Places: Weaverham

WEAVERHAM

The parish of Weaverham comprised the townships of Acton, Crowton, Cuddington, Onston, Wallerscote and Weaverham, together with parts of Hartford and Norley. It is probable that salt was extracted in the area from Roman times.

The patron of the living was the abbot of Vale Royal Abbey, following the dissolution of the abbey the rectory and advowson of the vicarage was granted to the bishops of Chester, although the first presentation to the parish after the dissolution was made by Sir Thomas Holcroft who had acquired a lease of Vale Royal.

It is thought that there has been a church on the site of the present parish church since Saxon times. The present church is built largely of sandstone and, apart from the addition of a south porch, the exterior remains much as it was following rebuilding in the late fifteenth century. Inside there was later alteration including the addition of linenfold panelling and a wooden ceiling, said to have come from Vale Royal Abbey church.

Several thatched timber-framed cottages survive around Weaverham village centre, mostly dating from the seventeenth century.

Sources:

George Ormerod, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester (second edition, revised and enlarged by T. Helsby, London, 1882), vol. ii, pp. 113-119

Raymond Richards, Old Cheshire Churches, (second edition, Manchester, 1973), pp. 345-351