Austerson is a

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, lying immediately south of the town 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. ...

and north of the village of

Audlem Audlem is a village and civil parish located in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in North West England, approximately south of Nantwich. Close to the border with the neighbouring county of Shropshire, ...

. Predominantly rural with scattered farms, the civil parish includes the small settlement of Old Hall Austerson at , about two miles south of Nantwich centre. In 2001, the total population was a little under 150, increasing to 194 at the 2011 Census. Nearby villages include Broomhall Green, Hack Green, Hankelow,

Sound Heath Sound Heath, also known as Sound Common, is an area of common land in Sound, Cheshire, Sound, near Nantwich in Cheshire, England, which includes Heath (habitat), heathland, grassland, shrubland, scrub, woodland and wetland habitats. The majority ...

and Stapeley.

History

Austerson derives from the Saxon ''Essetune'', meaning "Aelfstan's Farm". The civil parish was originally a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

in the ancient parish of Acton in the Nantwich Hundred; it was served by

St Mary's Church, Acton St Mary's Church is an active Anglican parish church located in Monk's Lane, Acton, a village to the west of Nantwich, Cheshire, England. Since 1967 it has been designated a Grade I listed building. A church has been present on this site ...

. Major early landowners include the families of Bulkeley, Wettenhall, Praers and Bromley. In the late 15th century the land was acquired by Sir William Needham of Shavington. Part of Austerson and the adjacent parish of

Baddington Baddington is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies immediately to the south-west of Nantwich and north of Audlem. Predominantly rural with scattered farms, the civi ...

was forest until at least the mid-17th century, with wood being used as fuel for salt production in nearby

. A kiln field marked on tithe maps suggests that the parish formerly had a brick kiln. A small council estate was built between 1953 and 1965.

Governance

Austerson is administered by the Sound and District Parish Council. 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 f ...

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 governme ...

. Austerson falls in the parliamentary constituency of

, which has been represented by

Kieran Mullan Kieran Mullan (born 6 June 1984) is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Crewe and Nantwich at the 2019 general election. Early life and career Mullan was born in 1984. He grew up in soci ...

since 2019, and previously by

Gwyneth Dunwoody Gwyneth Patricia Dunwoody (née Phillips; 12 December 1930 – 17 April 2008) was a British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Exeter from 1966 to 1970, and then for Crewe (later Crewe and Nantwich) from February ...

(1983–2008),

Edward Timpson Anthony Edward Timpson, (born 26 December 1973) is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Eddisbury in Cheshire at the 2019 general election. He was previously MP for neighbouring Crewe ...

(2008–17) and Laura Smith (2017–19).

Geography and transport

The civil parish has a total area of .Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council: Parish Statistics (downloaded fro

5 April 2010) 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 ...

forms much of the eastern boundary of the civil parish, and an unnamed brook forms part of the western boundary. The land is generally flat with an average elevation of around 50 metres, sloping downwards near the eastern boundary to the narrow river valley of the Weaver. There are several small meres and unnamed brooks. A narrow strip of broad-leaved woodland runs along a brook south of Dairy House Farm ().Cheshire County Council: Interactive Mapping: Austerson
(accessed 27 January 2009)Ordnance Survey Explorer Map 257 The A530 (Baddington Lane) runs immediately to the west of part of the north-western boundary of the civil parish. Coole Lane runs from the A530 north–south through the northern part of the civil parish. The

Crewe and Nantwich Circular Walk The Crewe and Nantwich Circular Walk is a long-distance walkers' path in the Cheshire East area of Cheshire, England. As the name suggests, the walk forms a circuit around the towns of Crewe and Nantwich. It is one of two circular walks in ...

also runs broadly north–south through the northern part.

Demography

In 2006, the total population of the civil parish was estimated as 140. The 2001 census recorded a population of 145, in 37 households. The historical population figures were 59 (1801), 55 (1851), 36 (1901), 68 (1951) and 114 (1971).Latham, p. 59 Austerson Church House Farm

Landmarks

Austerson Hall () is a farmhouse dating from the late 17th century. In brick with a roughcast finish, it follows a T-shaped plan and is

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

. Church House Farm () is an L-shaped, red-brick former farmhouse dating from around 1820. It has been used as a nursing home since 1989, and is also listed at grade II. The

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

Elizabethan building of Austerson Old Hall or Old Hall Farm was moved to

Alvanley Alvanley is a small rural village and civil parish near Helsby, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village is on the B5393 road and near junction 14 of the M56 motorway. A ...

in 1974. A grade-II-listed barn remains which dates from the late 16th century, and is brick nogged with a timber frame.

Education

There are no educational facilities within the civil parish. The parish falls within the catchment areas of Sound and District Primary School in

Sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by ...

and

Brine Leas High School Brine Leas School is an academy school in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. The school has 1,287 pupils enrolled, and has technology and language status. The school opened in 1977 as a comprehensive co-educational establishment. The first head tea ...

.Cheshire County Council: Interactive Mapping: Brine Leas High School
(accessed 27 January 2009)

History

Governance

Geography and transport

Demography

Landmarks

Education

See also

References

Sources

External links