Christleton is a village and

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 ...

on the outskirts of

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 ...

, in the unitary authority of

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. The

Shropshire Union Canal The Shropshire Union Canal, nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. The Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union (SU) system and lie partially in Wales. The canal lies in ...

(originally

Chester Canal The Chester Canal was an English canal linking the south Cheshire town of Nantwich with the River Dee at Chester. It was intended to link Chester to Middlewich, with a branch to Nantwich, but the Trent and Mersey Canal were unco-operative abou ...

) passes through the village. The 2001 census recorded a population for the entire civil parish of 2,112, reducing to 2,053 in the 2011 census.

History

The likely meaning of the name Christleton is "Christians' farm or settlement", derived from the Old English ''cristen'' (a Christian) - ''tūn'' (a settlement, enclosure or farmstead). Its history can be traced with certainty to 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 ...

, which contains an entry for ''Christetone'', though there is evidence of earlier occupation. By 1086, the land was under the ownership of Robert FitzHugh (son of Hugh Lupus) and comprised 23 households: twelve villagers, five smallholders, two female slaves (maidservants), two "reeves" (officials) and two "radmen" (riders or roadmen). During the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...

it was a

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 governm ...

outpost.

Governance

Christleton is part of the City of Chester parliamentary constituency. The unitary authority of

replaced Chester City Council and

Cheshire County Council Cheshire County Council was the county council of Cheshire. Founded on 1 April 1889, it was officially dissolved on 31 March 2009, when it and its districts were superseded by two unitary authorities; Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East. ...

on 1 April 2009. The village is within the electoral ward of Christleton and Huntington. Christleton is represented locally by its own parish council.

Landmarks

Christleton Old Hall dates from the early 17th century and is a former country house and

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically o ...

. It was built for a member of the Egerton family of

Tatton Park Tatton Park is an historic estate in Cheshire, England, north of the town of Knutsford. It contains a mansion, Tatton Hall, a medieval manor house, Tatton Old Hall, Tatton Park Gardens, a farm and a deer park of . It is a popular visitor at ...

. In 1952 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 ...

. Christleton Hall was built circa 1750. It is another former country house that has also been used as a boarding school and a college campus. Part of the building has Grade II listed status.

Religion

The Anglican church is dedicated to St James and the current building was designed by

William Butterfield William Butterfield (7 September 1814 – 23 February 1900) was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian Movement). He is noted for his use of polychromy. Biography William Butterfield was born in Lon ...

and was consecrated in 1877. The church's continuous list of clergy dates back to 1215. The village also has a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

church.

Education

Secondary education is provided by Christleton High School, a large academy school that also caters for other suburban areas of Chester. Christleton also has a primary school. A branch of The College of Law is based in Christleton Hall.

Community

The village's amenities include a sports centre and swimming pool, a newsagent shop, parish hall and local

pub 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 ...

s the Ring O Bells, the Cheshire Cat and The Plough. There is also a large pond situated by the village widely known as "Christleton Pit", which attracts children from the village and surrounding areas due to the abundance of wildlife. It has been the best kept village in Cheshire in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Christleton FC play in West Cheshire League.

Notable people

* Lt. Colonel John Dolphin CBE, born in Christleton in * Billy Matthews (1882–1921), former Wales international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, lived latterly in Christleton and is buried in the churchyard under a CWGC headstone as ''Shoeing Smith William Mathews,

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of ...

''.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Cheshire Civil parishes in Cheshire