Wrenbury-cum-Frith is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies on the River Weaver, around 8.5 miles south-west of Crewe.
The civil parish of Wrenbury cum Frith also covers the small settlements of Gaunton's Bank, Pinsley Green, Porter's Hill, Smeaton Wood, Wrenbury Heath and Wrenburywood. It has a total population of around 1,100, being measured at the 2011 Census as 1,181.[1]
The village is listed in the Domesday Book as Wareneberie,[2] and became Wrennebury in 1230. The name is said to mean "old forest inhabited by wrens".[3] Wrenbury formed part of the extensive lands of William Malbank (also William Malbedeng), who owned much of the Nantwich hundred.[2]
As a chapel attached to St Mary's Church, Acton, Wrenbury was included in the lands donated to the CistercianCombermere Abbey in around 1180, shortly after the abbey's 1133 foundation by Hugh Malbank, second Baron of Nantwich.[4] In 1539, after the Dissolution, the land was granted to George Cotton,[4] and the Cotton family remained important local landowners for centuries.[5]
A free school by the church was endowed by Ralph Buckley in 1605.[6]
The civil parish has an area of 2,184 acres (884 ha).[7] Wrenbury village lies at an elevation of around 230 feet (70 m), about 5 miles south-west of Nantwich, Cheshire and 5 miles north-east of Whitchurch, Shropshire. Nearby villages include Marbury, Aston and Audlem.
In 2006, the total population of the civil parish was estimated as 1,100.[7] In the 2001 census, the recorded population was 1,060.[11] The population has doubled since the beginning of the 20th century; the historical population figures were 404 in 1801, 490 in 1851, 491 in 1901 and 708 in 1951.[12]
The centre of Wrenbury village is a conservation area.[17][18] Two black-and-white cottages overlook the village green; Elm House is a Grade II listed cottage with prominent brick chimneys dating from the 17th century,[19] while Stanley House dates from 1859. In the churchyard stands a small Grade II listed black-and-white cottage with brick infill, dating from the 17th century, which is possibly a former almshouse.[20] Hawk House, formerly the Hawk and Buckle Inn, is a Grade II listed brick cottage near the post office which dates from the early 18th century.[21] There are also several black-and-white farmhouses and cottages within the Wrenbury cum Frith parish, some of which date from the 17th century.
Wrenbury Hall was the home of the Starkey family, prominent local landowners, until 1920; parts of the house date from the 17th century, although the front was refaced in Elizabethan style in 1916–19.[22] It is said to have been used as shelter for the Parliamentary forces in 1643 when Nantwich was besieged before the Battle of Nantwich, during the Civil War.[22]
In 1922 the house was re-purposed as a small sanatorium of 50 beds, mainly to cater for World War I army veterans suffering from tuberculosis.[23] This was superseded by the larger Cheshire Joint Sanatorium, at Loggerheads, Staffordshire. However, patients from Loggerheads would be sent to retrain at Wrenbury. The site closed in 1980 and is now in private ownership, though a charity offering services for children continues to occupy a building on the site.[24]
Village store and post office
The Shropshire Union Canal near the village has three rare single-span timber lift bridges dating from 1790, which are among Thomas Telford's earliest works. They are of the drawbridge type, with a wooden platform hinged at the north end which is raised and lowered by counterbalancing beam weights. Two are Grade II* listed footbridges; the Grade II listed third bridge now carries road traffic and incorporates a modern mechanical crank.[25][26][27]
The Grade II listed red-brick village primary school dates from 1879 and features a bellcote and weathervane.[28] It won the "Champion School" category of the "Your Champions" Awards 2007, sponsored by Scottish Power and Trinity Mirror.[29]
Culture and community
Scarecrow trail in 2007
The village has a post office and general store, and a doctor's surgery.[30] There are two public houses, both of which serve food. The Cotton Arms, named after the Cotton family, is on Cholmondeley Road near the canal.[30] The Dusty Miller occupies a 19th-century corn mill by the canal at Wrenbury Bridge, and is listed in The Good Pub Guide.[31] A family-run coffee shop, No 18 The Park Coffee Shop, opened in 2019.[32]
Sports facilities include a pavilion, bowling green, tennis courts and football pitches,[30] and the Wingate Centre, just outside the village, has a gymnasium.[33] Local organisations meet at St Margaret's village hall.[30] The mobile library service visits Wrenbury and Wrenbury Heath every three weeks.[34] Facilities for tourists include a caravan site near the canal, and the Alvechurch Boat Centre, a boat-hire company, which operates from Wrenbury Mill, beside Wrenbury Bridge.[30]
Wrenbury is known for its annual scarecrow trail, which started in 2000. Held the first weekend in July as part of a summer fair, around a hundred and fifty scarecrows were on display in 2006.[35]
Notable residents
Puritan preacher Julines Herring (1582–1644/45) lived in Wrenbury in 1635–37, assisting in parish work, between ministering in Shrewsbury and Amsterdam.[36] The Very Reverend Alan Brunskill Webster (1918–2007), author, and Dean of the cathedrals of Norwich and St Paul's, was born in Wrenbury; the son of John Webster, vicar of St Margaret's Church, he lived at the vicarage until 1935.[37][38] Trampolinist Bryony Page (born 1990) was brought up in Wrenbury; she won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Britain's first Olympic medal in the discipline.[39]
^ abBaggs, A. P.; Kettle, Ann J.; Lander, S. J.; Thacker, A. T.; Wardle, David (1980). "Houses of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Combermere". In Elrington, C. R.; Harris, B. E. (eds.). A History of the County of Chester. British History Online. Vol. 3. London: University of London. pp. 150–156. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
^ abThornber, C (2019). "Wrenbury". Retrieved 28 August 2021.
