Audlem

A Chronological History of Audlem

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Headlines are in brown.

Dates are in red.

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References and citations are in turquoise.

Context and local history are in purple.

Geology

It has been said that in its early stages Cheshire was a mixture of forest, moss, heath and marsh with open tracks where the gravel had been fanned out by glacial action. The uplands in this area include the central ridge embracing Delamare, Beeston and the Peckforton hills, and the eastern range starting near Audlem and finishing in the Pennines. These areas were reasonably habitable and were well above the marshes caused by the undrained rivers. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 12).

Neolithic

A Neolithic knife or scraper was found near Kynsal Lodge in 1959, a rare piece of Neolithic technology from an area predominantly known for its later medieval and industrial history. In March 1959 Mr Hardy of Kynsal Farm, near Audlem, but in the parish of Adderley, found a stout leaf shaped knife scraper while deep ploughing; together with some arrowheads (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 12).

Roman

There is no evidence of Roman settlement around Audlem, although the significant Roman hubs of the fortress city of Deva Victrix (Chester) and its famous Amphitheatre and Roman Walls were about 30 miles north.

1086

The Old Lymes

Audlem was recorded in 1086 as Aldelime or Adelime, and was held by Richard de Vernon as part of the Barony of Shipbrook. Prior to the Conquest it was held by Osmer of Shipbrook. It comprised 5 ploughlands with 1 lord’s plough team, 1 men’s plough team, 2 acres of meadow and 2 by 1 leagues of woodland. The listed population comprised 1 villager, 1 smallholder, 1 slave and 1 rider. It was valued at £1 before the Conquest and 8s in 1086. It was part of the Hundred of Warmundestrou. (Powell-Smith, Anna, Audlem, Open Domesday).

There was no reference to a church at Domesday. From the silence of Domesday, it is most probable that the Church of Audlem was not in existence at the time of that survey, and that the townships, whose inhabitants now resort to it, were comprised in Wybunbury, or some of the adjoining parishes. (Ormerod, George, History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Volume 2 pages 465 to 472).

The vill of Audlem was parcel of the Norman barony of Shipbrook (Ormerod, George, History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Volume 2 pages 465 to 472).

Aldelime probably derives from the Old English ald or former, and may mean formerly of the Lymes.

The Tralebews held the manor which included Audlem from the Crown after Domesday. The mesne lords were the Traylebews, who settled shortly after the Conquest, subsequently assumed the local name, and [occur

In the Plea Rolls 5 & 6 Edw II in the person of Thomas de Aldelyme (who there is reason to think was son and heir of the Thomas, aged 80 in Booth's pedigree), and who again occurs 9 Edw II with his daughter Matild, in

the account of Aston in Mondrem (Ormerod, George, History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Volume 2 pages 465 to 472). There is a pedigree of the Tralebews in Ormerod, with a detailed record of the succession.

1133

A Cistercian abbey

The Cistercian Combermere Abbey was founded in 1133. It was the earlier of two great Cistercian abbeys in Cheshire, the other being Vale Royal. The abbey became wealthy and its endowments included substantial salt revenues, but it developed a reputation for maladministration and was often taken into royal custody. Hugh Malbank, the second Baron of Wich Malbank, now Nantwich, was the founder. It was confirmed in 1130 by Ranulf de Gernons (also Ranulf II), the fourth Earl of Chester, who was one of the witnesses of its foundation charter. By the mid thirteenth century the abbey was in decline, after a succession of financial problems and scandals. In 1253, its creditors were prevented from seizing its flocks, if the debt could be settled by another means. In 1275, the abbey's debts were so great that its management was assigned to the Lord Chancellor and Bishop of Bath and Wells, Robert Burnell, and the following year it was placed under royal protection for two years. Edward I's war against Wales of 1282–83 drew heavily on Cheshire and placed additional strain on the monastery; it ran so low on food stores in 1283 that it was exempted from providing supplies for the army and once again removed from the abbot's management.

1135

The first mill

Brooks Mill appears to be the oldest and is said to occupy the site of that referred to in 1135 in the Foundation Charter of Combermere Abbey (the Mill of Chelly). At present the bridge is known as Chelly or Old Mill bridge. Both mill and house were rebuilt in 1831 by Lord Combermere. By 1880 this was a steam mill and occupied by the Hall family, but in 1914 Albert Bebbington became he last miller and it had almost stopped working by 1925. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 88).

Audlem Old Mill is at the northeast edge of the town.

1250

Thirteenth century pottery

Excavations to the rear of the present butcher's shop revealed the site of a pottery kiln with contemporary vessels dated to between 1250 and 1300. It therefore seems certain that Audlem has been a significant centre of population since at least that time.

1269

Thomas de Aldelym

The vill of Audlem was parcel of the Norman Barony of Shipbrook, held by Richard de Vernon. The mesne Lords (holding directly from the Crown) were the Traylebews who by now had assumed the local name and, in the 53^rd year of the reign of Henry III (1269) Thomas Traylebew became Thomas de Aldelym. (Bishop Gastrell (1845), Historical Notices on the Diocese of Chester, Notitia Cestriensis page 206).

1274

A mill on the valley stream of the swans

Audlem New Mill or Swanbach Mill (meaning “valley stream frequented by swans” was first recorded in 1274 when it was a toll passage held by the Earls of Chester in the Barony of Nantwich. A letter of 1978 from Gidfrey Smith recorfds that he was the last to work the water wheel “until the end of 1918”. The building was later converted into a byre. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 88).

1278

The parish church of St James the Great

The parish church of St James the Great was originally built in 1278 (Dow, George (1977), Audlem, Then and Now, Southampton: Hobbs). The church of St James the Great was founded by Thomas de Aldelime in the middle of the 13th century in the reign of Edward I under the jurisdiction of St. Thomas’s Priory, Stafford. The site is thought to have been a Celtic burial ground, and there may also have been a Saxon church here. The only visible medieval building is that part of the church dated from the 14th to the 16th centuries.

According to the earliest record a church was built and dedicated to St James the Great in 1278, and was served by the monks from Combermere Abbey, there being no resident priest. There was a priest’s door on the south side, which has been walled up and the steps removed. On a large stone in the southwest buttress of the nave aisle there is a very fine scratch dial, thought to be of ancient origin. These dials are generally the size of a human hand and were used by medieval priests to mark the time of their services. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 22).

It is believed that the present church was originally built in 1278 and it is recorded as a parochial centre in the 1291 Ecclesiastical taxation. But some are of the opinion that it stands on the site of an ancient Celtic place of worship over layers of burials. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 21).

1281

Audlem’s church had an early connection with the Priory of St Thomas the Martyr. In 1281 Archbishop Pecham granted the church of Audlem to the priory. In April and July of the previous year he had stayed at the priory in the course of his visitation of the diocese, during which he had evidently found that Audlem church had long been vacant. By presenting one of his own clerks the archbishop had obtained the advowson and the rectory; he granted the advowson to St. Thomas's Priory and shortly afterwards allowed the canons to appropriate the church. (Houses of Augustinian canons: The priory of St Thomas near Stafford, in A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 3. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1970).

Thomas de Audelyme, the Lord of Audlem, Cheshire gave up his advowson (the valuable right to nominate the parish priest) of the Church of Audlem to the Priory in free alms (also known as frankalmoin or frankalmoign), meaning it was a tax-free religious gift given in exchange for prayers. The grantee was Brother Nicholas, the Prior of the Augustinian Priory of St. Thomas near Stafford, and his monastic convent.

Thomas de Audelyme, lord of Audlyme, co. Chester and Brother Nicholas, prior of St. Thomas by Stafford, and Convent. Quitclaim (formal renunciation of a claim) in free alms of advowson of church of Audelyme, to hold, with church, to their own uses (The National Archives, D938/626 and D938/625). Enrolment of grant from Thomas de Audelyme, lord of Audelyme, co. Chester, to Nicholas, prior of St. Thomas near Stafford, and the convent of the same, in frankalmoin, of the advowson of the church of Audelyme, with warranty against all men except brother J. archbishop of Canterbury and the chapter of the same and Sir John, prior of Wenlok, and the convent of the same. Witnesses: Sir Ralph de Hengham, then chief justice of the Bench; Sir Guncelin de Badelesmere, justice of Chester ; Sir William de Audedeley, Sir Nicholas de Staff[ord], Sir William Bagot, Sir William de Staff[ord], Sir Roger de Peulesdon, Sir Henry de Kersewalle, knights; Ralph de Burgo, William de Burton, Richard de Hunsterton. (Close Rolls of the reign of Edward I, 1279 to 1288, page 134).

Sir Ralph de Hengham was one of the most famous legal minds of the Middle Ages, he was the Chief Justice of the Bench (Court of Common Pleas). His presence indicates this grant was officially acknowledged and enrolled in the royal court, likely during a session of parliament or a major judicial gathering. Sir Guncelin de Badelesmere was the Justice of Chester, the King’s primary administrative and military officer in the Palatinate of Chester, the county where Audlem was located. Figures like Sir William de Audley, Sir Nicholas de Stafford, and local gentry (like Richard de Hunsterton) were there to provide community endorsement and local enforcement power to ensure the contract was respected.

