Kelsall is a village and

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 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 located around east 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 ...

, west of

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

, and north west of

Tarporley Tarporley is a large village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. The civil parish also contains the village of Rhuddall Heath. Tarporley is bypassed by the A49 and A51 roads. At the 2011 census, the population was 2,614. History Tarporl ...

. The village is situated on Kelsall Hill, a part of the Mid-Cheshire Ridge, the broken line of

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

hills that divide the west

Cheshire Plain The Cheshire Plain is a relatively flat expanse of lowland within the county of Cheshire in North West England but extending south into Shropshire. It extends from the Mersey Valley in the north to the Shropshire Hills in the south, bounded by t ...

from its eastern counterpart. The ridge includes other hills including

Peckforton Peckforton is a scattered settlement (centred at ) and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The settlement is located to the north east of Malpas and to the west of Nantwich. Th ...

, Beeston,

Frodsham Frodsham is a market town, civil parish, and electoral ward in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Its population in 2021 was 9,300. It is south of Liverpool and southwest of Man ...

, and

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 ...

Geology

The western part of the parish (west of the Peckforton Fault) is underlain by the Wilmslow Sandstone Formation. East of the fault, the bedrock is largely Tarporley

Siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility. Although its permeabil ...

with the underlying Helsby Sandstone occurring in some areas. The lower ground in the west is largely covered by

glacial till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

whilst higher ground in the east is free of superficial deposits. A small area of glacio-fluvial sands and gravels is mapped in the centre of the parish. A narrow strip of

alluvium Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

is associated with Salter's Brook. The Peckforton Fault runs into the parish from the SE then turns north. It downthrows to the east. Two parallel unnamed faults, both downthrowing to the west, run NNE–SSW through Kelsall village, their southern ends terminating at the Peckforton Fault. They terminate against a short ENE–WSW aligned fault with a northerly downthrow at the northern end of the parish. The Clotton Fault which downthrows to the east runs NNW–SSE through the western part of the parish. The rocks within the faulted blocks have a gentle to moderate easterly dip.

History

On Christmas Eve, December 1944, a

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...

exploded near Street Farm to the south of the village. It had been one of several aerial-launched rockets fired at

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

by the German ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

''. This explosion would be the most westerly impact of a V1 bomb during 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 ...

Demographics

At the 2001 census the population of Kelsall civil parish was 2,525, increasing to 2,609 at the 2011 census. The total population of the Kelsall local government

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

, which also included the village of

Ashton Hayes Ashton Hayes is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ashton Hayes and Horton-cum-Peel, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is located about 8 miles east of Che ...

, was recorded as 3,439. This ward had been amalgamated with

Tarvin Tarvin is a village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It had a population of 2,693 people at the 2001 UK census, rising to 2,728 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census, ...

by the time of the 2011 Census.

Amenities

The village contains two churches, primary school, community centre, doctors' surgery, chemist, local store, butchers shop, four public houses, farm shop), and nursing and residential home. The Kelsall and District Rural Amenities Society (KADRAS) was formed in the late 1960s in order to stimulate public interest in the care and development of Kelsall's history, beauty and character. The village also hosts the annual Chester Folk Festival every May. The £3.82m, two-mile A54 bypass opened in October 1986.

References

External links