Marbury is a small village in

Cheshire East Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council, which is based in the town of Sandbach. Other towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Congleton, Wilms ...

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 the main village in the

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 ...

of Marbury and District, which also contains the settlements of

Norbury Norbury is an List of areas of London, town and suburb in south London. It shares the postcode London SW16 with neighbouring Streatham. The area is mainly in the borough of Croydon London Borough Council, Croydon, with some parts extending int ...

, Quoisley and Wirswall. Marbury village lies around north-east of Whitchurch in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

and south-west of

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture ...

in Cheshire. The area is agricultural with undulating terrain. Dairy farming is the main industry. The

Llangollen Canal The Llangollen Canal () is a navigable canals of the United Kingdom, canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, S ...

runs through the parish, to the north of Marbury village. There are five meres which are important wildlife habitats. Marbury Big Mere is a fishing lake and the Quoisley Meres are a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

and a Wetland of International Importance; they originate in glacial

kettle hole A kettle (also known as a kettle hole, kettlehole, or pothole) is a depression or hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating ...

s. Marbury contains many historic buildings, the earliest being the 15th-century St Michael's Church. "Marbury Merry Days", a traditional country fair, is held in May. In the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, the parish was plundered by both sides during 1642–44, after

Thomas Marbury Thomas Marbury was the High Sheriff of Cheshire, serving in that position from 9 December 1620 to 16 November 1621. He was MP for Cheshire for the Second Protectorate Parliament. In 1638 his daughter Mary ied 1658married John Bradshaw. Marbury ...

declared for

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

History

Early history

Little is known of the history of Marbury before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. A middle

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 ...

palstave A palstave is a type of early bronze axe. It was common in the middle Bronze Age in northern, western and south-western Europe. In the technical sense, although precise definitions differ, an axe is generally deemed to be a palstave if it is hafted ...

, a type of axe, was found at Bank Farm, near Marbury village; it dates from around 1000–1200 BC. The axe is moulded in two parts, and both faces have a

trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

design.

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 ...

coins have been found in the area, but there is no evidence of Roman settlement. Parts of two skulls, that of an adult and a child, were recovered from Marbury Big Mere; they have been dated to around 750 AD. A fragment of an unglazed cooking pot considered to be of late

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

date has also been found in the parish. Marbury was recorded in the

Domesday survey 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 ''Merberie'', jointly with the adjacent townships of

and Wirswall. Before the Conquest, it was held as an outlying estate of Earl Harold, and afterwards by William Malbank, Baron of Nantwich. The Domesday entry records 1½ hides at Marbury; jointly with Norbury and Wirswall, there was land for five ploughs and woodland measuring two

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

s by a league and 40

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

es. The total population of the joint

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...

was recorded as seven. Unlike the adjacent townships of Wirswall and

Wrenbury Wrenbury-cum-Frith is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies on the River Weaver, around south-west of Crewe. The civil parish of Wrenbury cum Frith also c ...

, Marbury is not described as "waste" in the survey. The name Marbury means "a fortified place near a lake"; besides the name, however, no evidence survives of a fortified settlement here. It was within the Hundred of Warmundestrou, later the Nantwich Hundred. The manor of Marbury was later owned by the de Praers family of

Baddiley Baddiley is a scattered settlement and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The civil parish also includes the north-western part of the village of Rave ...

, passing to John le Strange, Lord of Whitchurch, before 1349. A timber church was in existence in 1299, on the site of the present parish church; Marbury church was considered a parochial chapel of Whitchurch until 1870. The remains of a medieval road were uncovered near Marbury Big Mere during sewerage works. They consist of a brushwood base covered by several layers of logs, with cobbles lying on top of the wood. Quoisley is first recorded in 1350 as ''Cuselegh''; the name is

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

in origin and means "Cusa's clearing".Local History Group & Latham (ed.), pp. 18–21 It might represent a small medieval settlement which was later deserted.