The Priory of St. Thomas near Stafford, dedicated to St. Thomas the Martyr, was an influential medieval religious house belonging to the Augustinian Order. The priory was established around 1174 by a wealthy local landowner and citizen (burgess) of Stafford named Gerard fitz Brian. The timing of its foundation is highly symbolic. Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170 and canonised as St. Thomas the Martyr in February 1173. Fitz Brian's priory was one of the first religious houses in England dedicated to the newly sanctified Thomas. He brought over a group of Black Canons (Augustinians) from Darley Abbey in Derbyshire and gifted them 70 acres of marshy land known as Sheepwash Meadow alongside the river. While the priory never housed a large population of monks, usually averaging between 5 and 13 canons over the centuries, it became wealthy. Much of this was due to its second major patron, Richard Peche, the Bishop of Lichfield. Peche showered the priory with properties, woodlands in Cannock Forest, and exclusive fishing rights across the entire River Sow. In 1182, Peche actually resigned his powerful bishopric to move into St. Thomas as a simple monk, dying and being buried there a year later. It grew to become the wealthiest Augustinian house in Staffordshire. By 1535, its net annual income was recorded at over £141, a very large sum for a small convent.

1295

A market

Edward 1 granted a market charter in 1295 to Sir Thomas Aldelyn. On 13 July 1295 at Denbigh there was a Grant to Thomas de Aldelym, and his heirs, of a weekly market on Thursday at his manor of Aldelym, co. Chester, and of a yearly fair there on the vigil, the feast and the morrow of St. James the Apostle (ie 24 to 26 July). (Calendar of Charter Rolls, Volume 2, Henry III to Edward I, 1257 to 1300, page 460).

A weekly market was held at the site of the Butter Market, erected in 1733, until at least 1914.

In the thirteenth century the manor of Newhall belonged to the baronial family of Audley which later descended to the Touchets. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 24).

In 1295 Ralph Basset and Margaret his wife, late wife of Urian de St Pierre, sue John de Grey, guardian of St Pierre’s heir, for dower of the manor of Audlem, a sixth of Shipbrook, and other manors of the Vernons, but then, by descent, in the St Pierre’s. This suit apparently relates to the paramount lordship, with perhaps some parcel of its territory, and the services of the mesne lords. Lands here certainly descended to the younger branch of the Vernons. (Ormerod, George, History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Volume 2 pages 465 to 472).

1296

Two daughters and heiresses of Thomas de Aldelyn brought moieties of the manor of Audlem in marriage to the families of Hogh and Wrenbury. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 24).

1311

Richard Randolf was the first listed vicar of St James the Great church from 1311 to 1312. St James the Great was enlarged in the fourteenth century (Dow, George (1977), Audlem, Then and Now, Southampton: Hobbs). A metal seal found at Lichfield Cathedral showing a person praying to the Virgin and Child has been authenticated by the British Museum as the seal of Richard Randolph (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 21).

In 1310 to 1311 Richard Audlem, Hikedown of Audlem, was indicted for stealing Thomas Audlem’s beehives. William the carter of Audlem was indicted for receiving Roger of Hov, a thief and taking stolen goods. Simon Moos of Audlem was arrested for burglary. Thomas le Mareschal, living in Audlem, was arrested for burglary. Richard Oldcostrel of Audlem who lived at Longhull was indicted for receiving stolen goods. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 23, Cheshire Fine Rolls 1310 to 1311).

c 1320

In the time of Edward III, the Manor (of Audlem) was parted between the aunts and coheiresses of Sir Thomas de Aldelym, one wife of Hough of Hough in Wibunbury; and the other, the wife of John de Wrenbury. The share of the first passed to the Masseys of Hough, and being alienated to the Smyths, was sold by them about the beginning of the eighteenth century to William Mascie Esq of Lymme (Bishop Gastrell (1845), Historical Notices on the Diocese of Chester, Notitia Cestriensis page 206).

The Hassals of Hankelow

The Hassall family were prominent medieval landowners who served as lords of the manor for Hankelow and the neighbouring settlement of Hassall, both located in the Hundred of Nantwich. The Hassalls established a long-running family line centred in Hankelow starting as early as the fourteenth century, with genealogical records tracking generations of Hassalls of Hankelow (such as Robert, Hugh, and Richard Hassall) marrying into regional gentry. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 24).

1349

Black Death

The vicar, William the Priest, died, and this was probably due to the Black Death.

1363

In 1363, William de Blakelow, the vicar of Audlem (Aldelym), exchanged his ecclesiastical post with John de Clone, the rector of Ightfield (Ightefeld). On or about 3 May 1363, there was a presentation of William de Blakelow, vicar of the church of Aldelym, in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, to the church of Ightefeld, in the same diocese, in the king’s gift by reason of his wardship of John son and heir of John Lestraunge of Blakemere who held in chief; on an exchange of benefices with John de Clone. (Patent Rolls of the reign of Edward III, 1361 to 1364, page 335). The King, Edward III, held the right to appoint the new rector (in the king’s gift) because he currently held the wardship of John, the underage son and heir of John Lestraunge (Le Strange) of Blakemere. Because the Le Strange family held their lands in chief, directly from the King, their estates and accompanying rights, like appointing priests, temporarily reverted to the Crown during a minority heirship.

John de Clone therefore became the new vicar of Audlem. Though Audlem is in Cheshire and Ightfield is in Shropshire, they were close enough to make a direct swap of roles entirely practical. In the medieval period, a clerical exchange required both priests to intimately understand the properties they were trading. The fact that they swapped positions indicates that these two parishes were well within the same regional orbit, physically separated by a road distance of only under 7 miles. Both parishes belonged to the Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield. This shared administrative relationship meant that both priests answered to the same Bishop. The legal paperwork, ecclesiastical courts, and bureaucratic processes governing their livelihoods were the same. Moving between these specific towns required no complex cross-diocesan licensing, facilitating smooth regional interaction. Local life in both towns was dictated by the same high-level networks of nobility and the Crown. The Le Strange family of Blakemere, near Whitchurch, held major influence over Ightfield, but their status as tenants in chief brought direct royal administration into the local area. Because regional noble families held interconnected lands across the Cheshire-Shropshire border, the administrative and spiritual lives of Audlem and Ightfield were frequently bound together by the actions of the same elite landlords and the King.

1370

On 8 February 1370 at Westminster there was a record of the Presentation of Richard de Erkalwe, vicar of the church of St Mary, Aldelym, in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, to the vicarage of the church of St Mary, Shirevehalys, in the same diocese, in the king’s gift by reason of the Priory of Ware being in his hand on account with the war with France; on an exchange of benefices with William Huwet. (Patent Rolls of the reign of Edward III, 1367 to 1370, page 371). Richard de Erkalwe, the vicar of the parish church in Aldelym, Audlem, Cheshire, traded positions with William Huwet, the vicar of St Mary's Church in Shirevehalys (Sheriffhales in the West Midlands). The presentation was authorised at Westminster by Edward III. The King held the right to appoint the new vicar because the Priory of Ware, the usual patron, had been seized by the Crown (in his hand) due to the ongoing war with France known as the Hundred Years' War.

Not withstanding that Audlem’s parish church was founded and dedicated to St James the Great in 1278, it was referred to in the patent rolls of 1370 as the church of St Mary. In the original Latin text of the Patent Rolls, the entry records the presentation of the vicar to the church of St Mary, Shirevehalys. Medieval scribes routinely copied dozens of presentation letters at a time. Because the incoming church at Sheriffhales was dedicated to St Mary, the scribe almost certainly duplicated the dedication name when writing out Richard de Erkalwe's originating church in Audlem. The Crown records are full of such formulaic transcription errors where adjacent or related names were mistakenly conflated. The Church of St Mary the Virgin at Sheriffhales stands in the village today as a Grade II listed building with Norman architectural origins.

1372

The Massys

The Audlem family of Massy, the name is spelt in many different ways, descended from the Massys of Tatton. Hugh de Mascy of Tatton who died in about 1372 had inherited a sixth of Audlem on marriage. His grandson, Sir Geoffrey Massy of Tatton settled part of Audlem Manor and Denfield on his bastard son John in 1447 and so the estate became separated from Tatton. (Latham, Frank (1997), Audlem: The History of a Cheshire Parish and its seventeen townships, page 124).

1377

On 20 July 1377 at Westminster, there was recorded the Presentation of John de Munton, vicar of the church of Aldelyme in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, to the chaplaincy or keepership of the chantry at the altar of St. Mary in the collegiate church of St. John, Chester, in the king’s gift by reason of his custody of the land of the heir of Joan, daughter of John de Orreby, deceased, which she held of the king’s father in the county of Chester by knight service ; on an exchange of benefices with Alexander de Bayton. (Patent Rolls of the reign of Richard II, 1377 to 1381, page 11).

1397

See the Cheshire Archers.

1403

Ellen, daughter and heir of Richard de Hogh married Richard de Massie who died in 1403, being seized in right of his wife of a moiety of the manor of Audlem. His descendants, a younger branch of the Massies of Sale, continued to hold the manor until the death of William Massie after 1712. The ancient hall of the manor, later called Moss House, was the seat of the Massies and later the Taylors until 1760 (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 24).

1453

Wars of the Roses and the Battle of Blore Heath

During the Wars of the Roses, as far as Cheshire was concerned, the most famous of these was the Battle of Bloor Heath, still noted as such, near Market Drayton, on 23 September 1459. The reasons for the Wars need not be discussed here, except to say that at that time a nobleman's chief occupation was frequently fighting and various well known families had been killing each other for decades. Michael Drayton, a Cheshire man, described the bloodshed at Bloor Heath in a verse in his Plyalbion.

