Rixton Clay Pits

Rixton Clay Pits (also known as Rixton Claypits) is a former clay extraction site in Rixton, near Hollins Green, Warrington, England. Formerly farmland, boulder clay extraction started in the 1920s for brick making in the adjacent brickworks and ceased in 1965 – since then it has been allowed to return to nature. It is now an area of ponds, scrub, woodland and damp grassland. It is owned and managed by Warrington Borough Council as a local amenity. Two large sections of Rixton Clay Pits, 15 hectares (37 acres) in total, are a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a designated Special Area of Conservation, on account of its calcareous grassland communities and because it supports the largest breeding population of Great Crested Newts in Cheshire. The whole was established as a local nature reserve in 1996, and has waymarked paths and a visitor centre. Fishing is permitted on the lake between the two sections of SSSI, and is controlled by the Warrington Anglers Association, the main stock being tench, bream and roach. Carp and pike are also present.

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Hollins Green

Hollins Green is a village on the eastern edge of Warrington, in the Warrington district, in the ceremonial county of Cheshire and formerly in the historic county of Lancashire, England. The village is in the civil parish of Rixton-with-Glazebrook; the ecclesiastical parish is Hollinfare.

Landmark Neighbourhood

St Werburgh's Church, Warburton

St Werburgh's Church is the name of two separate churches in the village of Warburton, Greater Manchester, England. The older church is located to the west of the village, and may date back as early as the middle of the 13th century. It is now a redundant church but services are held in the summer months. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. The authors of the Buildings of England series call this church "a lovable muddle". The newer church was built in 1883–85 and is located to the southeast of the village on the A6144 road. It is a Grade II listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Bowdon. Its benefice is combined with that of St Peter, Oughtrington. The dedication is an unusual one, ordinarily local to Chester, where Werburgh is the patron saint. Werburgh, an Anglo-Saxon saint who has given her name to Warburgtune, as Warburton was called in the Domesday survey (1086), was the daughter of Wulfhere, the first Christian king of Mercia. She died around AD 700 as Abbess of Ely, with the care of several nunneries. Her relics were moved to the abbey of St Peter and St Paul in Chester, which was later rededicated to St Werburgh.

Church Historic Site

River Bollin

The River Bollin is a major tributary of the River Mersey in the north-west of England. It flows for about 30 miles from its source in the Pennine foothills through Macclesfield, Wilmslow, passing under Manchester Airport, before flowing into the Mersey section of the Manchester Ship Canal at Warburton.

Fishing Kayaking

Warburton, Greater Manchester

Warburton is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Cheshire, it lies on the south bank of the River Mersey. The village remains predominantly rural. Altrincham is the nearest town. At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 286. Warburton has a history of settlement from the 11th century. There are 22 listed buildings in the village, including the timber-framed Grade I Church of St Werburgh, which is at least 700 years old. Among the other listed buildings are examples of architect John Douglas's work, including the second Church of St Werburgh, built in 1883. In 2006, Time Team excavated land at Moss Brow Farm in Warburton, looking for a Roman fortlet. No evidence of a fortlet was found and the previously identified 'punic' ditch turned out to be the remains of an 18th-century hedgerow.

Church Landmark