Thelwall
Thelwall is located in Cheshire
Thelwall
Thelwall
Location within Cheshire
OS grid referenceSJ647874
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWarrington
Postcode districtWA4
Dialling code01925
PoliceCheshire
FireCheshire
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament

Thelwall is a suburban village in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England, close to the Lymm junction of the M6 motorway.

History

A fortified village was established at Thelwall in 923, in the reign of King Edward the Elder, which is mentioned in two very early sources, including the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:

"Kynge Edwarde made a cite at Thelewall in [th]e northe parte of [th]e Marches, nye the water of Mersee, where he put certeyne knyghtes."—Higden's Polychronicon[1][2]

"A.D. 923. This year went King Edward with an army, late in the harvest, to Thelwall; and ordered the borough to be repaired, and inhabited, and manned. And he ordered another army also from the population of Mercia, the while he sat there to go to Manchester in Northumbria, to repair and to man it. This year died Archbishop Plegmund; and King Reynold won York."—Anglo-Saxon Chronicle[3]

An inscription on the Pickering Arms[4] records that "In the year 920 King Edward the Elder founded a city here and called it Thelwall". According to Sir Peter Leycester it was "so called from the stakes and stumps, cut from the trees, wherewith it was environed about as a wall".[5] It is more likely that the original meaning of Thelwall was "pool by a plank bridge" (the earliest record of the name is in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 923 as "Thelwæl", in 1241 it occurs as "Thelewell").[6]

Earthworks remain of an embankment, possibly part of these fortifications, found in the grounds of Chaigeley School. These remains are a designated English Heritage National Monument.[7]

Thomas de Thelwall, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1377–78, was born here in the early fourteenth century.

Geography

Thelwall nowadays borders the villages of Lymm and Grappenhall, and (across the Manchester Ship Canal) Latchford. It is also one of the two principal settlements of Grappenhall and Thelwall civil parish. According to the 2001 census, the population of the entire civil parish was 9,377.[8]

Thelwall is perhaps best known for the Thelwall Viaduct, which carries the M6 motorway across the Manchester Ship Canal and opened in 1963[9] (a second viaduct was added in 1996).[10] The village is between the Ship Canal and the Bridgewater Canal, and on the east–west A56 and B5157. To the east, between the village and the M6, is Statham.

Politics

As a locality within the Warrington South constituency, Thelwall is currently represented in the House of Commons by Andy Carter of the Conservative Party. Thelwall is also represented on Warrington Borough Council and by Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council.[11]

Warrington Borough Council

Thelwall returns officers from the Lymm North and Thelwall Ward to serve on the Borough Council, and is allocated three representative seats. As of 2023 the Councillors representing Thelwall are:[12]

  • Bob Barr (Liberal Democrat)
  • Ian Marks (Liberal Democrat)
  • Wendy Johnson (Liberal Democrat)

Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council

The Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council consists of sixteen elected officials serving a term of four years.

As of 2023, the following is a list of those members representing Thelwall Ward on the Parish Council:[13]

  • Helen Speed
  • Cliff Taylor
  • Louise Fernyhough
  • Ray Fisher
  • Patrick Warner
  • Robert Hignett

Education

There are three schools in the village:

  • Thelwall Community Infant School, for children aged 4–7. As of 2018, its most recent Ofsted judgement was in 2008, and was Outstanding.[14]
  • Thelwall Community Junior School, for children aged 8–11. As of 2018, its most recent Ofsted judgement was in 2015, and was Good.[15]
  • Chaigeley School, a non-maintained special school.

The nearest secondary school is Lymm High School.

Culture

The Church of England is represented by All Saints Church[16] where several scions of the ancient Cheshire Booth family are buried.

The village has a football club, Thelwall Rangers A.F.C.,[17] and a cricket club, Thelwall Parish CC.

Thelwall also has its own Morris dancing team, the Thelwall Morris Men,[18] and its own amateur dramatic group, the Bridgewater Players.[19]

During the summer months, Thelwall hosts a Rose Queen Parade, which has been running for more than 50 years.

Notable past and present residents

See also

References

  1. ↑ Higden, Ralph (1876) [1587]. Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden monachi Cestrensis. Longman.
  2. ↑ Edward the Elder ordered a burh to be built as a defence against the Danes. "Burh" means military fort but has been mistranslated by Higden leading to Thelwall being described as a “cite" (town or city).
  3. ↑ Anon (ca. 1130). Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Retrieved on 10 August 2023 at Project Gutenberg
  4. ↑ "The Pickering Arms - 1900s and 2000s". Thelwall Morris Men. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  5. ↑ Coward, T. A. (1903). Picturesque Cheshire. London: Sherratt & Hughes. p. 30.
  6. ↑ Ekwall, E. (1940). The Concise Dictionary of English Place-names (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 443.
  7. ↑ "Monument No. 73074". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  8. ↑ Figures from 2001 census for entire civil parish
  9. ↑ "Thelwall Viaduct". Structurae. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "Thelwall Viaduct". Structurae. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  11. ↑ "Discover Grappenhall & Thelwall Parish". Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  12. ↑ "Councillors". Warrington Borough Council. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  13. ↑ "Councillors". Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "Thelwall Community Infant School". Ofsted. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  15. ↑ "Thelwall Community JuniorSchool". Ofsted. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  16. ↑ "Home page". All Saints Church of Thelwall. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  17. ↑ "Official website". Thelwall Rangers AFC. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  18. ↑ "Home page". Thelwall Morris Men. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  19. ↑ "Welcome to the Bridgewater Players". Bridgewater Players. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
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