Church Lawton is a village and located in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Its location is such that its eastern boundary forms part of the county boundary between Cheshire and Staffordshire and, because of its close proximity to Stoke-on-Trent, the parish has a Stoke postcode. In addition to

ribbon development Ribbon development refers to the building of houses along the routes of communications radiating from a human settlement. The resulting linear settlements are clearly visible on land use maps and aerial photographs, giving cities and the countrys ...

connecting Kidsgrove (in Staffordshire) with

Scholar Green Scholar Green () is a village in the civil parish of Odd Rode, in Cheshire, England. Encompassing the smaller settlements of Kent Green and The Bank, it is situated on the A34 road, A34 near Mow Cop, Alsager, Rode Heath, Butt Lane and Kidsgrove a ...

(in Odd Rode parish), the parish also contains the hamlets of Lawton Gate, Lawton Heath and Lawton Heath End, and the Lawton Hall estate. According to the 2001 census, the population of the entire parish was 2,201.Official 2001 Census Figures.
Neighbourhood Statistics website. Retrieval Date: 24 August 2007.

History

There is evidence of human activity within the parish stretching back to the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

period: a polished axe was found in the parish that was possibly made in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. The collection of Church Lawton Barrows, also known as the Church Lawton Complex, is a significant

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

site in the parish.Church Lawton Barrows.
The Megalithic Portal. Retrieval Date: 24 August 2007. The Complex consists of three Bronze Age mounds of which only two (Church Lawton II and Church Lawton III) survive. Church Lawton III is the more important of the two, having been excavated in the early 1980s. It seems to have been built in two phases; the first phase consisted of one of the few

stone circles A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The b ...

found in Cheshire, which was roughly 22.5 metres (73 ft 9 in) in diameter, with a turf and daub platform in the centre, on which dead bodies were probably placed as part of an

excarnation In archaeology and anthropology, the term excarnation (also known as defleshing) refers to the practice of removing the flesh and organs of the dead before burial. Excarnation may be achieved through natural means, such as leaving a dead body expo ...

ritual prior to burial. There were gaps to the north and south of the circle serving as entrances, with two of the stones standing upright, with the remainder deliberately placed on their side. The second phase covered the central part with sandy subsoil and surrounded it with a low turf wall.Morgan and Morgan (2004). page 92. Church Lawton II was also built in two phases. In the first, a low mound made from sand and gravel subsoil surrounded by a ditch was constructed. It was about 16 metres (52 ft) in diameter and 1.5 metres (5 ft) high. In the centre of the mound was a sand-filled boat-shaped hollow with a wooden lid. It was found to be empty of any bones, possibly because any bones had rotted away in the acidic soil environment. Eighteen pits, most likely cremation pits, were found on the mound, and four outside the surrounding ditch. Most of the contents of these were adults, but a few were children or foetuses. Two food vessels and two "Collared Urns" were also found. In the second phase, the diameter increased to 30 metres (98 ft), but there were only a number of fire pits and pyres discovered along with one actual cremation.Morgan and Morgan (2004). page 93. A number of pottery shards were also recovered, though they had been badly damaged by ploughing. Some pottery associated with the

Beaker culture The Bell Beaker culture, also known as the Bell Beaker complex or Bell Beaker phenomenon, is an archaeological culture named after the inverted-bell beaker drinking vessel used at the very beginning of the European Bronze Age. Arising from a ...

was also recovered from what would have been the soil surface at the time of construction, showing that this area had human habitation for an extended period. Nothing of substance is known about Church Lawton I, as it was partially destroyed by the building of the current A5011 Newcastle-under-Lyme to

Sandbach Sandbach (pronounced ) is the name of a historic market town and a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements: Sandbach itself as the largest, Elworth, Ettiley Heath a ...

road some time before 1881. The remaining part of it was subsequently destroyed by the building of a petrol station, much later.

Medieval history

In 1338 Ralph de Lawton, who held the manor of ''Bog-lawton'' (now Church Lawton) surrendered it to Henry de Motlowe and his heirs. Henry, whose family came from Nether Alderley, later became

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

Governance

Church Lawton is an ancient parish, though there is some evidence that it began by being part of the ancient parish of

Astbury Astbury is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrew Astbury, English swimmer * Ian Astbury, English rock singer * Jill Astbury, Australian researcher into violence against women * William Astbury, English physicist and molecular ...

(now Newbold Astbury). It also was part 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. ...

Hundred, Congleton Poor Law Union,

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 ...

, and after 1866 it formed part of

Congleton Rural District Congleton was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It included the towns of Congleton, Alsager, Middlewich and Sandbach. The headquarters of the borough council were located in Sandbach. ...

. County boundary changes in 1965 led to an exchange of small pieces of land between it and the civil parish of Kidsgrove, in Kidsgrove Urban District, in the neighbouring county of Staffordshire.Youngs (1991). page 24. From 1974 the civil parish was served by Congleton 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 . In terms of parliamentary representation, Church Lawton was in the Cheshire Southern Division from 1832 to 1867; in the Cheshire Mid Division, from 1867 to 1885; in the Crewe Division, from 1885 to 1948; and from 1948 it was in

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census was ...

County Constituency, but it is currently in Congleton County Constituency. In local government Church Lawton is covered by Church Lawton Town Council. It consists of 10 councillors with 1 acting as Chairman of the Council for a term of 12 months. They meet on third Wednesday of the month (except for August and December) at 19.30 at Lawton Memorial Hall. They also hold an Annual Parish Meeting on the fourth Wednesday of April.

Notable people

* Charlie Burgess (1883 in Church Lawton – 1956), an English footballer who played over 200 games mainly for Stoke City. *

Andor Gomme Austin Harvey Gomme ''known as'' Andor Gomme (7 May 1930 – 19 September 2008) was a British scholar of English literature and architectural history. He was a frequent reviewer for the ''Times Literary Supplement'', an author of books on both lit ...

(1930 – 2008 in Church Lawton), a British scholar of English literature and architectural history, frequent reviewer for the ''Times Literary Supplement'' and an academic at

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

. He lived in Barleybat Hall from 1960.

Freemen

Below is a list of Freemen of Church Lawton and when the title was bestowed. *Mr Austin Fernihough (October 2022)

Notes and references

Bibliography

*Dunn, F. I. (1987). ''The Ancient Parishes, Townships, and Chapelries of Cheshire.'' Chester, United Kingdom: Cheshire Record Office and Chester Diocesan Record Office, Cheshire County Council. . *Morgan, V., and Morgan, P. (2004). ''Prehistoric Cheshire.'' Ashbourne, Derbyshire: Landmark Publishing Company. . *Youngs, F. A. (1991). ''Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. Volume I: Northern England''. London: Royal Historical Society. .

External links

{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire