Ancient parishes of Cheshire

The ancient parishes of Cheshire were the group of parishes that existed in the English county of Cheshire, roughly within the period of 1200–1800. Initially, the ancient parishes had only an ecclesiastical function, but reforms initiated by King Henry VIII, developed by Queen Elizabeth I and expanded by later legislation led them to acquire various secular functions that eventually led to a split between the ecclesiastical parishes and the purely civil parishes that exist today.

Ancient parish overall details

The data are in the form of two tables: the first one gives information about each ancient parish whilst the second one gives information about each chapelry that may exist within each ancient parish. This complexity is brought about by having ancient parishes which, after the dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century, possessed in some form or another both an ecclesiastical role and a civil role. This dual role existed until the nineteenth century.

Ancient parishes

Chapelry details

Extra-parochial areas

Various areas of Cheshire were not included in any ancient parish. As Dunn states: The reasons are various and occasionally obscure. Dunn later goes on to state that associations with religious houses (priories, abbeys and so on) or with the Crown seem to explain most of them, but this area of research is still ongoing. The following table contains the extra-parochial places or areas of Cheshire with some details about each of them:

Notes and references

Notes

Bibliography

• Dodgson, J. McN. (1970a), The place-names of Cheshire. Part one: Country name, regional and forest names, river names, road names, the place-names of Macclesfield hundred, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-07703-6
• Dodgson, J. McN. (1970b), The place-names of Cheshire. Part two: The place-names of Bucklow Hundred and Northwich Hundred, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-07914-4
• Dodgson, J. McN. (1971), The place-names of Cheshire. Part three: The place-names of Nantwich Hundred and Eddisbury Hundred, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-08049-5
• Dodgson, J. McN. (1972), The place-names of Cheshire. Part four: The place-names of Broxton Hundred and Wirral Hundred, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-08247-1
• Dunn, F. I. (1987), The ancient parishes, townships and chapelries of Cheshire, Chester: Cheshire Record Office and Cheshire Diocesan Record Office, ISBN 0-906758-14-9
• Harris, B. E.; Thacker, A. T. (1987), The Victoria history of the county of Chester. (Volume 1: Physique, Prehistory, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Domesday), Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-722761-9
• Ormerod, G. (1882), History of the county palatine of Chester. (3 Volumes) (Edition edited by Helsby, T ed.)
• Phillips, A. D. M.; Phillips, C. B. (2002), A new historical atlas of Cheshire, Chester, UK: Cheshire County Council and Cheshire Community Council Publications Trust, ISBN 0-904532-46-1
• Sylvester, D.; Nulty, G. (1958), The historical atlas of Cheshire ((Third Edition) ed.), Chester, UK: Cheshire Community Council
• Sylvester, D. (1980), A history of Cheshire. (The Darwen county history series). (2nd Edition.), London and Chichester, Sussex: Phillimore & Co. Ltd., ISBN 0-85033-384-9
• Youngs, F. A. (1991), Guide to the local administrative units of England. (Volume 2: Northern England), London: Royal Historical Society, ISBN 9780901050670
• Winchester, A. (2000), Discovering parish boundaries, Princes Risborough, United Kingdom: Shire Publications, ISBN 0-7478-0470-2

1. Hundreds of Cheshire
2. Acton, Cheshire (ancient parish)
3. Hartford, Cheshire
4. Gawsworth
5. Prestbury, Cheshire
6. Malpas, Cheshire
7. Macclesfield Hundred
8. Astbury, Cheshire
9. Civil parish
10. Cheshire
11. Brereton, Cheshire
12. Kingsley, Cheshire
13. Frodsham
14. Alderley Edge
15. Beeston, Cheshire
16. Wilmslow
17. Barthomley
18. Ince, Cheshire
19. Sandbach
20. Blackburn Hundred