Moulton is 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 ...

and village in

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 county tow ...

, England, south of

Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

and north of

Winsford Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the River Weaver south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining indust ...

History

The village can trace its history back to the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

. Moletune is listed 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 ...

of 1086 as being among the estates of Baron Richard de Vernon of Shipbrook.

George Ormerod George Ormerod (20 October 1785 – 9 October 1873) was an English antiquary and historian. Among his writings was a major county history of Cheshire, in North West England. Biography George Ormerod was born in Manchester and educated first ...

described the village in 1882 thus: 'Moulton occupies a high ridge of ground, running parallel with the general course of the Weaver, and commanding a most extensive view over the vales of that river, and of the

Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

, in the several directions of

Delamere Forest Delamere Forest is a large wood in the village of Delamere in Cheshire, England. The woodland, which is managed by Forestry England, covers an area of making it the largest area of woodland in the county. It contains a mixture of deciduous and ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

.' During the 19th century the character of the village changed from purely agricultural to a more mixed economy. Many workers in the salt mining industry, which lined the banks of 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 1720 and the work, which included ...

, made their homes in Moulton. The factory owners built the terraced housing in Church Street and Regent Street for their employees, and in 1884 they opened the Verdin Institute complete with reading room, library, and billiard tables and gave it to the community. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Moulton was bombed several times. On one occasion, German bombers fire-bombed down the backs of the Regent Street houses, thereby missing all dwellings and resulting in no casualties. After the War the salt-mining industry quickly declined as new methods of abstracting salt by solution mining replaced the old fashioned pumping of wild brine and its attendant subsidence. The village quickly became a residential area with most folk working in nearby Northwich or Winsford. New housing development in the mid-1960s increased the population by over 60%. Moulton is now a thriving community of about 3,000 people. The local hall is run by St Stephen's Church and is host to a range of organisations including the Moulton Drama Group and Moulton Adventure Group. Moulton School provides primary education to the children of the village. The school has strong links with the local secondary school, the County High School Leftwich, which is a Converter

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

. Moulton is home to the Moulton Verdin F.C., which plays in the Mid Cheshire Sunday League.

Buildings

The Methodist chapel dates from 1875; the Co-operative store was built in 1894; and nearby Moulton Cottage with its dated clock of 1871 was formerly Mr. Wilson's Shoe Shop, where

clog Clogs are a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood. Used in many parts of the world, their forms can vary by culture, but often remained unchanged for centuries within a culture. Traditional clogs remain in use as protective fo ...

s were made. In 1877 the Revd. Thomas France-Hayhurst of

Bostock Hall Bostock Hall is a country house to the northeast of Winsford, Cheshire, England. A former Georgian house, it was rebuilt in 1775 for Edward Tomkinson. It is thought that the architect was Samuel Wyatt. Alterations and additions were made to i ...

sponsored the building of a new church dedicated to St Stephen the Martyr. In January 1884 the Verdin Institute was opened, comprising reading room, library and billiards room. This was a gift from the Verdin family in memory of their late father Joseph Verdin who with his brother Richard, founded Verdin & Sons at the time the largest salt manufacturer in the UK. This is now the Moulton Verdin Working Mens Club. A

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

in Main Road was unveiled in 1920.

Notable people

* Jane Felix-Browne, daughter-in-law of

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until his death in 2011. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, his group is designated ...

, was a parish councillor in Moulton. *Geoff Crompton (1933–2021), founder of the Moulton Adventure Group. Author of ''34 Men'', ''Another Dozen'' and ''Thirty Years of Camping with the Moulton Adventure Group''.

References

External links

Moulton Verdin Club

Moulton and District Community Association website

St Stephen church website

Moulton Parish Council website
{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire

History

Buildings

Notable people

See also

References

External links