Childer Thornton is a village on the

Wirral Peninsula Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to th ...

, in the unitary authority

Cheshire West and Chester Cheshire West and Chester is a unitary authority with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 local government changes, by virtue of an order under the Local Governm ...

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. It was once a separate village but has since been incorporated into

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south ...

. Childer Thornton is on the A41 trunk road, between Hooton and Little Sutton.

History

The name Childer Thornton means "children's thorn-tree farm/settlement" and likely derives from the Old English words ''cild'' (children), ''þorn'' (hawthorn tree) and ''tūn'' (a farmstead or settlement). Although not specifically mentioned 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, it constituted a portion of the land owned by St Werburgh's Abbey in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. Childer Thornton was once within the parish of

Eastham Eastham or East Ham, may refer to: People *Ashley Eastham (born 1991), English footballer * George R. Eastham (1914–2000), English footballer * George E. Eastham (born 1936), English footballer and son of the George R. Eastham *Harry Eastham (19 ...

in the

Wirral Hundred The Hundred of Wirral is the ancient administrative area for the Wirral Peninsula. Its name is believed to have originated from the ''Hundred of Wilaveston'', the historic name for Willaston, which was an important assembly point in the Wirral ...

, becoming a separate

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 1866. It was administered as part of

Wirral Rural District Wirral Rural District was a rural district on the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire, England from 1894 to 1933. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 from the Wirral Rural Sanitary District. From the beginning of the twentieth centu ...

until 1933 when it was transferred to Ellesmere Port Urban District. The civil parish was abolished in 1950 and the area subsumed into Ellesmere Port. The population was 112 in 1801, 319 in 1851 and rising to 685 by 1901.

Geography

Childer Thornton is in the southern part of the Wirral Peninsula, near to the town of

Community and Economy

The village has one school, three

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

and a garden centre. Childer Thornton is exactly halfway in distance between

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; Historic counties of England, historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the R ...

and Chester and one of the pubs is named 'The Halfway House', which was a stagecoach stop between Chester and

New Ferry New Ferry is an urban area on the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is located on the Wirral Peninsula, with the River Mersey to the east and the town of Bebington to the west. Within the boundaries of the historic count ...

in the 1770s. Childer Thornton's other pubs are 'The Burleydam' and 'The White Lion'. The Village Petrol Station is equipped with a charging station for electric vehicles.

Religion

Childer Thornton is in the Anglican

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of Hooton, with an attractive parish church made of local sandstone, situated just outside the village itself. St Paul's Church was built between 1858 and 1862, at a cost of £5,000. It was designated a Grade II*

listed building 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 I ...

in 1985.

Transport

The busy

A41 road The A41 is a trunk road between London and Birkenhead, England. Now in parts replaced by motorways, it passes through or near Watford, Kings Langley, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Bicester, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, ...

between Birkenhead and Chester runs through the middle of Childer Thornton. Despite this, the area is relatively unspoilt, with the

M53 motorway The M53 is an motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is also referred to as the Mid Wirral Motorway. It runs between the Kingsway Tunnel, at Wallasey in the north, and the A55 at ...

effectively diverting away from the bulk of through traffic. To the north of the village, the

A550 road A55 may refer to: Roads * A55 highway (Australia), a road connecting St George, Queensland and Lithgow, New South Wales * A55 motorway (Canada), a road in Québec connecting Stanstead and Shawinigan * A55 motorway (France), a road connecting Mars ...

diverges from the A41, heading towards North Wales. The nearest railway station is Little Sutton, on the

Wirral line The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line. The Wirral line connects Liverpool to the Wirral Peninsula via the Mersey Railway Tunnel, with b ...

of the

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and Wirral Line, which are dedicated elect ...

network between

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. The village is however served by frequent bus services (as of 2021):

References

{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Areas of Ellesmere Port