There Dutton Dutton kills, a Done doth kill a Done,

A Booth a Booth, and Legh by Legh is overthrown;

A Venables against a Venables doth stand,

A Troutbeck fighteth with a Troutbeck hand to hand.

After horrendous casualties on both sides this was a brilliant and unexpected York victory for the Earl of Salisbury. The Lancastrians were under the command of Lord Audley.

Just how the battle affected Audlem is not recorded, but Bloor Heath lying only a few miles from the parish border it must, in some way, have been involved in the fighting. Jack Knield of the Ash, Woodhouse lane, recalls a legend.

This lane, he says, used to be named Widows Lane, because after the battle many wandered up and down looking for wounded or dying relatives. In this neighbourhood some of the casualties were buried on the bank which was later planted with 7 yew trees as a memorial. Now the yews are gone, because within living memory cattle died through eating their berries and greenery.

Lord Audley, the Lancastrian leader, was a prominent landowner who at one time lived at his castle or hall at Newhall which was probably erected originally as a protection against the marauding Welsh. It is said that in times of war three men were employed here to ‘watch and ward’. It is supposed to have stood in a field called the Three Butts near Scheppanhall Hall. A moat is shown on the map. However Lelland (1505 to 1552) states that the building, then called Newhall tower, “is now down. There be motes and fair water”, although Dugdale (1605 to 1686) records that there were some remains. The Audleys held the estate until 1497 when it passed to the crown, later to the Lowells, and then Cholmondeley in 1556, to the Foulshursts in 1666 and on to the Crewe family. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 24).

The Battle of Blore Heath was the first major engagement of the English Wars of the Roses, fought on 23 September 1459. The Yorkists were led by Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, a force of roughly 3,000 to 5,000 men. The House of Lancaster was led by James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley, a larger force of roughly 8,000 to 14,000 men. Lord Audley was killed during the fighting. Queen Margaret of Anjou ordered Lancastrian forces to intercept Salisbury as he marched from Yorkshire to join the Duke of York at Ludlow. Audley set up an ambush at Blore Heath. After an initial exchange of longbow fire, Audley launched a costly cavalry charge that was decimated by Yorkist archers and infantry, leading to a rout and heavy Lancastrian casualties, with around 2,000 dead.

1457

After various intermediate descents, the share of Wrenbury became vested in the Masseys of Tatton. Sir Geoffrey Massey of Tatton, knight, left a bastard son, John, in 1457, from whom the Masseys of Audlem and Denfield descended, they inheriting part of the former manor by settlement. The whole manor is now vested in Mascie Taylor of Audlem and Chester Esq, great grandson of William Mascie of Lymme above mentioned. (Bishop Gastrell (1845), Historical Notices on the Diocese of Chester, Notitia Cestriensis page 207). There is a detailed pedigree of the Masseys of Audlem and Denfield in Ormerod, George, History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Volume 2 pages 465 to 472.

1536

Dissolution of the Monasteries

At the dissolution of the monasteries, the church passed into private custodianship. St James the Great church was remodelled in the sixteenth century to its modern form (Dow, George (1977), Audlem, Then and Now, Southampton: Hobbs).

In 1535 the gross annual value of the Priory of St Thomas in Staffordshire was £180 8s 0d, including possessions at Audlem, and was thus one of the wealthiest in that county. In 1536, when dissolution seemed imminent, “there began a scramble for its property”. But it was not until 1538 that Prior Whytell and five canons surrendered the Priory to the Crown. The Prior then received a pension of £26 13s 4d and in 1539 became vicar of Audlem. He retained this living until his death some eighteen years later. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 27).

The nearby Abbey of Combermere was dissolved on 27 July 1539, following which the property was granted to “George Cotton in tail male by the letter patent on 24 August 1539 and was surrendered by him to the King in February 1541 in exchange for a grant in fee to George Cotton and his wife, Mary, giving them possession of the house etc of Combermere monastery, County Chester, from fisheries in Wrenbury, Audlem.” And other places. Thirteen monks, including the Abbot, signed the deed of surrender and were awarded pensions. The possessions of the abbey included the manor of Wilkesley with land in Dodcott and tithes in Audlem. A house was built by the Cottons on the site of the Abbey. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 27).

1539

Following the dissolution in August 1539 the Crown quickly transferred the extensive properties of the dissolved Combermere Abbey into private secular hands. George Cotton was a prominent courtier, and this grant established his family as major landowners in the Cheshire-Shropshire border region.

The text explicitly notes that certain closes and woods and a significant estate called Heyfeldes (Heyfields) were located within Audlem and nearby Wrenbury. These had all been owned and managed by the monastery. The reference to closes (enclosed fields) and woods indicates that the land around Audlem was a developed agricultural landscape of managed timber and enclosed farming pastures rather than wilderness.

There was a grant Geo. Cotton, and Mary, his wife. Grant, in tail male, of the house and site of the late monastery of Combermere, Cheshire, the church, steeple, and churchyard thereof, &c., and certain closes and woods (specified) in Wrenbury and Awdelem, Cheshire, the manor of Wylkesley, Cheshire, with lands called Heyfeldes, in Wrenbury and Awdelem, the lands called Dodcotte in the tenure of John Dodd, in Chyles Arkoll, Salop ; and the land called Clyff, in the tenure of John Hilles, in Dray ton in Hales, Salop, and granges called Erled grange, now in the tenure of James Colyer, in Stafford ; Wyucull grange, now in the tenure of Edm. Savage, in Presbury, Cheshire ; Newton grange, now in the tenure of Hugh Bereforde, and John Bereforde, in Assheborne, Derb; Cots grange, alias " Cots felde," now in the tenure of Francis Bassett, in Hortonton, Derb. ; all which premises belonged to the said late monastery ; in as full manner as the last abbot held the same. The grantees to be discharged of an annual rent of 66s 8d for the said lands called Hey felds. Del., Walden, 24 Aug., 31 Hen. VIII.— S.B. Pat. p. 1, m. 2. Vacated on personal surrender by the said George and Mary, 1 Feb., 32 Hen. VIII., in order that the grant might be made out in another form. (Public Records of the reign of Henry VIII, Volume 14 – Part 2, Folio 113 (22), see also Public Records of the reign of Henry VIII, Volume 16, Folio 580 (7)).

While ownership shifted from the Abbot to the Crown, and then to the Cotton family, the actual day-to-day farming was steady. The document details specific tenants (like John Dodd and James Colyer in nearby granges), showing that while the landlords changed overnight, the local tenant farmers generally remained on the land.

The grant explicitly discharges the Cottons from an annual rent of 66s 8d for the Heyfields property in Audlem, an example of how the Crown used monastic wealth to financially favour and secure the loyalty of loyal subjects.

The record at the end shows the bureaucratic fluidness of this period. The Cottons surrendered this specific deed just a few months later in February 1541 (32 Hen.ryVIII) simply to have the property granted back to them in a legally altered or more secure format.

Sir George Cotton (c.1495–1545) was a powerful Tudor courtier, politician, and landowner who leveraged his close relationship with Henry VIII to build a vast family fortune. He came from a modest gentry background as the second son of John Cotton of Coton, Shropshire. However, his career accelerated rapidly through royal service. He began his rise as an Esquire of the Body to Henry VIII and was a frequent archery companion to the King. In 1526, he was appointed governor to Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond, Henry VIII's deeply loved, illegitimate son. Managing the household of the King's only male child at the time cemented his status at court. Following FitzRoy’s early death, Cotton was appointed Vice-Chamberlain to the household of the King's legitimate heir, the future Prince Edward (Edward VI). He was later knighted for his services in 1542.

When the Dissolution of the Monasteries began, Cotton was perfectly positioned to profit. In August 1539, he and his wife, Mary Onley, were granted the massive properties of Combermere Abbey. Sir George quickly tore down the ancient abbey church and most of its monastic buildings, using the surviving structural core, specifically the Abbot's House, to establish a grand country estate. His descendants would remain at Combermere Abbey as dominant regional figures for nearly four hundred years, holding the estate until 1919.

In October 1539, Roland Lee, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. Grant in fee of the house and site of … the vicarage and parish church of Aldelem, Cheshire ; and all other possessions … (Public Records of the reign of Henry VIII, Volume 14 – Part 2, Folio 435 (12)). Before the dissolution, the parish church of St. James the Great in Audlem (and its associated lands were not independent. Like many medieval churches, its appropriation, meaning its tithes, properties, and the right to appoint the vicar, belonged to a monastic house. Records indicate that the Priory of St. Thomas the Martyr near Stafford held rights and leases over the church at Audlem. When these monasteries surrendered to the King's commissioners, all of their assets, including the vicarage and parish church of Aldelem, legally passed to the Crown. Roland Lee, the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. Lee was a fierce, highly influential loyalist to Henry VIII and a close ally of Thomas Cromwell. Lee is famously believed to have secretly performed the marriage ceremony between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn in 1533. At the time of this 1539 document, Lee was also serving as the Lord President of the Council of the Marches of Wales. He was notorious for ruthlessly enforcing English law and royal supremacy along the Welsh border, earning a brutal reputation for swift executions.

The Books of Augmentation for 1539 to 1540 recorded Humphrey Maynewaryng, of Nantwich, Cheshire. Tithes in the lordship of Newhall and Colelane, in the parish of Audelem and the lordship of Wylkesley, except Smetenwood. Combermere. (ln lieu of 61 years' lease, cited, to John Browne, by Combermere abbey.) (Public Records of the reign of Henry VIII, Volume 15, page 562). For centuries following its founding in 1133, Combermere Abbey was the dominant religious and economic superpower in this part of Cheshire. The abbey owned massive amounts of land and held the rights to collect tithes (a 10% tax on agricultural produce) from local populations to fund its operations.

