Hoole Village is a hamlet in the parish of Mickle Trafford and District, in

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 ...

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 lies north-east of the centre of

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 ...

, and is just outside the urban area. From 1894 to 2015, Hoole Village was the name of 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 ...

, created when the old parish of

Hoole Hoole is a suburb in the east of Chester, in Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire, England. The area is contiguous with Newton to the north and Vicars Cross to the south. The A41 road marks the suburb's eastern boundary, with the separate Hool ...

was split into two parishes: an

urban 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 ...

to the south-west adjoining Chester, which retained the name Hoole, and a rural parish to the north-east which was given the name Hoole Village.

Geography

The former Hoole Village parish contained the southern end of the

M53 motorway The M53 is an motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside and the Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough of Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is also referred to as the Mid Wirral ...

where it becomes the

A55 road The A55, also known as the North Wales Expressway (), is a major road in Wales and England, connecting Cheshire and North Wales. The vast majority of its length from Chester to Holyhead is a dual carriageway primary route, with the exception o ...

and is crossed by 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 ...

. This junction is known as Hoole Island Junction. The parish also included Hoole Hall, which is now a hotel. In 2004 the population was 230, rising to 319 at the time of the 2011 census.

History

In September 1955 a

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, or sometimes for special purposes such as signaling. ...

and a worked flake were found in a garden in the parish. The arrowhead was dated to the period between the Early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and the Early

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

(2350 BC to 701 BC). In 1995

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

showed evidence of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

practice fort near to Hoole Hall. It is believed that the

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

from Chester to

Wilderspool Wilderspool is a district of Warrington, Cheshire, England, near the town centre. It consists of Wilderspool Causeway and the streets coming off it, the limits being the River Mersey into Stockton Heath (where it turns into London Road), Bridge ...

(now part of

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

) passed through the parish.

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Hoole Village, at parish and

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 ...

level: Mickle Trafford and District Parish Council, and

Cheshire West and Chester Council Cheshire West and Chester Council is the local authority for Cheshire West and Chester, a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council w ...

. The parish council generally meets at the village hall in

Mickle Trafford Mickle Trafford is a village in Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire, England. It is the main village in the civil parish of Mickle Trafford and District. The A56 road from Chester to Warrington passes through the village and the Chester to Manc ...

Administrative history

Hoole was historically 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 ...

which was mostly in the

ancient 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 ...

Plemstall Plemstall (formerly Plemonstall) is a hamlet in the civil parish of Mickle Trafford and District, in Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire, England. It lies north-east of the village of Mickle Trafford. Geography The hamlet contains only a coupl ...

, which formed part of the Broxton Hundred of Cheshire. From the 17th century onwards, parishes were gradually given various civil functions under the

poor laws The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief in England and Wales that developed out of the codification of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws in 1587–1598. The system continued until the modern welfare state emerged in the late 1940s. E ...

, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including Hoole, the civil functions were exercised by the township rather than the wider parishes. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so Hoole became a

. In 1864, a Hoole

local government district Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

was created. Its promoters initially sought to have the whole township included in the district, but objections from ratepayers in the more rural north-eastern part of the township led to the district covering only the south-western part of the township. Local government districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

. The 1894 Act also directed that civil parishes could no longer straddle district boundaries, and so the parish of Hoole was reduced to match the urban district, and the rural part of the old parish outside the urban district was made a separate parish, which Cheshire County Council chose to name Hoole Village. The boundary between Hoole and Hoole Village was changed in 1936 and again in 1954, when Hoole was absorbed into the city of Chester, subject to a realignment of the boundary with Hoole Village to follow the

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, New ...

. Hoole Village was too small to have a parish council, having a

parish meeting A parish meeting is a meeting all the electors in a civil parish in England are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish council, with ...

instead. In 1960, the parish was placed under a

grouped parish council A parish council is a civil local authority found in England, which is the lowest tier of local government. Parish councils are elected corporate bodies, with variable tax raising powers, and they carry out beneficial public activities in geogr ...

with

Bridge Trafford Bridge Trafford is a hamlet in the civil parish of Mickle Trafford and District, in Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire, England. It lies to the north of Mickle Trafford on the A56 road, and is north-east of Chester. Bridge Trafford was form ...

and Mickle Trafford, called the Mickle Trafford and District Parish Council. In 1972, the group of parishes was enlarged to also include Picton and

Wimbolds Trafford Wimbolds Trafford is a hamlet in the civil parish of Mickle Trafford and District, in Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire, England. The hamlet lies on the B5132 road, approximately north-east of Chester and north of the village of Mickle Tr ...

. On 1 April 2015 the five parishes within the group were merged into a single civil parish called Mickle Trafford and District, subject to some minor adjustments to boundaries with neighbouring parishes.

Landmarks and places of interest

Hoole Hall was built as a large house around 1720. The hall itself, its attached conservatory built in the mid 19th century, and the

ha-ha A ha-ha ( or ), also known as a sunk fence, blind fence, ditch and fence, deer wall, or foss, is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier (particularly on one side) while preserving an uninterrupted view of the lan ...

wall and railings of the west terrace of the house are Grade II

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. The hall is now used as a hotel. Also listed Grade II is a restored

pinfold An animal pound is a place where stray livestock were impounded. Animals were kept in a dedicated enclosure, until claimed by their owners, or sold to cover the costs of impounding. Etymology The terms "pinfold" and "pound" are Saxon in origi ...

in Oak Lane.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{authority control Former civil parishes in Cheshire Cheshire West and Chester