Dunham-on-the-Hill is a village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of Dunham-on-the-Hill and Hapsford, in the unitary authority of

Cheshire West and Chester Cheshire West and Chester is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to l ...

, 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. It is on the

A56 road The A56 is a road in England which extends between the city of Chester in Cheshire and the village of Broughton in North Yorkshire. The road contains a mixture of single and dual carriageway sections, and traverses environments as diverse as ...

, approximately from

Helsby Helsby is a village, Civil parishes in England, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Overlook ...

and from

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

. The village is above sea level, south west of Helsby Hill. Originally a small hamlet, it has gradually enlarged over the twentieth century, although the village retains a semi-rural character. Council housing was built shortly after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

behind ‘The Wheatsheaf' pub, with many of these properties now owner occupied. Other in-fill building in the village has increased the population of the parish from fewer than 300 in the early 1900s to 534 recorded in the 2001 census. This decreased slightly to 501 at the time of the 2011 census.

History

The name Dunham-on-the-Hill means "hill village or homestead", deriving from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''dūn'' (a hill) and ''hām'' (a village, community or homestead). The village is 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as ''Doneham'' under the ownership of Earl Hugh of Chester. The entry lists eleven households (seven villagers, three smallholders and one 'smiths'). Comprising farmland, meadow and some woodland, Aescwulf of

Landican Landican () is a hamlet and former civil parish on the outskirts of Birkenhead, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The hamlet is on the Wirral Peninsula, near to Woodchurch and the M53 motorway. Historically part of the ...

had previously been the owner in 1066. Dunham-on-the-Hill was a township in Thornton parish, Eddisbury Hundred, which became a civil parish in 1866. Its population was recorded as 260 in 1801, then 332 in 1851, 282 in 1901, 446 in 1951 and increasing to 534 by 2001. Dunham Hill railway station opened in 1850 as part of the Birkenhead Railway. It closed in 1952, although the tracks passing through the station site are still operational as the

Chester–Warrington line The Chester–Warrington line is a railway line running between and in North West England. There are two passenger trains per hour in each direction between Chester and Warrington. One (operated by Northern Trains) continues to Manchester Vi ...

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 ...

ROF Dunham on the Hill was an explosives storage depot built during World War II. The facility had its own on-site railway, with access provided via a branch line near the railway station. The depot closed during the 1960s and most of the land has been given over to agriculture. Some of the old storage sheds can still be seen from the

M56 motorway The M56 motorway serves the Cheshire and Greater Manchester areas of England. It runs east to west from junction 4 of the M60 at Gatley, south of Manchester, to Dunkirk, approximately north of Chester. With a length of , it connects North Wales ...

. The village school closed in 2008. The 'Dunham Arms' pub reopened in 2010. Dunham-on-the-Hill was formerly a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in the parish of Thornton-le-Moors, in 1866 Dunham on the Hill became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 2015 the parish was abolished to form "Dunham-on-the-Hill and Hapsford", part also went to Manley.

Churches

The parish church of St Luke was built in the 1860s as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

. Before this villagers had to walk across the fields to Thornton-le-Moors in order to attend church services. Services are held here at 9.30 every Sunday morning. The village also has two Methodist chapels, both now converted into dwellings. The Wesleyan Methodist church in the centre of Dunham was the first place of worship to be built in the village. Hapsford Methodist Church is on the A56 between Dunham and its neighbouring village, Hapsford.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunham-on-the-Hill, Cheshire Villages in Cheshire Former civil parishes in Cheshire Cheshire West and Chester

History

Churches

See also

References

External links