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Great Budworth
The main street
Map of civil parish of Great Budworth within former borough of Vale Royal
Population	373 (2001)
OS grid reference	SJ6677
Civil parish	Great Budworth
Unitary authority	Cheshire West and Chester
Ceremonial county	Cheshire
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NORTHWICH
Postcode district	CW9
Dialling code	01606
Police	Cheshire
Fire	Cheshire
Ambulance	North West
List of places UK England Cheshire

Great Budworth is a civil parish and village, approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Northwich, England, within the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire. It lies off the A559 road, east of Comberbach, northwest of Higher Marston and southeast of Budworth Heath. Until 1948, Great Budworth was part of the Arley Hall estate.

Etymology

According to Sir Peter Leycester, the name Great Budworth comes from the Old Saxon words bode ("dwelling") and wurth ("a place by water").

Geography

Great Budworth is approached from the main Warrington to Northwich road and lies about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the town of Northwich. It is situated along a ridge of overlooking two meres, Budworth to the west and Pickmere to the east.

It was situated in the hundred of Bucklow and deanery of Frodsham. At 15 miles (24 km) in length and 10 miles (16 km) in width, it was considered to be the largest parish in Cheshire, except Prestbury. The parish contained nineteen townships: Budworth, Anderson, Appleton-cum-Hull, Aston-juxta-Budworth, Barnton, Barterton, or Bartington, Cogfoall, Comberbach, Dutton, Little-Leigh, Marbury, Marton, Pickmere, Stretton, Nether-Tabley, Over-Witley, Nether Witley, and Wincham.

History

The early history of Great Budworth is documented in the Domesday Book. It mentions a priest at Great Budworth. In 1130, the St Mary and All Saints Church was given to the Augustinian canon of Norton Priory by William FitzNigel, Constable of Chester and Baron of Halton.

During the reign of Henry III, Sir Geoffrey de Dutton (sometimes "Geffrey de Budworth") (d. 1248) was lord of the manor. De Budworth was the son of Adam, a younger son of Hugh de Dutton. Peter, grandson of De Budworth and ancestor of Sir Peter Warburton, second Bart. of Arley, moved to Warburton, assumed that name, and was a proprietor of Great Budworth. De Budworth gave a third of his land, including St Mary and All Saints Church, to Norton Priory in order to secure perpetual masses for his soul. After the dissolution, the estate was granted by King Henry VIII to John Grimsditch. It was afterwards divided into several parcels.

There may have been a school in Great Budworth as early as 1563, but certainly one existed by 1578. For centuries, the village was owned by the head of Arley Hall who would collect rent from the villagers. Rowland Egerton-Warburton of Arley Hall paid for restorations and improvements to the church in the 1850s. Egerton-Warburton also undertook a "campaign to render it (the village) picturesque in Victorian eyes". To this end he commissioned architects including William Nesfield and John Douglas to work on buildings in the village. Douglas remodelled the George and Dragon inn in 1875, and restored some of the cottages.

A running pump was the only source of drinking water for the whole community until 1934 when a piped supply was first connected. Until 1948, Great Budworth was part of the Arley Hall estate.

Notable landmarks

The Grade I listed St Mary and All Saints Church is located in the village. The village is a popular location for films and television including Cluedo and more recently in the Natwest advert. Arley Hall, a historic house, is nearby. Also of note in the area are George and Dragon and Cock o' Budworth pubs, 54–57 High Street, Dene Cottages, Goldmine House and Belmont Hall.

St Mary and All Saints' Church

St Mary and All Saints' Church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Great Budworth. Clifton-Taylor includes it in his list of 'best' English parish churches. Richards describes it as "one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical architecture remaining in Cheshire". The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner considered it to be "one of the most satisfactory Perpendicular churches in Cheshire". In the north chapel is a memorial to Sir Peter Leicester, the 17th-century historian, and in the Warburton Chapel is the alabaster effigy of Sir John Warburton who died in 1575. In the north chapel is an organ which was designed by Samuel Renn and installed in 1839.

Houses

Goldmine House and its attached cottage (Rose Cottage), designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building. were built in 1870 for Rowland Egerton-Warburton of Arley Hall and were designed by the Chester architect John Douglas. Built with brown brick with some timber framing, and clay tile roofs the house faces west. It is a double storied building with two gabled bays. The cottage is simple in form with a dormer and blue brick diapering.

Dene Cottages are a pair of cottages, designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building. They were built in 186768 for Rowland Egerton-Warburton of Arley Hall and designed by the Chester architect John Douglas. The lower storeys are constructed in brown brick. The upper storeys are timber-framed with plaster panels. The roof is in clay tiles. The plaster panels are pargetted with floral motifs.

Belmont Hall in this parish was built by J. H. Smith-Barry Esq., who deposited in it his valuable collection of pictures and statues, afterwards removed to Marbury. Smith-Barry sold it to Henry Clarke. Built in 1755 and designed by James Gibbs, it is a Grade I listed building. As of 2011 it is occupied by Cransley School.