Tudor era and the Civil War

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the manor was held by the

Earl of Shrewsbury Earl of Shrewsbury () is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Ireland ...

of Marley Hall, later passing to the

Earl of Bridgewater Earl of Bridgewater was a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, once for the Daubeny family (1538) and once for the Egerton family (1617). From 1720 to 1803, the Earls of Bridgewater also held the title of Duke of Bridgewa ...

.Local History Group & Latham (ed.), p. 43Local History Group & Latham (ed.), pp. 121–122Local History Group & Latham (ed.), p. 124 In June 1551, sixteen people in Marbury died in an epidemic of "sweating sickness", perhaps

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

, which also claimed the life of the mayor 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 ...

, Edmund Gee. By the 17th century, the Marbury family was a major local landowner. In the

, Thomas Marbury declared for

and raised troops which fought at the Parliamentarian stronghold of

in 1643–44. In common with much of the countryside surrounding Nantwich, Marbury was plundered by both sides between 1642 and 1644, with the

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 gove ...

commander Lord Capell quartering troops in the parish in 1643. Relative peace was restored after the decisive defeat of the Royalists in the

Battle of Nantwich The Battle of Nantwich was fought on 25 January 1644 in Cheshire during the First English Civil War. In the battle, Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, Sir Thomas Fairfax in command of a Roundhead, Parliamentarian relief force def ...

of 1644. Thomas Marbury was among several Cheshire Parliamentarians to be pardoned by Charles II in 1651. A

charity school Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...

was founded in Marbury churchyard in 1688, and remained on that site until 1824.

18th century to the present day

In 1758, the manor of Marbury was purchased by the Knight family, who still held it in 1810. The Poole family gained in influence during the 18th century, and were regarded as the local squires throughout the 19th century until the end of 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 ...

.Local History Group & Latham (ed.), pp. 51–52 The Pooles inhabited the Jacobean Marbury Old Hall at Tapley's Craft by the church, building the present Marbury Hall in around 1805–10. The Old Hall was unoccupied and partly ruined by 1888, and has now been demolished. Cudworth Halstead Poole served as the High Sheriff of the county in 1880. In the 1760s, there were two public houses, The Leathern Bottle and The Swan, as well as two licensed sellers of ale. The Leathern Bottle had closed by the end of the 19th century, while The Swan was rebuilt in around 1884 by Cudworth Halstead Poole, and remains open as of 2024.Local History Group & Latham (ed.), p. 98 Cudworth Halstead Poole also rebuilt Bank Farm, Marley Lodge and several other buildings in the village. The school had moved to Wrenbury Road in 1825, and a new school opened on School Lane in 1871 on land donated by the Poole family. Historian

George Ormerod George Ormerod (20 October 1785 – 9 October 1873) was an English antiquary and historian. Among his writings was a major county history of Cheshire, in North West England. Biography George Ormerod was born in Manchester and educated first ...

described the village in around 1816 as "a cluster of farm-houses, occupying rising ground between two small meres or lakes, from which the township derives its name." Throughout the 19th century,

cheesemaking Cheesemaking (or caseiculture) is the craft of making cheese. The production of cheese, like many other food preservation processes, allows the nutritional and economic value of a food material, in this case milk, to be preserved in concentrate ...

was an important source of income, as in much of South Cheshire. The completion of the

Ellesmere Canal The Ellesmere Canal was a waterway in England and Wales that was planned to carry boat traffic between the rivers Mersey and Severn. The proposal would create a link between the Port of Liverpool and the mineral industries in north east Wales an ...

early in the 19th century and the

Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway The Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway was a railway company which was previously owned by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), built to connect Crewe with the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway which was jointly owned with GWR. Authorised in 1 ...

in 1858 improved transport for local produce, particularly cheese and milk, to cities including

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

.Local History Group & Latham (ed.), pp. 75–76, 115–117 In 1850, nearly all local tradespeople were involved with agriculture, whether directly or indirectly. At that date, Marbury had two blacksmiths, butchers and shoemakers, and a wheelwright; later there was also a smithy,

coal merchant A coal merchant is the term used in the UK and other countries for a trader who sells coal and often delivers it to households. Coal merchants were once a major class of local business, but have declined in importance in many parts of the developed ...

