Barthomley is a village and ancient parish, and is now 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 and the 2011 census' the parish had a population of 202.Official 2001 Census Figures.
Neighbourhood Statistics website. Retrieval Date: 26 August 2007. The village is situated near junction 16 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 and the western end of the A14 at ...

and by the border with Staffordshire. It is about three miles south-west of

Alsager Alsager ( ) is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located to the north-west of Stoke-on-Trent and east of Crewe. The town's population was 13,389 at the 2021 census. ''The Mere'' is a ...

. The

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Radway Green, location of a Royal Ordnance Factory, is within the parish, north-east of the village of Barthomley and just outside

. There was a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

in Radway Green, on the

Crewe to Derby Line Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston, ...

, as well as a station reserved for the factory at Millway. However, both of these are now closed. Radway Green and Barthomley station closed to goods traffic on 7 June 1964, followed by its closure to passengers on 7 November 1966.

History

Barthomley was an ancient parish within Cheshire. It contained five townships:

, Balterley, Barthomley itself, Crewe, and

Haslington Haslington is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies about 2 miles (3 km) north-east of the much larger railway town of Crewe and approximately 4 miles (6. ...

.Youngs (1991). page 8, Of these, Balterley township and (now) civil parish was and is entirely in the neighbouring county of Staffordshire, and Crewe was later renamed Crewe Green to avoid confusion with the neighbouring unparished borough and

railway town A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated or was greatly developed because of a railway station or junction at its site. North America During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporar ...

.Genuki: Crewe (Crewe Green) - name change.
Retrieval Date: 26 August 2007. All five townships were made separate civil parishes in 1866. The Cheshire part of the ancient parish lay within Nantwich Hundred, Nantwich Poor Law Union, and Nantwich

Rural Sanitary District Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

, whilst the Staffordshire part lay in North Pirehill hundred, Newcastle under Lyme Poor Law Union and Rural Sanitary District. Later on, the modern civil parish (now entirely in Cheshire) was part of Nantwich Rural District. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

St Bertoline's Church was the location of a notorious massacre of at least 12 pro-Parliamentarian prisoners by

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

troops. The fantasy novel '' Red Shift,'' by

Alan Garner Alan Garner (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. Much of his work is rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native coun ...

, is largely concerned with the Barthomley massacre. There was also a medieval

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

Chapel at Barthomley. It was located behind the White Lion public house and over the brook, where in the past a field named 'Chapel Field' existed.

Landmarks

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

describes Barthomley as " pretty village, with a number of black and white houses and cottages, C17..., but mostly C19, and built for the Crewe estate". The village has two main landmarks: the White Lion public house and the parish church of St Bertoline, which are close together in the centre.

White Lion

The White Lion is a half-timbered, thatched building dated 1614. It is a Grade II* listed building, and included in

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is ...

's register of Historic Pub Interiors.

St Bertoline's Church

Barthomley is thought to be the only church in England dedicated to St Bertoline. Its earliest feature is a Norman doorway, and other important remnants include a fine Perpendicular roof and some effigies in the Crewe Chapel.

Governance

From 1974 the civil parish was served by

Crewe and Nantwich Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It had a population (2001 census) of 111,007. It contained 69 civil parishes and one unparished area: the town of Crewe. It now fo ...

Borough Council, which was succeeded on 1 April 2009 by the new

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

of Cheshire East. Barthomley falls in the parliamentary constituency of

.Cheshire County Council: Interactive Mapping: Crewe and Nantwich
(accessed 27 January 2009)

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Scholes, R. (2000) ''Towns and Villages of Britain: Cheshire.'' Sigma Press: Wilmslow, Cheshire. . *Speake, R. (Ed.) (1995). ''Barthomley: The Story of an Estate Village.'' Keele, Staffs.: Barthomley Local History Group and Department of Adult and Continuing Education, Keele University. . *Youngs, F. A. (1991). ''Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. Volume I: Northern England''. London: Royal Historical Society. .

External links

* {{authority control Civil parishes in Cheshire Villages in Cheshire