Cranage is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the unitary authority of

Cheshire East Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council. Towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Congleton, Sandbach, Wilmslow, Handf ...

and the ceremonial county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

, England. According to the 2001 Official UK Census, the population of the entire civil parish was 1,131 which had risen to 1,184 by the 2011 census.

History

The establishment of a community in Cranage is 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

. The name derives from the Old English of ''Crāwena-læcc'', which means ''crows stream''. The manor of Cranage, unlike many estates, has not remained in one family but had changed hands many times. Historically, Cranage was an agricultural area which had a wide variation of farming activities. Cranage Hall was one of the principal dwellings in the area. It is believed that it was built in the 17th century incorporating elements of an earlier hall. Lawrence Armistead had the Hall demolished in the 19th century and the current

Cranage Hall Cranage Hall is a former country house in the village of Cranage, Cheshire, England. It was built in 1828–29 for Lawrence Armitstead, and designed by Lewis Wyatt. In 1932 a parallel wing was added. Since the hospital closed, it has been used ...

built in 1829, to a design by

Lewis Wyatt Lewis William Wyatt (1777–1853) was a British architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings ...

. The Hall remained in possession of the Armistead family until 1920. Subsequently, it was converted into part of the Cranage hospital, and on the hospital's closure became a conference centre. The parish contains neither a church nor a chapel that is currently used. but is served by the nearby church of St. Luke,

Holmes Chapel Holmes Chapel is a large village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Until 1974 the parish was known as Church Hulme. Holmes Chapel is about north of Crewe and south of ...

. The village school was closed in 1990 as a result of the drop in the number of pupils. There is no shop or post office in the parish. The ''Old Vicarage Hotel'', originally built in the 17th century, provides accommodation. The ''Swan Inn'', an earlier source of accommodation, has changed purpose and is now Swan Farm. ''A Journey through Time: Holmes Chapel, Cotton and Cranage'', by Annabel Capewell, Rosemary Dear, Patricia Dingle, Rodney Smith, Terry Taylor and Janet Yarwood was published in 1996.

Notes

External links

Online Parish Newslette
Cranage Parish Chronicle
Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire {{cheshire-geo-stub

History

See also

Notes

External links