camping with the Moulton Adventure Group''.

References

External links

Moulton Verdin Club

Moulton and District Community Association website

St Stephen church website

Moulton Parish Council website
{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire

History

Buildings

Notable people

See also

References

External links