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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the unitary authority of

Cheshire East Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council, which is based in the town of Sandbach. Other towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Congleton, Wilms ...

and the ceremonial county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, 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 motorway, M1 and the western end of t ...

and by the border with

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. It is about three miles south-west of

Alsager Alsager ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, 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. At the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 cen ...

. The

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

of Radway Green, location of a

Royal Ordnance Factory Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

, 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 using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in Radway Green, on the Crewe to Derby Line, 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 Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

, and

Haslington Haslington is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies about north-east of the much larger railway town of Crewe and approximately ...

.Youngs (1991). page 8, Of these, Balterley township and (now) civil parish was and is entirely in the neighbouring county of

, 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 expanded, as a result of a railway line being constructed there. North America During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporary, ...

.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 A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

, 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 Nantwich Rural District was a division of Cheshire until 1974, when it merged with the Nantwich and Crewe urban districts to create the Borough of Crewe and Nantwich Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a Non-metropolitan district, l ...

. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

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 gove ...

troops. The fantasy novel ''

Red Shift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and increase in frequency and e ...

,'' 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 count ...

, 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, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

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 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, which promotes real ale, real cider, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. History The organisation was founde ...

'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 Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Cheshire, England. It had a population (2001 census) of 111,007. It contained 69 ci ...

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

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

. 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