, tailor, bakehouse and one or more grocer's shops.Local History Group & Latham (ed.), pp. 83, 87 In the early 20th century, the great majority of the population was still employed in agriculture; one contemporary observer mentioned common occupations as "farm workers, milkmaids and washer women". Cheesemaking had ceased by 1951.Local History Group & Latham (ed.), p. 59 Several descriptions of Marbury village and the surrounding countryside survive from the first half of the 20th century. Ornithologist T. A. Coward wrote around 1900: "What a country this is, wooded hills, none of them high, lanes bordered with luxuriant vegetation that tempts one to potter and smell the honeysuckle or pick the wild roses; meres or pools in almost every hollow." Almost 50 years later, little had changed; local author Beatrice Tunstall described the village in 1948 as "far from the madding crowd", and praised the "ancient lanes, deep trodden by the feet of endless generation, flower fringed amid the woodlands, with great hedges where honeysuckle and wild roses riot." A total of 86 men from Marbury served in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

; Belgian refugees supplied some of the resulting deficit in agricultural labour. The interwar years saw many services being provided in the area for the first time. A telephone exchange was built in 1927, electricity was connected some time after 1930, and the first bus service started in 1934. In 1929, a village hall was built by the Poole family.Local History Group & Latham (ed.), pp. 56–58 The earliest piped water supply was installed at Marbury in around 1930; previously, village pumps on the green were used. During the

, evacuees were housed at Marbury Hall. Marbury was one of the observation posts of the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...

, but no bombs are recorded as having fallen within the civil parish. The Poole estate was sold in 1946. Marbury Hall was acquired by the Grant family, later the Paton-Smiths; Carolin Paton-Smith served as Cheshire's High Sheriff in 2005. Part of the remainder of the estate, including Marbury Little Mere and several farms, passed to the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is an estate of the British sovereign. The estate has its origins in the lands held by the medieval Dukes of Lancaster, which came under the direct control of the monarch when Henry Bolingbroke, the then duke of Lancast ...

. Fourteen council houses and a few private houses were built in Marbury village after the Second World War, and in the early 21st century, residential conversion of farm buildings at Marbury Hall Farm created twelve dwellings. Marbury School was extended in 1965, but closed in 1988 due to low enrolment. The second half of the 20th century also saw the loss of many local businesses, with the smithy being demolished in 1979, and the last remaining village shop closing before 1999. The canal ceased being used for commercial traffic after the Second World War, but in the late 20th century became popular for recreation.

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Marbury, 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: Marbury and District Parish Council and

Cheshire East Council Cheshire East Council is the local authority for Cheshire East, a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs th ...

. The parish council meets at the village hall on School Lane in Marbury.

Administrative history

Marbury was an

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 ...

in the Nantwich hundred of Cheshire. The parish was subdivided into two

townships 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 ...

, called Marbury cum Quoisley and Norbury. 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 Marbury, the civil functions were exercised by each township separately rather than the parish as a whole. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so Marbury cum Quoisley and Norbury became separate

es. When elected parish and district councils were created 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 ...

, Marbury cum Quoisley was given a parish council and included in the

Malpas Rural District Malpas was, from 1894 to 1936, a rural district in the administrative counties of England, administrative county of Cheshire, England. The district was named after the village of Malpas, Cheshire, Malpas. Creation The district was created by ...

