Worleston is a village (at ) 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 ...

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, miles north of

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture ...

and 3 miles west of

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

. The civil parish, which also includes Beambridge, Rease Heath, Mile End and Rookery, had a population at the 2011 Census of 452.

History

Historically, Worleston civil parish was included within the

ancient 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 ...

of Acton, and

St Mary's Church, Acton St Mary's Church is an active Anglican parish church located in Monk's Lane, Acton, Cheshire, Acton, a village to the west of Nantwich, Cheshire, England. Since 1967 it has been designated a Grade I listed building. A church has been prese ...

was the parish church.Latham, p. 9 The small civil parish of Alvaston was added to Worleston in 1899, and part of the parish was transferred to Nantwich in 1936.Genuki: Worleston
(accessed 15 August 2007)

Geography and transport

Nearby villages include Acton,

Aston juxta Mondrum Aston juxta Mondrum is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is about four miles north of Nantwich. The civil parish also includes part of Worleston village. Ety ...

, Willaston and Wistaston. 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 ...

forms the eastern boundary of the parish, with a tributary running east–west across the parish, south of Rookery Hall. Other Weaver tributaries form parts of the south-eastern, western and northern parish boundaries. The Reaseheath College at Rease Heath has a lake, and there are numerous small meres and ponds scattered across the farmland. The A51 runs east–west along the southern boundary of the parish, and the B5074 road runs north–south through it, crossing the tributary of the Weaver at Rookery Bridge. The

–

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 ...

railway line crosses the northern tip of the parish. The civil parish has relatively few

public footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide va ...

s, with none to the east of the B5074; the longest footpath cuts west from the B5074 to Rease Heath.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 404, with 96 households. The historical population figures were 269 (1801), 337 (1851), 485 (1901) and 383 (1951); the changes partly reflect boundary alterations (described previously).

Landmarks

:''See also

Listed buildings in Worleston Worleston is a civil parish in Cheshire East, England. It contains two buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings, both of which are listed at Grade II. This grade is the lowest of ...

'' Rookery Hall, a grade-II-listed mansion dating from 1816, is located off the B5074 near Worleston village; it is now a hotel and restaurant. The Royal Oak public house, on the B5074 in Worleston village, is a timber-framed building dating originally from the 1730s. The small settlement of Rease Heath (also spelled Reaseheath), adjacent to

, contains Reaseheath College, as well as the grade-II-listed Rease Heath Old Hall, an L-shaped farmhouse in red brick dating from the late 18th century. A moated site () at Rease Heath is 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, visu ...

. The Crewe Alexandra F.C. Academy is adjacent to the college.

Places of worship

The grade-II-listed St Oswald's Church, founded 1873, is in Worleston village (within

civil parish). A major fire in 1997 damaged the roof, chancel and organ loft; the church has since been restored. St Oswald's has been administered since 1991 as a united benefice, the Cross Country Group of Parish Churches, with St Mary's, Acton, St Bartholomew's, Church Minshull, and St David's,

Wettenhall Wettenhall is a village (at ) and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village lies 3½ miles to the south west of Winsford and 6 miles to the north west of Crewe. The parish ...

. It falls into the rural deanery of

and the diocese of

. Since 2007, the vicar has been the Reverend Peter Lillicrap. A magazine, ''Cross Country'', is circulated across all four churches. (accessed 17 August 2007) Worleston Methodist Chapel was founded in 1871 and closed in 1969.

Education

The village is served by the nearby St Oswald's CE Primary School (), originally Worleston National School, on Church Road,

.Latham, pp. 91–2

References

Sources

*Latham FA, ed. ''Acton'' (The Local History Group; 1995) ()

External links

{{authority control Civil parishes in Cheshire Villages in Cheshire