Places: Eccleston

ECCLESTON

The parish is about three miles from Chester and comprised two townships, Eccleston and Eaton, with the hamlet of Belgrave. The village of Eccleston is situated on the River Dee. A surviving motte and associated earthworks overlooking the River Dee were constructed just after the Norman Conquest on a Roman road which crossed the Dee by a ford at Eccleston.

The advowson of the rectory was owned by the lords of the manor who were the Venables family, barons of Kinderton, for much of the sixteenth century. The manor was sold in the eighteenth century to the Grosvenors of Eaton.

The church was rebuilt in the early nineteenth century in sandstone under the direction of the Grosvenor family and underwent further reconstruction later in the century. The beautiful churchyard overlooking the river became so popular as a burial place for the people of the nearby city of Chester that in an effort to restrict burials of outsiders non-parishioners were heavily charged for the privilege of interment there. A new parish church was constructed in 1899, again at the expense of the Grosvenor family in the person of the 1^st Duke of Westminster, and the family also had a private chapel on their estate.

The parish remains largely agricultural, being arable and pasture, although there was a quarry for sandstone used for building. There were also salmon fisheries on the River Dee and a ferry across the river. Eaton Hall, seat of the Grosvenor family, is situated in the parish.

The area of London developed by Richard Grosvenor from 1826 was nicknamed ‘Belgravia’, the name taken from the title of Viscount Belgrave bestowed upon the family in 1784. This residential development included fashionable Belgrave Square, Eaton Square and Chester Square. The title of Duke of Westminster was created for Hugh Grosvenor of Eaton in 1874.

Sources:

Debrett’s Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage (London, 1889), pp. 733-734

George Ormerod, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, vol. 2 (second edition, revised and enlarged by T. Helsby, London, 1882), vol. ii, pp. 824-844

Edward Walford, ‘The western suburbs: Belgravia’, in Old and New London: Volume 5( London, 1878), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol5/pp1-14

‘Eccleston – Edgbaston’, in A Topographical Dictionary of England, ed. Samuel Lewis( London, 1848), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp139-144

Historic England
Motte and associated earthworks east of Old Rectory (1011118)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1011118  National Heritage List for England
Remains of Former Church of St Mary, Old Churchyard (1138376)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1138376 National Heritage List for England
Church of St Mary (1138410)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1138410 National Heritage List for England
Eaton Chapel North of Eaton Hall (1330615)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1330615 National Heritage List for England