George and Dragon pub

George and Dragon pub, designated by English Heritage Grade II listed building was initially built as a simple three-bay Georgian inn. In 1875, its restoration was commissioned by Egerton-Warburton. The Chester architect, John Douglas carried out the work; he added tall rubbed chimneys, mullioned windows and a steep pyramidal turret. The double storied inn has bays built in brick with a roughcast rendering on the upper storey. It has clay tiled covered hipped roofs. Its other architectural features comprise a projecting two-storey porch with oak post-and-rail fence inscribed with a number of sayings on either side, lateral bay with four-light mullioned window in the lower storey and a three-light mullioned window in the upper storey, a tall rubbed brick chimneystack, and the inn sign located diagonally from the right corner The inn continues to function as a public house and restaurant.

The 54–57 High Street

The 54–57 High Street, a row of four dwellings in High Street Cheshire, designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building. had been built in the early 18th century, or earlier. In 1870 or just before 1875, they were refaced and partly rebuilt for Rowland Egerton-Warburton of Arley Hall by the architect John Douglas. or just before 1875. The two outer buildings are houses and the two central buildings are cottages. They are built in brown brick with clay tile roofs, and have two storeys plus attics. Each building has a gable, those on the outer buildings being larger than those on the inner buildings, and all are decorated with brick and plaster.

Flora and fauna

In the Middle Ages, Budworth Mere was used as a fish hatchery. Stocked with bream and pike, its reeds breed Reed warblers and Great crested grebe. Other avifauna includes mallards and coots.

Culture

The Soul Cakers Play is a seasonal folk play performed in the village every November which brings together the whole community. It features Saint George, the Black Knight and a Hobby Horse. In Great Budworth, the "soul cake" may be a glass of beer or other sustenance; into it comes the devil, or Beelzebub, now "Belshy Bob".

References

1. Google Maps (Map). Google. {{cite map}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
2. Green, Henry (1859). Knutsford, its traditions and history: with reminiscences, anecdotes, and notices of the neighbourhood. Smith, Elder, & Co. p. 13. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
3. The British architect: a journal of architecture and the accessory arts. 1884. pp. 282–. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
4. ^ Lysons, Daniel (1810). Magna Britannia: being a concise topographical account of the several counties of Great Britain. Containing Cambridgeshire, and the County Palatine of Chester. Cadell. pp. 519–. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
5. Greene, J. Patrick (25 March 2004). Norton Priory: The Archaeology of a Medieval Religious House. Cambridge University Press. p. 67. ISBN 9780521602785. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
6. Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society (1897). Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society (Now in the public domain. ed.). pp. 95–. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
7. Cox, Marjorie; Hopkins, L. A. (1975). A history of Sir John Deane's Grammar School, Northwich, 1557–1908. Manchester University Press ND. p. 52. ISBN 9780719012822. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
8. ^ Lambert, Nick (1 July 1996). Cheshire walks with children. Sigma Leisure. p. 72. ISBN 9781850585602. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
9. Steele, Robert J. (2003), A Brief History of Great Budworth Church, St Mary’s and All Saints Church, retrieved 9 September 2007 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
10. Hubbard, p. 92
11. Hubbard, pp. 79–80
12. Hubbard, pp. 92–93, 246
13. Hubbard, pp. 240, 242, 278
14. ^ Boast, Howard. "History on your doorstep – Great Budworth". Cheshire Magazine. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
15. ^ "Church of St Mary and All Saints, Great Budworth", The National Heritage List for England, English Heritage, 2011, retrieved 29 April 2011 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help) Cite error: The named reference "images" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
16. St Mary & All Saints, Great Budworth, Church of England, retrieved 1 January 2011 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
17. Clifton-Taylor, Alec (1974), English Parish Churches as Work of Art, London: Batsford, p. 240, ISBN 0 7134 2776 0
18. ^ Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: Batsford, pp. 170–175
19. Pevsner, Nikolaus; Hubbard, Edward (2003) , Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 227–228, ISBN 0-300-09588-0
20. ^ "Goldmine House, Rose Cottage, Great Budworth", The National Heritage List for England, English Heritage, 2011, retrieved 14 July 2011
21. Hubbard, p.278
22. Hubbard, p.240
23. "Dene Cottages, 1 and 2 Warrington Road, Great Budworth", The National Heritage List for England, English Heritage, 2011, retrieved 5 May 2011 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
24. "Belmont Hall", The National Heritage List for England, English Heritage, 2011, retrieved 16 July 2011 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
25. Cransley School, Cransley School, retrieved 16 July 2008 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
26. ^ Hubbard, pp. 92-93
27. "George and Dragon". Onionring. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
28. ^ "Jasmine Cottage, Nos. 55 & 56 and No. 57 High Street, Great Budworth", The National Heritage List for England, English Heritage, 2011, retrieved 14 July 2011
29. Hubbard, p.242
30. Darling, Jen (1 April 1988). West Cheshire Walks. Sigma. pp. 73–. ISBN 9781850581116. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
31. Wright, Peter (1974). The language of British industry. Macmillan. p. 66. Retrieved 16 July 2011.

Bibliography

• Foster, Charles (1999), "The History of the House and the Family", in Albrighton, Tom (ed.) (ed.), Arley Hall and Gardens, Cheshire, Norwich: Jarrold {{citation}}: |editor-first= has generic name (help)
• Groves, Linden (2004), Historic Parks & Gardens of Cheshire, Ashbourne: Landmark, ISBN 1-84306-124-4
• Hubbard, Edward (1991), The Work of John Douglas, London: The Victorian Society, pp. 92–93, 240, ISBN 0-901657-16-6

• Villages in Cheshire
• Civil parishes in Cheshire