Thelwall is a suburban village in the

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 ...

of Grappenhall and Thelwall, in the

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

district, in 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 close to the

Lymm Lymm ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It incorporates the hamlets of Booths Hill, Broomedge, Church Green, Deansgreen, Heatley, Heatley Heath, Little Heatley, Oughtrington, Reddish, Rushgreen and ...

junction of the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 motorway, M1 and the western end of t ...

History

A fortified village was established at Thelwall in 923, in the reign of King Edward the Elder, which is mentioned in two very early sources, including the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

'':

"Kynge Edwarde made a cite at Thelewall in h northe parte of h Marches, nye the water of Mersee, where he put certeyne knyghtes."—Higden's Polychronicon

"A.D. 923. This year went King Edward with an army, late in the harvest, to Thelwall; and ordered the
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...
to be repaired, and inhabited, and manned. And he ordered another army also from the population of
Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...
, the while he sat there to go to
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
in
Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...
, to repair and to man it. This year died Archbishop Plegmund; and King Reynold won
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
."—''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...
''

An inscription on the Pickering Arms records that "In the year 920 King

Edward the Elder Edward the Elder (870s?17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousi ...

founded a city here and called it Thelwall". According to Sir Peter Leycester it was "so called from the stakes and stumps, cut from the trees, wherewith it was environed about as a wall". It is more likely that the original meaning of Thelwall was "pool by a plank bridge" (the earliest record of the name is in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 923 as "Thelwæl", in 1241 it occurs as "Thelewell"). Earthworks remain of an embankment, possibly part of these fortifications, found in the grounds of Chaigeley School. These remains are a designated

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

National Monument. Thomas de Thelwall,

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. Excluding the prime minister, the chancellor is the highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the prime minister ...

1377–78, was born here in the early fourteenth century. Thelwall was formerly a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

and

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...

in the parish 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 ...

, in 1866 Thelwall became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished and merged with Grappenhall. In 1931 the parish had a population of 509.

Geography

Thelwall nowadays borders the villages of

and

Grappenhall Grappenhall is a village within the civil parish of Grappenhall and Thelwall in the Borough of Warrington in Cheshire, England. The parish had a population of 9,377 at the 2001 census, 9,687 at the 2011 census, and 9,651 at the 2021 census. ...

, and (across the

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, Merseyside, Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it ...

) Latchford. It is also one of the two principal settlements of Grappenhall and Thelwall civil parish. According to the 2001 census, the population of the entire civil parish was 9,377.Figures from 2001 census for entire civil parish
/ref> Thelwall is perhaps best known for the Thelwall Viaduct, which carries the

across the Manchester Ship Canal and opened in 1963 (a second viaduct was added in 1996). The village is between the Ship Canal and the

Bridgewater Canal The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, Greater Manchester, Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was ...

, and on the east–west A56 and B5157. To the east, between the village and the M6, is Statham.

Politics

As a locality within the Warrington South constituency, Thelwall is currently represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

by Sarah Hall of the Labour Party. Thelwall is also represented on

Warrington Borough Council Warrington Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Warrington, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Warrington has had a borough council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasio ...

and by Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council.

Warrington Borough Council

Thelwall returns officers from the Lymm North and Thelwall Ward to serve on the

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Council, and is allocated three representative seats. the

Councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s representing Thelwall are: *Bob Barr (Liberal Democrat) *Ian Marks (Liberal Democrat) *Wendy Johnson (Liberal Democrat)

Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council

The Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council consists of sixteen elected officials serving a term of four years. , the following is a list of those members representing Thelwall Ward on the Parish Council: *Helen Speed *Cliff Taylor *Louise Fernyhough *Ray Fisher *Patrick Warner *Robert Hignett

Education

There are three schools in the village: * Thelwall Community Infant School, for children aged 4–7. As of 2018, its most recent

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

judgement was in 2008, and was Outstanding. * Thelwall Community Junior School, for children aged 8–11. As of 2018, its most recent

judgement was in 2015, and was Good. * Chaigeley School, a non-maintained special school. The nearest secondary school is Lymm High School.

Culture

The

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

is represented by All Saints Church where several

scion Scion may refer to: Horticulture *Scion (grafting), in horticulture, the upper part of a combined plant Arts, entertainment, and media Characters *Atlantean Scion, a device in the ''Tomb Raider'' video game series *Scion, avatar of the warrior en ...

s of the ancient

Booth family are buried. The village has a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club, Thelwall Rangers A.F.C., and a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

club, Thelwall Parish CC. Thelwall also has its own

Morris dancing Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers in costume, usually wearing bell pads on their shins, their shoes or both. A band or single musi ...

team, the Thelwall Morris Men, and its own amateur dramatic group, the Bridgewater Players. During the summer months, Thelwall hosts a Rose Queen Parade, which has been running for more than 50 years.

Notable past and present residents

Barbara Mawer Elizabeth Barbara Mawer (née Entwistle, 6 March 1936 – 7 March 2006) was a British biochemist and medical researcher. She was regarded as a "highly influential figure in the calcium homoeostasis field". Early life and education Barbara En ...

, biochemist and medical researcher, parish councillor * Thomas de Thelwall, fourteenth-century judge and politician, who was Master of the Rolls in Ireland and

References

{{Authority control Villages in Cheshire Former civil parishes in Cheshire Warrington