Shavington cum Gresty () is 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 ...

in the unitary authority of

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 ...

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 lies to the south of

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

. It includes the large village of Shavington (at ), which lies miles south of Crewe, as well as the smaller settlements of Dodds Bank, Park Estate, Puseydale, Sugar Loaf and part of Goodall's Corner.Genuki: Shavington cum Gresty
(accessed 14 August 2007) Nearby villages include Basford,

Hough Hough may refer to: * Hamstringing, or severing the Achilles tendon of an animal * the leg or shin of an animal (in the Scots language), from which the dish potted hough is made * Hough (surname) Communities United Kingdom * Hough, Alderley ...

, Willaston, Wistaston and

Wybunbury Wybunbury or is a village (at ) and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village lies 3¼ miles to the south east of Nantwich and 3¾ miles to th ...

. The total population of the civil parish is a little under 5,000.

History

Shavington appears 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 ''Santune''; it was then held by William Malbank, who held much of the land in the Nantwich hundred. In the 19th century, Shavington had four Nonconformist chapels, only one of which remains as a place of worship. The village name means "Sceafa's farmstead". Gresty means "badger path" or "wolf path". The village was the first victim of air raid damage in Cheshire in 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 ...

when on 19 July 1940 six high-explosive bombs fell, breaking windows over a mile radius and damaging the road, but no casualties were caused. The logo of Shavington is the Woodnoth Coat of Arms which can be seen in the logo of the Parish Council and the Primary School.

Governance

Shavington cum Gresty is administered by Shavington Cum Gresty Parish Council. From 1974 the civil parish was served by

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 ...

Borough Council, which was succeeded on 1 April 2009 by the new

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 ...

. Shavington cum Gresty falls in the parliamentary constituency of

, which has been represented by

Kieran Mullan Kieran John Mullan (born 6 June 1984) is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bexhill and Battle. He was previously the MP for Crewe and Nantwich between 2019 and 2024. He has been Shadow Minister f ...

of the Conservative Party since the

2019 UK General Election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019, with 47,074,800 registered voters entitled to vote to elect 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons. The governing Conservative Party, led by Prim ...

. The current Chair of the Parish Council is Benjamin Gibbs. Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council run a website for the community called Shavington Online. Shavington farmland

Geography and transport

The civil parish has a total area of .Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council: Parish Statistics (downloaded fro

5 April 2010) The terrain is relatively flat, with an average elevation of around 200 feet. Urban development has taken place at Shavington village, as well as the area immediately south of

and along the B5071 road, B5071. Much of the remainder of the civil parish is rural, with the major land use being agricultural. Swill Brook and other unnamed brooks run through the area, and there are several small meres and ponds.Cheshire County Council: Interactive Mapping: Shavington cum Gresty
(accessed 29 January 2009)Ordnance Survey Explorer Map 257: Crewe & Nantwich The Welsh Marches railway line, the A500 trunk road and Newcastle Road (the former route of the A500) all run east–west through the civil parish; the A500 has a junction at . The B5071 (Crewe Road) runs north–south from Crewe to

. A network of lanes connect the B5071 with adjacent villages; these include Gresty Lane, which runs westwards to

Rope A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...

and Willaston; and Weston Lane, which runs eastwards to Basford and

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

Demography

In 2006, the total population of the civil parish was estimated as 4,830. The 2001 census recorded a population of 4,849 in 1,954 households. By the time of the 2011 Census the population had reduced to 4,519. Historical population figures were 189 (1801), 453 (1851), 1,149 (1901) and 1,850 (1951).

Landmarks

Shavington Hall is a small country house, built in 1877 for 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 ...

in a Tudor Revival style; it is listed at

grade II 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 ...

. It bears the same name as the much larger seat of the

Earls of Kilmorey Earl of Kilmorey () is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1822 for Francis Needham, 12th Viscount Kilmorey, a General in the British Army and former Member of Parliament for Newry. He was made Viscount Newry and Mourne, in t ...

near

Adderley Adderley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Shropshire, several kilometres north of Market Drayton. It is known as Eldredelei in the Domesday Book. The Irish statesman Robert le Poer was parish priest of Adderley in 1319. ...

, Shropshire, which was demolished in 1959. Shavington Lodge is a grade-II-listed, red-brick farmhouse, dating from the early 19th century. St John's Methodist Chapel is on Main Road in Shavington (); it was founded in 1876 as a Wesleyan Methodist chapel. Facilities within the civil parish include two

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

s; ''The Elephant'' and ''The Vine'', hairdressers, and a

fish and chip shop A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop or chippy, is a restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and chip shop ...

Education

Shavington Primary School is on South Bank Avenue in Shavington (). It serves the majority of the civil parish of Shavington cum Gresty, as well as

and parts of Basford, Chorlton,

and

. Parts of Shavington cum Gresty parish fall within the catchment areas of the Berkeley Primary School in Wistaston and Wybunbury Delves Church of England Primary School in Wybunbury. The parish falls within the catchment area of Shavington Academy in Rope.Cheshire County Council: Interactive Mapping: Shavington High School
(accessed 29 January 2009)

Notable people

* The French poet

Alfred de Vigny Alfred Victor, Comte de Vigny (; 27 March 1797 – 17 September 1863) was a French poet and early French Romanticism, Romanticist. He also produced novels, plays, and translations of Shakespeare. Biography Vigny was born in Loches (a town to wh ...

wrote his poem ''La Colère de Samson'' (Samson's Anger) while he was in Shavington, on 7 April 1839. * Eric Hall (born 1954) lived in Vine Tree Avenue until 1970. Now living in Virlet, France, he is the writer, producer and presenter of ''"Radio Anglais"'' – the French Government's

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

public information service broadcasts on French local radio. * George Saul Mottershead OBE (1894–1978) ran a market garden in the village in the 1920s. In 1930 he and his family moved to Oakfield Grange at Upton by Chester where they founded

Chester Zoo Chester Zoo is a zoo in Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. The zoo is one of the UK's largest zoos at and the zoo has a total land holding of approximately . Chester Zoo ...

References

External links

Shavington Primary SchoolSt John's Methodist Church ShavingtonShavington Village Festival Committee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shavington Cum Gresty Civil parishes in Cheshire Borough of Cheshire East