When Combermere was surrendered to the Crown in 1538, its immense wealth was seized. This record from the Court of Augmentations (the temporary government body set up in 1536 specifically to manage and reallocate confiscated monastic lands) marks the moment Audlem's spiritual taxes were permanently diverted into secular, government hands. Before the dissolution, the abbey routinely leased out its revenue streams to generate income. The record mentions an older, 61-year lease originally granted by the abbey to a man named John Browne. Following the royal takeover, the Crown voided or bought out that old monastic lease and transferred the lucrative right to collect tithes in the parish of Audlem (specifically within the lordships of Newhall, Colelane, and Wilkesley) to Humphrey Maynewaryng of nearby Nantwich. This marked the rise of the local gentry and merchant classes, who grew wealthy by buying up former church properties and taxes.

Following this transition of the church out of monastic hands, the modern framework of the town began to solidify. Shortly after the religious upheaval, Audlem built a new dedicated vicarage (1554) and began its formal Parish Registers (1557), which survive to this day.

1540

Between 1540 and 1542 there was significant quarrelling and fighting in the parish. There was an assault on John Griffin by William Hassall and others in a lane in Hankelow and the case was heard in the Court of the Star Chamber in September 1540, but no judgement was recorded. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 27).

1546

Isabella Whitney (c1546 to 1548 to after 1624) grew up in Ryle Green when her father took a lease of a farm there. She was the first woman known to have published secular poetry in the English language. Her brother, Geoffrey Whitney (c 1548 to c1601) was presumably also brought up there and he was also a poet, known for his collection Choice of Emblemes. (Travitsky, B S (2004), Whitney, Isabella, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press).

1549

On 21 December 1549, for £2,146 paid in the Augmentations by Richard Venebles and John Maynerde Esq, there were a long list of grants including of the tithes of grain, sheaves and corn within the lordship of Newhall and Colelanne, within the parish of Audlem and within the lordship of Wylkesley, Cheshire, lately in the tenure of Humphrey Manwarynge, which belonged to the late monastery of Combermere (Patent Rolls of the reign of Edward VI, Volume 3, 1549 to 1551, page 89). During the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536–1541), Combermere was surrendered to the Crown in 1538. Its vast estates, including the lordships of Newhall and Wylkesley, and various rectorial tithes in Audlem, instantly became royal property. Before the dissolution, the abbey frequently leased out the collection of local tithes to prominent regional figures. Humphrey Mainwaring (Manwarynge), member of a powerful and well-established Cheshire gentry family, was the sitting tenant who paid rent to the Crown for the right to harvest these agricultural tithes.

By 1549, England was ruled by the child king Edward VI under the Lord Protector, Edward Seymour (Duke of Somerset). Somerset had plunged England into a disastrously expensive military campaign against Scotland and was simultaneously fighting off internal unrest, such as Kett's Rebellion. To avoid bankruptcy and pay off foreign mercenaries, the regency government began aggressively liquidating the Crown's newly acquired monastic lands and tithes. The substantial sum of £2,146 paid by Venebles and Maynerde was desperate cash injection straight into the royal treasury.

Richard Venebles and John Maynerde were not local Cheshire farmers; they were part of a rising class of urban professionals, lawyers, and merchants mostly based in London. These men frequently acted as land hunger speculators or agents. They bought huge, mixed bundles of property from the Court of Augmentations all over England. Investors like Venebles and Maynerde would purchase these properties in bulk, strip the assets (like lead from church roofs or timber), and then either hold them to collect the annual tithes as a guaranteed passive income stream, or sell them at a premium to local gentry like the Mainwarings who actually lived on and worked the land.

1550

Similarly, on 11 July 1550 for £2,551 3s ½ d paid in the Augmentations by William Place, gentleman, and Nicholas Spakeman, ‘haberdassher’ in ready money another transaction included the messuage called ‘the Churchehouse’ in tenure of Thomas Eton of Aldelen, Cheshire (Patent Rolls of the reign of Edward VI, Volume 3, 1549 to 1551, page 411).

1550

First school

There is evidence that a school had existed in Audlem since about 1550. It is recorded that the son of the parish priest of Wybunbury completed his education there. From 1559 all teachers had to obtain a licence from the bishop. This named the location of the school and often the type of instruction to be given. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 93).

1553

Highfields

Highfields was probably built by William Dod of Lostford sometime after 1553. The first mention of the pasture or close of the Highefelds is in a deed, still at Highfields, dated 1 October 1553. The owner was Hugh Chester of Newstrete Lane, Salop and the land was some 500 acres. He bequeathed the estate, on the death of his wife and himself to his son in law, William Dod and so William had inherited the Highefelds pasture from Hugh Chester, his father in law. No house yet stood there, so a house must have been built about that time. It seems likely that Highfields was built in the 1560s.

Highfields

1570

Recusants

Those who didn’t attend services at their parish church came to be known as recusants. Margaret Pearson of Audlem, a widow, was presented as a recusant at the Diocesan Visitation of 1598, but had died before a later visitation in 1604. In 1564 the Audlem doctor, John Aldershawe, with his wife and family, had refused the sacrament and failed to attend church for many years and were compelled to appear before the High Commissioner in York in 1579 and the Cheshire Quarter Sessions in 1581 and 1592. They were heavily fined. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 29).

1590

In 1590 the church was remodelled and this could have been due to an increase in the population which has been estimated as between 300 and 400 (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 29).

1616

Moss Hall

Clearly national affairs had their knock on effect in Audlem and possibly the increasing national prosperity played some part in the decision to build Moss Hall 1616 by Hugh Massey. Roughly similar is the date of 1615 over the front door of Highfields, but the House of William Dod is reputed to date from 1585. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 31).

Moss Hall

The timber framed manor house of Moss Hall, a surprisingly complete example of a gentleman's house of the early 17th century, was built in 1616 for Hugh Massey. Moss Hall, once known as Audlem Hall, is an Elizabethan manor house of rare beauty and great antiquity. It is a commodious structure built of oak and plaster. Over the entrance is the date 1016, but as this could not be the time of erection of the present building it may be the date of some earlier one. In 1860 it had thirteen gables and was lighted with bay windows. In the whole there were forty rooms, several of which were wainscoted with oak and ornamented with the arms of the different families who had been resident there. At this period it was the property of Earl Kilmorey and occupied and farmed by William Silvester. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 13).

Moss hall, or Audlem hull as it appears to have been originally called, was built, according to the date over the porch, in 1616 by the Massy family, probably Hugh Massy of Denfield and Audlem who had married Elizabeth Whitney of Coole Lane. He died in 1621 and was succeeded by his eldest son William who had married a Cotton from Combermere and whose arms, impaling Cotton, are depicted on the overmantel of a stone fireplace in the house. The second edition of Ormerod’s history of the county (1882), described the house very much as it is today. “Audlem Hall, called the Moss Hall, is a large building of timber and plaster. The front consists of four large gables, with a smaller and lower one in the centre over the entrance porch which, like the ends of the buildings, projects from the general line of the front. The rooms are lighted by large bay windows”. However in 1861, the directory of Cheshire says of the house: “It has 13 Gables and in the whole are 40 rooms, several of which are wainscotted with oak, and ornamented with the arms of the different families who have been resident here. The Massy family ceased to live there in 1760 when it passed from William Massey to his son-in-law, Robert Taylor. By 1810 it was occupied by a farmer. Later the estate was purchased by Earl Kilmorey of Shavington Hall who became Lord of the Manor. In recent times Moss Hall has been farmed by a number of families. The ghost of a nun was supposed to haunt the house. An exorcist was called in who managed to persuade her to go into a bottle which was then cooked up. When the James family bought the farm in about 1920 the bottle, presumably complete with ghost, was given to Mrs James by the previous owner. Having no interest in such matters the good lady threw the bottle into the dustbin and the nun has never been seen since. The house is now occupied by the Vernon family. There is a local legend that a secret passage existed between Moss Hall and the church. This seems very unlikely as it would have necessitated tunnelling under the moss in front of the house which, until drained in the present century, was so treacherous that a man, out snipe shooting, sank to his armpits and had to be rescued with a horse and ropes. Before the construction of the canal the meadow in front of the house was a large lake. (Latham, Frank (1997), Audlem: The History of a Cheshire Parish and its seventeen townships, page 124).

1625

Possibly a sign of increasing disorder was the furnishing of a musket, in 1625, to the vicar of Audlem, possibly Thomas Dykes who became vicar that year (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 31).

1627

In 1627 the Audlem Committee petitioned rather effusively, as follows: “Wee whose names are subscribed, inhabitants of the parish of Audelem that doe monethly assemble by way of assistance with the officers thereof in discharge of these duties houlde it requisite to certifie our dislikes of the byndage of Richard Eldershaw of Audlelem to brew and sell ale it being contrary to our returnes upon all occasions.” (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 37).

1632

A new vicarage was built in 1632 to replace the original (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 31).

1635

The puritan schoolmaster, Rev Edward Burghall wrote One Colley’s Wife in Audlem parish, having a writing taking out of her coffer, prayed in a rage that the hands that had taken it might rot off, thinking her daughter-in-law had taken it, her daughter-in-law indeed said Amen to it, who had opened the coffer, and directed a little boy of hers to take it; but within a little while after, the poor child began to have sore hands, which could not be cured, but by degrees rotted off, according to her fearful execration. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 32).

