Tushingham cum Grindley is a 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

Tushingham-cum-Grindley, Macefen and Bradley Tushingham-cum-Grindley, Macefen and Bradley is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It was created in 2015, under the terms of the Local Government and Public Invo ...

, 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. The parish contained the village of

Tushingham Tushingham is a scattered community in the civil parish of Tushingham-cum-Grindley, Macefen and Bradley (Tushingham cum Grindley until 2015), in the Cheshire West and Chester district, in the county of Cheshire, England. St Chad's Chapel, Tush ...

and the hamlet of

Bell o' th' Hill Bell o' th' Hill is a small, scattered settlement in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, close to the border with Shropshire. Until 2015 it was in the civil parish of Tushingham cum ...

. According to the 2001 UK census, the total population of the civil parish was 166, rising to 187 at the 2011 Census.

Etymology

The ''Grindley'' component of the name has been given as Grenleg' Grenlet, Grenlee, Grynleye, Grynesley, and Gryndley sometimes with Broke, broc, or "le Brock" added to the end since the thirteenth century. It refers to "Green wood" or "clearing" next to a brook. The brook later became known as

Wych Brook The Wych Brook, Worthenbury Brook and Red Brook, formerly known as the River Elfe, is a tributary of the River Dee in England and Wales, forming part of both the historic and present-day border between the two countries. The stream forms part ...

, and it now forms the county boundary between Cheshire and

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 ...

at that point. For the origins of ''Tushingham'', two possible explanations have been reported: the first was originally put forward by

Eilert Ekwall Bror Oscar Eilert Ekwall (8 January 1877 in Vallsjö – 23 November 1964 in Lund) was a Swedish academic, Professor of English at Sweden's Lund University from 1909 to 1942 and one of the outstanding scholars of the English language in the firs ...

, who concluded that it referred to "the village of Tunsige's people", but a more recent suggestion is that a more direct origin from the Middle English "tuss(h)e" (a tuft of grass or rushes) and "ing" (a place) with "ham" yields a meaning of "the village in the place where tufts of grasses or rushes grow". All the forms of the name that Dodgson records from 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 ...

onwards begin with "Tus-" as opposed to "Tuns-": Tusigeham, Tussinhgham, Tussincham, Tussingeham, and Tussyncam.

Governance

Tushingham was originally a township in Malpas ancient parish which obtained its separate civil parish status in 1866. As a separate civil parish it has sometimes been known as "Tushingham" or "Tushingham with Grindley". It was originally in Broxton Hundred. From 1837 to 1857 it was in

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 ...

Poor law union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

, and from 1857 to 1930 in Whitchurch (in Shropshire) poor law union. It was also part of Whitchurch

rural sanitary district Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

. Following the local government restructuring at the end of the nineteenth century, when local districts were formed using rural sanitary districts as a guide, Tushingham joined

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 ...

and remained there from 1894 to 1936. From 1936 to 1974 it became part of

Tarvin Rural District Tarvin was, from 1894 to 1974, a rural district in the administrative county of Cheshire, England. The district was named after the village of Tarvin, and saw considerable boundary changes throughout its life. Creation The district was created ...

. From 1974 to 2009 it was part 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 ...

district, and is currently part of the unitary authority area of

. On 1 April 2015 the parish was abolished to form "Tushingham-cum-Grindley, Macefen and Bradley".

St Chad's Chapel, Tushingham St Chad's Chapel (often referred to as Old St Chad's) is an isolated church in the scattered community of Tushingham in the civil parish of Tushingham-cum-Grindley, Macefen and Bradley, Cheshire, England. The only approach to the chapel is on ...

is a Grade I

listed building 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 ...

, and it is reported that there appears to have been a chapel present there since the fourteenth century.

Notes and references

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tushingham Cum Grindley Former civil parishes in Cheshire Cheshire West and Chester

Etymology

Governance

See also

Notes and references

Notes

Bibliography