, subsequently transferring to the

Nantwich Rural District Nantwich Rural District was a division of Cheshire until 1974, when it merged with the Nantwich and Crewe urban districts to create the Borough of Crewe and Nantwich Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a Non-metropolitan district, l ...

in 1936. In 1959, 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 ...

was created covering the three civil parishes of Marbury cum Quoisley, Norbury, and Wirswall, called the Marbury and District Parish Council. In 2023, the three civil parishes within the group were merged into a single civil parish called Marbury and District. From 1974 until 2009, at a district level the civil parish formed part of the borough of

Crewe and Nantwich Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Cheshire, England. It had a population (2001 census) of 111,007. It contained 69 ci ...

. In 2009 the new borough of Cheshire East was created, with its council being a unitary authority, taking over district-level functions from Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council and county-level functions from

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. ...

, both of which were abolished.

Geography and economy

The civil parish of Marbury and District had a total area of .Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council: Parish Statistics (downloaded fro

5 April 2010) The terrain is undulating in character, rising from around 75 metres by the

in the north and west of the parish to around 120 metres near Hollyhurst in the south east.Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester: Interactive Mapping: Marbury cum Quoisley
(accessed 18 May 2010) Five sizable mere (lake), meres lay wholly or partly within the civil parish: Marbury Big Mere () and Little Mere (), Quoisley Big Mere () and Little Mere (), and part of Brankelow Moss (). The largest, Marbury Big Mere, is around 500 metres in length. The Marbury and Quoisley Meres originate in glacial

s, formed at the end of the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

some ten or fifteen thousand years ago.Natural England: Quoisley Meres
. Retrieved 16 April 2010.Cheshire Region Biodiversity Partnership: Meres
. Retrieved 16 April 2010. Additionally, numerous smaller ponds are scattered across the farmland. There were many small areas of woodland including Big Wood, Buttermilk Bank, Glebe Covert, Hadley Covert, Holly Rough, Limepits, Marley Hall Covert, Marley Moss, Poole Gorse, Poole Hook and Square Covert, and parts of Brankelow Moss, Hollyhurst Wood and Poole's Riding Wood. The Llangollen branch of the

Shropshire Union Canal The Shropshire Union Canal, sometimes nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. It is the modern name for a part of the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company network. In the leisure age, two of the branches of that netwo ...

runs along the northern boundary of the parish, with Marbury Brook and Steer Brook running alongside parts of the canal; the canal turns southwards at to form the parish's western boundary. An unnamed brook running from Wirswall Road via Quoisley Meres to the canal forms part of the southern boundary. Church Bridge carries School Lane across Marbury Brook at , by Church Bridge Lock in the adjacent civil parish of

. The

grade-II-listed 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, Hi ...

red sandstone bridge dates from the late 18th or early 19th century; half of the bridge lies in Marbury cum Quoisley and the other half in Norbury. The modern road bridges of Steer Bridge (Marbury Road) and Quoisley Canal Bridge (A49) cross the canal at and , respectively. Quoisley Lock is at . Farmland nr Marbury

The area was predominantly rural, with the major land use being agricultural, mainly dairy.Local History Group & Latham (ed.), pp. 75–76 Tourism is also significant, including walking, cycling, fishing and the canal trade. The village of Marbury is centred around the T-junction of Hollins Lane, Wirswall Road and Wrenbury Road at , with housing also extending along School Lane. A large area in the centre and south of the civil parish, including Marbury village and the five meres, forms part of the Wirswall/Marbury/ Combermere Area of Special County Value. A small area in the south east falls within the parkland of

Combermere Abbey Combermere Abbey is a former monastery, later a country house, near Burleydam, between Nantwich, Cheshire and Whitchurch, Shropshire, Whitchurch in Shropshire, England, located within Cheshire and near the border with Shropshire. Initially Congr ...

, which is listed in the

National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England {{R from move ...

{{R from move ...

History

Early history

Tudor era and the Civil War

18th century to the present day

Governance

Administrative history

Geography and economy

Ecology

Demography

Places of worship

Other landmarks

Marbury village

Marbury Hall

Elsewhere

Transport

Education

Marbury Merry Days

See also

References and notes

Sources

External links