1640

The old manor of Hankelow belonged anciently to a family of that name; afterwards to the Hassals who from whom it passed, in the seventeenth century, to the family of Wibbenbury. It was sold shortly afterwards to the Bayley family who still owned the hall in 1810, when it was in the occupation of a Mr Knight. The present Hankelow Hall was, before the year 1640, the property of Gabriel Wetenhall Esq, a younger son of a of the family of Wetenhall of Nantwich. The house probably dates from this period. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 125).

1643

Civil War and a Battle for Nantwich

During the Civil War, in Audlem support was divided between the opposing sides and, as described above, the Dod family at Highfields appear to have sided with the Royalists. As the vicar, Richard Eaton refused to sign the Covenant and was fined thirty shillings, he was presumably of Royalist sympathy. Supporting Parliament was the Massey family of Moss House who were raided by the Royalists in 1643. Burghall describes this raid as follows. “Whitchurch was now filled with many soldiers for the king, of which Lord Capel was commander, who did much hurt by plundering the country, especially about Nantwich. On April 10 they plundered captain Massey of the Moss house, and took from him sixty head of cattle, and some of his household goods, and horses from many others; which the Nantwich soldiers having intelligence of, pursued, hoping to have rescued them; But they came half an hour too late, yet they overtook some, and slew three of them, took eleven oxen, and some arms they threw away in flying, and brought back fifteen prisoners, whereof young Bulkeley of Buntingdale was one. The next day after, the Nantwich forces hearing from the Whitchurch men, now grown strong, intended with many carts, to fetch away all that was left at Mr Massey's, raised almost all their strength, both horse and foot, about one thousand, and marching towards Burley dam Chapel, met the enemy, who after a little skirmish fled to Whitchurch. They slew five, and took two or three prisoners, without the loss of one man, except 3 taken and carried off.”

Burghall described many encounters at Nantwich at this time.

(Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 33).

1644

The Battle for Nantwich in late January 1644 resulted in an overwhelming victory for the Parliamentary defenders and Nantwich was never seriously threatened again. There was a further scare, however, on 19 May 1644 when Prince Rupert arrived in Audlem from Shrewsbury with an army estimated to be about ten thousand men which included many mounted. As was the norm the men plundered the local countryside and passed through Hanke low. Burghall wrote “Nantwich being suspicious of Prince Rupert, who was gathering men in Wales and about Shrewsbury, kept a day of humiliation, and then prepared for an assault; but he came not that way, but drew all his men towards Holt, Farndon and Whitchurch; and May 18, advanced to Drayton etc and plundered all the country. Monday the Nantwich forces, about a thousand, marched towards Hatherton, but the enemy retired to Audlem, so they did not meet. Tuesday night Prince Rupert lay at Betley, and his army advanced towards Haslington, Sandbach etc, plundering most fearfully all the way, especially men and horses. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 35).

The Battle of Nantwich was fought on 25 January 1644 and was a major Parliamentarian victory during the First English Civil War. Royalist forces under Lord Byron had controlled most of Cheshire and laid siege to the strategic town of Nantwich. Sir Thomas Fairfax brought a relief force to break the siege. Parliamentarian troops and the town's garrison trapped and defeated the Royalist army near the village of Acton. The victory ended Royalist dominance in Cheshire and captured vital artillery. The anniversary is celebrated annually as Holly Holy Day, featuring a historic battle re-enactment by the Sealed Knot Society. It gets its name from the sprigs of holly that soldiers placed in their hats as a field sign.

Audlem, then as now, is situated on a crossroads roughly equidistant from Market Drayton to the south, Nantwich to the north, Whitchurch to the west, and Madeley to the east. Even though Audlem crossroads could be considered an important location, the village itself was too small to have strategic value unlike larger Nantwich which was for the Parliament, and the much larger Royalist base at Shrewsbury. The Civil War activity in and near Audlem was therefore largely confined to military passage through the village. Fortuitously opposing forces did not want to pass through simultaneously.

In May 1642 (sic, recte 1644?) Prince Rupert, Charles the first nephew, the third son of Frederick V of Bohemia, and Elizabeth daughter of James I, marched with his army from Shrewsbury to relieve Stockport, just before the Battle of Marston Moor (fought on 2 July 1644). The army camped between Market Drayton and Buerton and a number of his offices were billeted in local houses notably at Bellaport Hall. It is claimed that Prince Rupert himself spent the night at Highfields, and his army camped in the fields thereabouts.

In Audlem support was divided between the opposing sides and, as described above, the Dod family at Highfields appear to have sided with the Royalists. As the vicar, Richard Eaton refused to sign the Covenant and was fined thirty shillings, he was presumably of Royalist sympathy. Supporting Parliament was the Massey family of Moss House who were raided by the Royalists in 1643. Burghall describes this raid as follows. “Whitchurch was now filled with many soldiers for the king, of which Lord Capel was commander, who did much hurt by plundering the country, especially about Nantwich. On April 10 they plundered captain Massey of the Moss house, and took from him sixty head of cattle, and some of his household goods, and horses from many others; which the Nantwich soldiers having intelligence of, pursued, hoping to have rescued them; But they came half an hour too late, yet they overtook some, and slew three of them, took eleven oxen, and some arms they threw away in flying, and brought back fifteen prisoners, whereof young Bulkeley of Buntingdale was one. The next day after, the Nantwich forces hearing from the Whitchurch men, now grown strong, intended with many carts, to fetch away all that was left at Mr Massey's, raised almost all their strength, both horse and foot, about one thousand, and marching towards Burley dam Chapel, met the enemy, who after a little skirmish fled to Whitchurch. They slew five, and took two or three prisoners, without the loss of one man, except 3 taken and carried off.”

(Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 33).

1645

A new vicar, William Seddon MA, was presented to Audlem by the patron Sir Thomas Smith on 25 June 1645. Quite soon afterwards, with the approach of the Roundhead army towards Chester, Seddon was compelled to withdraw his family and effects into Chester where Bishop Bridgeman kindly accommodated them with rooms for lodging in his palace. With the threat of a siege the Bishop left Chester resulting in Seddon being left in charge. Undaunted he continued diligently with his ministry and, it is stated, preached to the Royalist garrison. Following the surrender of Chester on 3 February 1646, Seddon was arrested and imprisoned. During their sojourn in Chester, on 12 October 1645, Mrs Seddon gave birth to her ninth child, all of whom were living. The baptism of the new child was said to be the last public baptism in Chester before the restoration some 15 years later. Rather curiously Seddon’s name does not appear on the list of Audlem vicars given by Ormerod, but Richard infers he was the vicar until 1664. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 35).

1647

Audlem Grammar School

The Old Grammar School was founded. While the Civil War was progressing there was one very important peaceful development in Audlem, the establishment of the Grammar School. This came about largely through bequests. As early as 1635, under the terms of the will of William Gamul, of Buerton hall, £30 was left for the “maintenance, erection and continuence “of a school. In 1640 his brother, Thomas Gamul, citizen and grocer of London entrusted £500 to his brother-in-law, William Dodd of Highfields, Captain William Massey of Moss Hall and Hugh Hassall of Audlem, “where I was borne”. The money was to be managed by six custodians, the equivalent of twentieth century trustees, who had to appoint and dismiss the master. It was to be used to build “a convenient schoolhouse and dwelling house for a schoolmaster in the town of Audlym”. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 36).

Gamul and Bolton both attempted to regulate the character of their foundation. Gamul required six governors to be responsible for revenues and the appointing of schoolmasters. Ralph Bolton designated nine trustees who owned the premises and received part of the income; any vacancies to be filled by parishioners. The six governors were to be elected annually at the Easter vestry and they had the actual management of the school. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 95).

See West, Gwen, Audlem Grammar School, 31 March 2015, Audlem History Society.

1648

Ralph Bolton, a London merchant, left £466 13s 4d to the Merchant Taylor’s Company of London on condition they paid £20 a year towards the maintenance of Audlem Free School (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 36) Ralph Bolton, by a deed poll of the 27th February 1648, gave to the said Company £466 13s 4d on condition that they should pay yearly £20 towards the maintenance of a free school at Audlem, in the county of Chester. The Company pay £20 per annum to the master of the grammar school at Audlem, in Cheshire (Report on the Charities of the Merchant Taylors' Company, City of London Livery Companies Commission. Report; Volume 4. Originally published by Eyre and Spottiswoode, London, 1884).

1655

The Elizabethan style grammar school was completed in 1655 from legacies and gifts, most notably of Thomas Gamull, citizen and grocer of London and Ralph Bolton, a London merchant tailor. Its first 33,000 bricks were made in a kiln set up on Little Heath. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 16).

1656

In a will proved in 1656 Thomas Dod, eldest son of William, left a gift of £30 to Audlem Grammar School. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 36).

1683

These are to certifie whom it may concern that Mark Tomkin the elder of Hanke low in the parish of Audlem and County of Chester who hath formerly been excommunicated for being a dissenter from the Church of England hath gained his absolution and doth repair to his Parish Church and hears Divine Service. Witness our hands this 30^th September 1683, Thomas Cole, Vicar of Audlem. Wardens Robert Birchall, John Dutton. (Quarter Sessions 1691).

1692

I stayed at father’s till dinner. Then after dinner I go to Coolane (Coole Hall Farm is just north of Moss Hall) where I find old Mr Massey, but his son my tenant is gone to Audlem, this being a holiday, and return not till nine of the clocke. In ye mean time I walke over ye grounde and about the house, eat my supper with them and lye at Coolane all night. (The Recorder of Chester’s Diary, 29 September 1692).

1719

Charity School

There was also a Charity School founded 1719, by Mrs Bolton, to which she gave £4 9s per annum, out of a modus for tithe hay in the Township of Audlem (Ormerod, George, History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Volume 2 pages 465 to 472). The Charity school was founded in 1719 by Mrs Trephyna Bolton for the education of poor boys and girls of the townships of Audlem and Hanke low. She donated £4 9s per annum our of a modus for tithe hay. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 98).

1733

The Butter Market

The Butter Market, Audlem was erected in 1733 and restored in 1992.

1745

The Crown Hotel was known as the Baker’s Tenement from 1745 to 1808. In the latter year it was described as the Crown Inn, when it came into the possession of Sarah Hough, of Hayward, in Audlem. On her death in 1824 the Crown was inherited by her only child, Ann Baker, whose children sold it to Charles Longhurst in 1877. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 4).

1747

William Baker of Highfields

The payments book of William Baker records detailed activity in and around Audlem between 1747 to 1759.

1749

The earliest references to angling come from William Baker’s diary, when he notes on 7 March 1749 that he “killed one carp out of Brew House field” and a further entry for 11 May 1750 “from Old Pitt in gate house ground. Took a carp 2 feet 3 inches” (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 112).

1772

In Audlem parish there were two turnpikes which were both established in the eighteenth century. The first seems to have been the Newcastle to Whitchurch stretch in 1772. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 116). Turnpikes were private toll roads managed by local groups called Turnpike trusts that collected money from travellers to fix and build main roads. A turnpike was originally a rotating wooden barrier or gate that blocked the road. It only opened after a traveller paid a fee. Better roads helped support the early Industrial Revolution by connecting towns and cities for trade. They made travel faster for stagecoaches and reduced the cost of moving goods. Turnpikes began to fade in the nineteenth century when railways took over long-distance travel. The Whitchurch to Woore turnpike road, west to east, existed in 1820 with a toll bar at Brown’s Bank Audlem, while two other turnpikes from the north were shown at a meeting at Hankelow and were made after 1820 with a toll bar.

1777

According to the Manchester Mercury of that time, on Sunday 14 September 1777 the worshippers at various churches and chapels in both Cheshire and Lancashire were “disturbed from their devotions by the unwonted experience of a shock of earthquake.” Apparently, the vibration was sufficiently strong to set the bells ringing at the parish Church of Manchester. This did not happen at all bloom, but the church records do include an entry in September that “when the people were in church a great earthquake happened which shook the Fabrick so that a large stone fell out of one of the windows of the steeple”. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 41).

1778

Mr Lea, the vicar of Audlem, hasn’t resided in the parish for these eight years past, and is said to be in a private Mad-house at Bilson, and stays there more from choice than necessity, as he likes the people of the House. His brother (Rector of Action Burnell, Shrewsbury) has provided a Curate with a salary of £40 and Dues. The last Curate died. (Articles of Enquiry of the Bishop of Chester).

1801

The population of Audlem was 2,375 in 1801 (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 43, 1801 Census).

1802

At Audlem Grammar School, Young gentlemen are boarded and genteenly educated on the following terms. Boarding and education, £21. Washing and mending per quarter, 14s. French per quarter, £1. Dancing per Quarter, 15s. Drawing per Quarter, £1 1s. Entrance, £1 1s. (Staffordshire Advertiser, 10 July 1802).

1812

The Audlem Wake

The Audlem Wake of 1812 was the first of what became the Audlem Carnival. It was a traditional English wakes week celebration. The 1812 Audlem Wake was a rough, boisterous, and rowdy affair typical of the era and included bull and bear baiting, cockfighting, and heavy drinking. Audlem Wake in the year of Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow was a three day jollification in October from 10am until late in the afternoon (Dow, George (1977), Audlem, Then and Now, Southampton: Hobbs).

The Bear Stone

The Bear Stone is a granite boulder from deposits left during the Great Ice Age and probably originated in Cumberland or the Mountains of Mourne. It was fitted with an iron ring and used for bear baiting. Originally it stood in the centre of the Square, where the monument to Richard Baker Bellyse erected in 1879 now stands. The large stone at the foot of the church steps was formerly in the centre of the Square, where the monument now stands. It is known as the ‘bear stone’ and there was a large ring on it to which a bear was tied when bear baiting was practised. This ruing was later taken to the Lord Combermere to lower barrels into the cellar. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 3). The blood sport was a common feature of local life during these annual wakes until it was officially outlawed across Great Britain by the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835.

A gruesome murder

There was a gruesome murder on the night of 12 April 1812 of George Morrey at his farm, now the site of Hanke low Court. Neighbours heard the noise of a struggle and his body was found on the bed in an upstairs room lying on an axe with his throat cut. A razor was found in a pond outside. The initial investigation was by William Dooley, the parish constable and John Groom, an attorney. John Lomas, a servant and lover of Morrey’s wife was arrested and taken to Chester Castle. The post mortem was undertaken by Dr John Bellyse Junior and an inquest was held in the White Lion. John Lomas and Edith Morrey were both convicted at Cheshire and John Lomas was hanged. Edityh was pregnant and she was executed in April 1813 after the birth of the boy. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 43). There were doubts about the conviction, which are the subject of Neild, Maureen (1993), The Rope Dance.

1820

The Duke of Wellington’s visit

The Duke of Wellington visited Combermere Abbey for the christening of Lord Combermere’s son in December. During the visit they both went to Audlem, where Combermere’s brother was the vicar. Having both been to Audlem Grammar School with William Baker (1785 to 1863) they carried on to Highfields bringing the Duke with them. Combermere’s sister, Hester, lived at the Vicarage and her brother carved the mantle piece commemorating the occasion. The fireplace was removed when the Vicarage was demolished some years ago and is now in a bedroom at Highfields. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 44).

1831

The population of Audlem was 2,878 in 1831 (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 43, 1831 Census).

Audlem in 1831 showing Audlem, Buerton, Hankelow and High Fields.

Slavery, Petitions for Abolition of, Upon reading the Petition of the Inhabitants of the Parish of Audlem, in the County of Chester, whose Names are thereunto subscribed, It is Ordered, That the said Petitions do lie on the Table. (House of Lords Journal Volume 63, 18 March 1831).

1835

The Canal

The canal was surveyed and engineered by Thomas Telford (1757 to 1834). The canal extended 39 miles from Autherley Junction, near Wolverhampton, to Nantwich. Work on it started in 1827 and the first boat to traverse its full length did so eight years later. In 1846 it was merged with other canals to form the Shropshire Union Canal Company. (Dow, George (1977), Audlem, Then and Now, Southampton: Hobbs).

The canal was originally known as the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal and the Act authorising its construction received Royal Ascent in 1827 (Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Navigation Act 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. ii)). Work began that year. Within six months there were 1,600 workers and completion was originally planned for five years There were significant problems during construction. On 2 March 1835 the first boat travelled the full distance from Autherley Junction, through Audlem with its fifteen locks, to Nantwich. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 9).

Audlem is on the Shropshire Union canal, which has a run of 15 locks, designed by Thomas Telford to raise the canal 93 feet from the Cheshire plain to the Shropshire plain. The arrival of the canal in 1835 transformed the village economy, allowing easy transport of coal and dairy produce. A flight of 15 locks, designed by engineer Thomas Telford, was built on the canal near the village. Many of the buildings and historic merchant houses seen along Cheshire Street and Stafford Street date from this prosperous trading period.

Map showing Audlem, Highfields, Hankelow, Swanbach, Kynsal Lodge, and Buerton The canal at Audlem

1840

John Bonell began a business sinking wells. Over the following hundred years the family business expanded into a large contracting enterprise. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 91).

1841

The population of Audlem Parish was 1,621 (Audlem), 512 (Buerton), 392 (Dodcott) and 279 (Hanke low) in 1841 (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 43, 1841 Census).

1848

Audlem (St. James), a parish, in the union and hundred of Nantwich, S. division of the county of Chester; comprising the townships of Audlem, Buerton, Hankelow, and Tittenley, part of Dodcot cum Wilkesley, and part of Newhall; and containing about 3000 inhabitants, of whom 1621 are in the township of Audlem, 6½ miles (S.) from Nantwich. The Tralebews, ancestors of the family of Aldelym or Audlem, are said to have possessed the manor from the Conquest; it subsequently passed by marriage and purchase, in moieties or parts, to various owners. The township of Audlem comprises 2346 acres, the soil of which is clay and sand, The road from Nantwich to Shrewsbury, and the Chester and Birmingham canal, pass through the parish. A grant was obtained in the 24th of Edward I., of a weekly market, and a fair on the eve, day, and morrow of St. James the Apostle, both which, after long disuse, were revived a few years since: the market is on Thursday. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 16. 8., and in the patronage of Viscount Combermere: the tithes for Audlem township have been commuted for £247 and £81. 10., payable respectively to the impropriator and the vicar. There is a place of worship for Particular Baptists. A free grammar school was endowed about the middle of the seventeenth century, by Mr. Ralph Bolton, with £20 per annum, and a similar sum arising from a bequest by Mr. Thomas Gammull, both of London; £40 were also given for its benefit by the Rev. William Evans. There is likewise a preparatory English school for younger boys and for girls, endowed with a modus of the tithe of hay, and a house and half an acre of land. (A Topographical Dictionary of England, Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1848).

1850

During the first half of [the twentieth] century most of the trades in the parish were certainly connected with agriculture; such as wheelwrights, blacksmiths, butchers and boot makers. But by 1850 shops were starting to appear and these included chemists, grocers and tailors. From this time onwards complete lists of these can be found in the Cheshire Directories. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 90).

1853

The Police Station

The police station was the modest building in Salford (part of the main road from Woore into Audlem) erected in 1853, which provided a pleasant residence for the Superintendent, who was John Morgan in 1860. It contained three cells. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 16).

1855

By the mid-1850s, Audlem extended over 2,335 acres, with 358 houses and some 1,600 inhabitants. The canal was a place of significant commercial activity by this time, which continued well into the twentieth century. The more speedy fly boats would travel through the night, lit by massive oil lamps with bulls eye glass that threw a beam of light ahead. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 10).

1860

In 1860 John Capper was at the Crown. At this time a notorious character called Joby Buckley lived in Audlem, working as a casual labourer with a gang of poachers who spent most of their free time in the public houses. One day old Joby said “Mr Capper we’re goin’ to kill two pigs, an’ I was wonderin’ if yer missus could do with ‘am or two?.” “I’ll go and ask her”, he replied, and on return said “She says she can do with a ham or two”, adding “I expect you’d like a few drinks Joby?” As Joby sat swilling down, the money mounted up, and a by now anxious Mr Capper asked “What weight would those hams be, Joby?” “About 1 pound 3 ounces!”. “What?” “Well you see, Mr Capper, they’re guinea pigs.”

A shoot was held at Highfields, and Mr Baker asked Joby if he would take a brace of hares to Mr Cartlich at Woore. On arrival he knocked on the door, which was opened by Mr Cartlich. “Mr Baker’s sent thee these ‘ere ‘ares” Joby said. “That’s not the way to bring a present from one gentleman to another”, was the reply, “you step inside and I’ll show you how it should be done.” Mr Cartlich knocked and Joby thereupon opened the door. “With Mr Baker’s compliments and will Mr Cartlich kindly accept these hares.” Joby, quick thinking and not to be outdone, “Oh yes, come inside and sit yersel down, ‘ave something to eat and drink, and ‘eres two ‘alf crowns for thee.

(Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 5).

1861

John Slyth was a Master Watchmaker aged 29 (1861 census).

1863

The Railway

The railway through Audlem arrived in 1863. It was prompted as the Nantwich and Market Drayton Railway, which was incorporated on 7 June 1861, to build a line from Market Drayton junction at Nantwich to Market Drayton via Audlem. The authorised capital was £60,000 in shares and £25,000 loan capital. Audlem and Adderley were the original intermediate stations on the line. Goods traffic generated by Audlem was predominantly agricultural. Passenger traffic in these early years was very light. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 13).

See Audlem Rail Chronology, and Summary of the Railway in Audlem 1863 to 1963, both 4 February 2016, Audlem History Society and Opening of the Railway, 1863, 9 September 2013.

1868

Canon Atkinson and his parishioners took a very wide interest in the local and national affairs of their day. In 1868 a numerously signed petition against Mr Gladstone’s resolutions for the disendowment of the Irish Church was forwarded for presentation to the House of Commons. A church collection in 1870, in the aid of the sick and wounded in the war amounted to £19 which was forwarded, together with 2 hundredweight of clothing to the Prussian Embassy and acknowledged with many thanks by the Countess Bernstorff. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 22).

1871

The population of Audlem was 2,666 in 1871 (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 43, 1871 Census).

1873

A hundred years ago Audlem was a village of cobbled streets and wooden shuttered shops. When the road surface was improved William Shuker carted away the cobbles to pave his yard at Holmes Farm. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 15).

1874

In 1874 Audlem Grammar School had a very fine Italian headmaster. He was the Rev D J Poggi DD, late Principal of New Brighton College. During his headmastership the Trustees included Viscount Combermere. The Feofees included William Baker, Joseph H Bellyse and Richard B Bellyse. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 16). In 1874 the [Grammar] school’s headmaster was the Reverend D J Poggi DD, said to be Italian. He was educated at St Mark’s College in Florence, was ordained a Deacon in the Church of England in 1833 and took priest’s orders the following year. Prior to becoming Headmaster at Audlem in 1870 he had established New Brighton College of which he was Principal and also of St Aidans College in Birkenhead. The atmosphere in the schoolroom was said to be genial in the extreme, Rev Poggi believing that all work and no play make Jack a dull boy. A Godfrey Pgii, possibly the son of the head, was in charge of the school magazine which was published monthly. It was delivered to subscribers for 2s a year r by post for 2s 6d. Doctor Poggi kept goats. One party day it is told that some of his pupils upturned one of the animals and doused it in turpentine. The poor goat was so upset he dashed into the school and overturned the tables laden with delicacies. Dr Poggi was unable to discover the culprits and he had the goat killed and skinned. The boarders were made to eat the entire animal. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 97).

The diaries of Chatty Baker, Tottie Baker and Emily Baker tell of life at Highfields, and around Audlem from 1878 to 1882.

1880

William Baker’s second son, Richard Dod Baker, was rather unusual for his day and age, insomuch that not only did he take no interest in field sports, but took great delight in making fun of those who did.

Richard Baker teasing the Cheshire Hounds, recreated by artificial intelligence The same scene depicted in a Community Wall Hanging in Audlem Church

In the early 1870s the Cheshire Hounds met regularly in Audlem Square, under the mastership of HR Corbet, father of the late Reggie Corbet of Adderley, a meet which Richard’s father and eldest brother Jack always attended. Unknown to them there was an occasion when he ‘borrowed’ a top hat, pink coat and white breeches, also a penny farthing bicycle from Mt Moseley in the village. When the meet assembled below the church at eleven, he duly arrived in full hunting kit, riding the penny farthing and raising his hat to the mounted company. Finally, when performing a specially deep bow to the master, he fell off at the feet of that gentleman’s horse.

Audlem cricket had its hour of glory. At the end of the last century Market Drayton held an Annual Cricket Week, when a number of Lancaster County men stayed with their then captain, AN Hornby, and played for the town, matches being arranged with the local towns and villages, including Audlem

The captain of Audlem at this time was Arthur Baker of Hillside, youngest son of William Baker of Highfields. Some idea of the quality of the Audlem side may be gathered from the fact that the captain’s 13 years old nephew Bellyse, on holiday from school, was brought in to complete the team. Indeed, the main purpose of the game, a single innings match, was to allow the spectators to watch the great Lancashire stars in action. Audlem, however, possessed a fast bowler. He was one of the Shuker brothers, the local blacksmiths, whose cannon ball deliveries were only exceeded in speed by their usual inaccuracy.

Audlem went in first and were dismissed, with little difficulty, for 13 runs. The spectators settled down to watch the great men perform. Shuker opened the bowling, and with his lighting delivery removed the batsman’s middle stump. This success inspired him to hitherto unknown heights, and helped no doubt by the un-Old Trafford like ground, he dismissed Market Drayton for 11 runs.

The captain then came over to Arthur Baker and said, “Well, Arthur, it’s been great fun. I suppose we’d better make it a two innings match?”

“We’ll both go in again by all means,” was the reply, “but as far as the match is concerned, it’s all over and we’ve won.”

“If that’s Audlem’s idea of good sportsmanship”, said their captain, “Market Drayton will never play them again.” And for all I know to the contrary they never did until the middle of the 1960s, when the club revised after a lapse of twenty five years.

(Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 21).

Their brother, Richard, always known as Dick, was of a similar nature. There is a tapestry in Audlem church, woven by members of the W.I., and one of the squares depicts a gentleman in a pink coat riding a penny farthing bicycle. The man so depicted was Dick Baker, who rather enjoyed making fun of field sportsmen. One day, when hounds were due to meet in Audlem Square, he borrowed an old pink coat of his father's and a penny farthing from Mr. Moseley at the shop. Then, when all were assembled, he arrived on the bicycle raising his topper to all and sundry. Unfortunately, this caused him to fall off under the hooves of the Master's horse. Old "Regie" Corbet, the Master, was equal to the situation. Turning to the youth's father, "Really, Will," he said, "I should have thought you could have turned your son out better mounted for an Audlem meet." (Latham, Frank (1997), Audlem: The History of a Cheshire Parish and its seventeen townships, page 124).

1881

Commuting of the death penalty

In 1881 a memorial was sent from Audlem to the Secretary of State asking that the capital sentence against Ann Smith should not be carried out (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 22). The death sentence of Ann Smith was commuted to penal servitude following her conviction on 29 January 1881. Ann Smith was tried alongside a co-defendant, William Stanway, in Cheshire. Both were found guilty of a capital crime and formally sentenced to death. This commutation reflects the broader Victorian shift away from public executions (which were banned in 1868) and toward the penal servitude system. By the 1880s, penal servitude had completely replaced overseas transportation to Australia as the standard alternative to the death penalty.

Ann Smith, aged 19, a servant was indicted for the murder of her 14 month old child, Mary Jane Smith, on 6 December 1880. “I did not know what I was doing when I did it: I am very funny sometimes, and I did not know what I was doing”. The child had been placed with her sister Mrs Clews at Buerton and 3s a week was paid for her maintenance. The prisoner was getting paid £9 per year and worked 30 miles away. “She did not at first intend to drown the child but when she got to the brook some funny thoughts came into her head and she dropped the child into the brook and ran up the meadow towards Audlem”. The death penalty was passed but later commuted to life imprisonment. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 47).

