Occlestone Green

Occlestone Green is a small rural settlement in the civil parish of Stanthorne and Wimboldsley, the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Nearby settlements include the villages of Wimboldsley, Warmingham and Walley's Green. The nearest town is Middlewich.

1. History

The settlement was formerly part of the township of Occlestone (or Occleston), which became a civil parish in 1862 and was incorporated into Wimboldsley in 1892. Occlestone also included the small settlement of Lea Head, with a total historical population of 85 (1801), 117 (1851) and 68 (1901). Wimboldsley amalgamated with Stanthorne in April 2015. John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–72) described Occlestone:

OCCLESTONE, a township, with a scattered village, in Middlewich parish, Cheshire; on the river Wheelock, near the Middlewich canal and the Grand Junction railway, 1¾ mile S S W of Middlewich. Acres, 721. Real property, £1, 231. Pop., 110. Houses, 18. The manor belonged, from before the time of King John till after the time of Henry V., to the family of Occlestone; passed to successively the Bunburys, the Moretons, the Davenports, the Whitmores, and the Vernons; and belongs now to E. Vernon, Esq. The manor-house is a neat brick edifice, and is now used as a farm-house. A Primitive Methodist chapel was built in Occlestone Green in 1871; in 1960 it was described as a brick building seating 60. It became redundant in 1961. The route of the Roman road from Middlewich to near Nantwich runs north east to south west immediately to the west of the settlement.

1. Geography

Occlestone Green is centred at SJ69506292, around the T-junction of School Lane/Chapel Lane with Forge Mill Lane (which runs south east to the neighbouring parish of Warmingham), with an elevation of 53 metres. The A530 Nantwich Road runs north–south around 0.5 km to the west of the junction. Hoggins Brook – a tributary of the River Wheelock – runs immediately south of the settlement, which is lined by a small area of woodland south of Forge Mill Lane (in Warmingham civil parish). Smithy Farm is on the junction and there are several nearby farms including Fields Farm, Manor Farm, New Farm and Occlestonegreen Farm.

1. References

Nearby Places View Menu

975 m

Minshull Vernon railway station

Minshull Vernon railway station was a station on the Grand Junction Railway serving the villages of Warmington and Minshull Vernon. It opened on 4 July 1837 when the line opened. Wishaw (1842) describes the intermediate stations on the line, such as this one, as "built in the cottage style, and without any pretensions to studied design". The station is located on the south side of Nantwich Road (Middlewich Road a little to the south) which is now the A530. The road crossed the railway on an over-bridge, with steps down to each platform. The main station building appears to be on the up platform, to the east of the lines. In the early years the station had two mixed trains in each direction. Times changed from year to year. By 1850 an additional morning train to Liverpool had been added. The station was awarded a "Special Class" prize of £10 in the LMS station garden competition of 1925. By 1939 the lines through the station had been quadrupled with the fast lines in the centre and the slow lines on the outside. Platforms were only provided on the outside of the slow lines. The station closed in 1942. The station buildings were demolished in the 1960s.

Landmark Train

Minshull Vernon

Minshull Vernon is a hamlet and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The hamlet lies 3 miles (5 km) to the north west of Crewe, south east of Winsford and south west of Middlewich. The parish also includes the small settlements of Bradfield Green, Eardswick, Hoolgrave, Minshull Hill, Walley's Green and Weaver Bank. The total population of the civil parish is somewhat over 200, measured at 391 in the Census 2011. Nearby villages include Church Minshull, Warmingham and Wimboldsley. The River Weaver and the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal run through the area.

Neighbourhood

St Leonard's Church, Warmingham

St Leonard's Church is in the village of Warmingham, Cheshire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Congleton. Its benefice is combined with that of St Peter, Minshull Vernon.

Church

Warmingham

Warmingham is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the River Wheelock (at SJ708611), 3.25 miles (5.23 km) north of Crewe, 3.25 miles (5.23 km) south of Middlewich and 3.25 miles (5.23 km) miles west of Sandbach. The parish also includes the small settlement of Lane Ends, with a total population of just under 250. Nearby villages include Minshull Vernon, Moston and Wimboldsley. The land is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, with a village being documented from the 13th century. The oldest surviving building dates from the late 16th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries the parish had a finery forge, which was among the earliest in the county. The area is agricultural, with dairy farming the predominant land use. The Northwich Halite Formation, a Triassic salt field, underlies the parish, and there is a long history of local salt production, with the Warmingham brine field remaining an important source of the mineral. Cavities in the salt-bearing stratum are used to store natural gas. Several flashes were created in the 20th century by subsidence after natural brine pumping in the area, some of which form part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The village maintains the tradition of holding a wake each May.

Church Landmark