1885

In 1885 to 1886 on the initiative of the vicar, Canon Arthur Atkinson, whose long term of office extended from 1865 to 1896, much internal improvement and renovation work was carried out to the church by the architects Lynam and Rickman (Dow, George (1977), Audlem, Then and Now, Southampton: Hobbs).

Marriage at the Parish Church. Audlem church is being restored by the Midland Joinery Company, of whom Mr. Clark, of Birmingham, is one of the principals. The work is being well and rapidly executed in a first-class style. A beautifully designed roof of oak has been placed over the chancel, the old roof of the nave has been thoroughly cleansed, the gallery removed; the beautiful arcades of the nave, the clerestory windows and walls have been redressed and repaired, and a new heating apparatus has been placed, but there is still a large amount of labour to be expended on the fabric before it will be thoroughly restored. In the meantime the services of the church are being celebrated in the National Schools, but on account of the strong desire of the bride, a marriage was celebrated in the unfinished church on Thursday last, by the Reverend Cannon Atkinson, vicar of Audlem, assisted by the Reverend WW Tyson, of Butterton. The parties to the marriage were Mr Charles Cotterill Lynam, son of Mr Lynam, architect, of Stoke-on-Trent, and Miss Catherine Alice Hall, eldest daughter of Mr. James Hall, of Kynsal Lodge, Audlem. The bridesmaids were Miss Marianne Hall and the two Mises Lynam. Mr Hall gave his daughter away, and Mr Robert Lynam was the best man. The bells of the parish church were run at intervals during the day, and in the evening Mr Lynam gave a substantial supper at the Combermere Arms, Audlem, to all the workmen, about 30, who are now employed on the restoration of the church, of which Mr Lynam is the architect. Mr Beckett, clerk of the works, Mr. Williams, as foreman of the works, and Mr. Jones, as foreman of the stonemasons, together with Mr. Clark, junior, time keeper, presided at the supper. After the loyal toasts were given and responded to, the health of the bride and the bridegroom was given amidst loud applause. Mr Beeston, of Audlem, carpeted from the road to the altar, and Mr. Scott, of Newcastle Under Lyme, provided carriages. (Chester Chronicle, 8 August 1885).

1890

Gas was installed in the parish.

1894

Audlem Parish Council was formed.

1896

In 1896 Lord Combermere was patron of the church and his right to select a vicar was purchased from him by the then Vicar, Canon Atkinson, who then gave it to the Bishop of Chester.

Audlem cricket had its hour of glory. At the end of the last century Market Drayton held an Annual Cricket Week, when a number of Lancaster County men stayed with their then captain, AN Hornby, and played for the town, matches being arranged with the local towns and villages, including Audlem

The captain of Audlem at this time was Arthur Baker of Hillside, youngest son of William Baker of Highfields. Some idea of the quality of the Audlem side may be gathered from the fact that the captain’s 13 years old nephew Bellyse, on holiday from school, was brought in to complete the team. Indeed, the main purpose of the game, a single innings match, was to allow the spectators to watch the great Lancashire stars in action. Audlem, however, possessed a fast bowler. He was one of the Shuker brothers, the local blacksmiths, whose cannon ball deliveries were only exceeded in speed by their usual inaccuracy.

Audlem went in first and were dismissed, with little difficulty, for 13 runs. The spectators settled down to watch the great men perform. Shuker opened the bowling, and with his lighting delivery removed the batsman’s middle stump. This success inspired him to hitherto unknown heights, and helped no doubt by the un-Old Trafford like ground, he dismissed Market Drayton for 11 runs.

The captain then came over to Arthur Baker and said, “Well, Arthur, it’s been great fun. I suppose we’d better make it a two innings match?”

“We’ll both go in again by all means,” was the reply, “but as far as the match is concerned, it’s all over and we’ve won.”

“If that’s Audlem’s idea of good sportsmanship”, said their captain, “Market Drayton will never play them again.” And for all I know to the contrary they never did until the middle of the 1960s, when the club revised after a lapse of twenty five years.

(Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 21).

Those living in Audlem Parish at the time included Canon Arthur Atkinson, Mr and Mrs J B Baker, J Bancroft, Mrs Beeston, Mrs Etches, T L Boote (Deacon’s County Blue Book, 1886).

1899

In Audlem it is claimed that the Volunteer Fire Brigade started in 1898, but the first Minute Book suggests that the first meeting of forty one subscribers took place at the Crown Hotel on 14 February 1899 when a Committee was formed by J H Bellyse in the Chair and G U Beeston as permanent Secretary and Treasurer. For an engine shed “Mr Hassall’s shed was rented for £2 a year. On 28^th February the members of the Brigade numbered 12 with 8 in reserve. A bell was bought and hatchets for each man. The first call out seems to have been at 2.55 am on 28 April 1899 “when a messenger arrived on a horse from Woore Hall reporting a rick on fire at the farm”. The Fire Brigade with 400 yards of hose arrived, pumped the water from a pit on the far side of a ploughed field and the fire was out by 6.555am. One large and two small stacks were destroyed. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 51).

1901

The village bakery was built in 1901 (1901 census).

There was a kindergarten run at the Cedars, the residence of Richard Dod Baker, by the Misses Baker (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 101).

Dr Laffan’s daughter, a Mrs Noble, now in her eighties, lives in Yorkshire, and has a birthday book containing the signatures of the Baker family, of the Cedars, which was a kindergarten. She can remember her brother Cecil going to school there in petticoats. The signatures in her birthday book are Emily Baker 7^th October, Henrietta Baker 9^th February, and Tottie Baker 29^th July. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 22).

1908

The Grammar School closed and the building became a private residence.

1913

The former Grammar School reopened on 6 January 1813 as a Mixed Council School. The curriculum included butter and cheesemaking, cokkery, laundry, agricultural chemistry, poulty, bee keeping, gardening and rural carpentry (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 97).

Before the First World War there was a modest shoot on the Hankelow estate, organised by James Greaves of the Court and Arthur Baker of Hillside. As head keeper they employed West Timmis, a member of a family with long Audlem connections and a keen naturalist. A frequent guest at shooting parties was Dr Stain, the local medic who, although popular in the district, had a reputation for claiming any game as his if more than one gun fired. On one occasion Jack, Arthur Baker’s brother, quietly took a hare that had already been shot and ‘legged’, and set it up in a realistic position on the far side of the hill. As the guests breasted the mount the hare appeared. The doctor fired, as did someone else who was in the know. “My hare, I think”, said the doctor as the animal dropped. “Great Scott,” said Jack, as he retrieved the corpse. “He’s not only shot it this time, he’s legged it as well.” (Latham, Frank (1997), Audlem: The History of a Cheshire Parish and its seventeen townships, page 111).

1920

Between 1920 and 1930 there were some innovations in the parish starting with the founding of the Audlem District Nursing Association in 1920. Here Nurse Jones was the District Nurse, and she stayed for 31 years until the National Health Service took over. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 63).

1921

Among the more prosperous families during this century were the Bancrofts and the Beestons who intermarried in 1921 and changed the name to Beeston-Bancroft. The Bancrofts lived at Shipbrook, Audlem between 1787 and 1823 and later the Beestons lived at the Mount and Bridge House. William Beeston was a one time doctor and lived at Ash Villa in 1892. By 1940 the Beestons seem to have left the village. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 48). In the mid nineteenth century Considerable property at the New Bridge end of Stafford Street was owned by the Beeston family. George Beeston was a very familiar bearded character who lived in the house which his father built. It is now known as Bryn Mor. (Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited page 16).

1926

In 1926 the Audlem Guides started with Miss Nelly Baker, as their Captained and continued until 1936. (Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group, page 63).

1940

During World War II, Audlem bustled with evacuees, Land Army members, and service personnel, serving as an active agricultural and community centre.

1963

The sleepers sleep at Audlem

Audlem railway station on the Wellington to Nantwich Railway, opened a hundred years earlier, closed in 1963 as part of the Beeching reforms. The station was immortalised in the song Slow Train by Michael Flanders and Donald Swann. The site is now residential. Audlem railway station was explicitly immortalised in the lyrics of the song. On the Main Line and the goods' siding, The grass grows high, At Dog Dyke, Tumby Woodside, And Trouble House Halt. The sleepers (the wooden blocks that support the tracks) sleep at Audlem and Ambergate (Slow Train by Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, 1963).

2000

Peter McGarr, born in 1953, a classical composer and teacher has written several pieces inspired by Audlem including Audlem Sonatas, Night-time and Mourning Gamelan (a homage to his mother, who lived in the village when she was a child). He won the 2013–14 British Composer Awards in the Making Music Category for his piece Dry Stone Walls of Yorkshire.

2008

In 2008 village residents launched an online referendum on transferring the village to Wales from England, in a protest over prescription and parking charges in England.[4][3] A vote was held which received 88 in favour of the change, and 40 against; no further action was taken. (Williams, Brendon (25 April 2008), English village votes to be Welsh).

2021

The population of Audlem in 2021 was 1,832 (civil parish) (2021 Census). The population size of the town has barely changed since 1801.

Bibliography

Burton, Marjorie (1973), Nineteenth Century Audlem, Audlem District Amenities Society, Johnson & Son Nantwich Limited.

Dow, George (1977), Audlem, Then and Now, Southampton: Hobbs.

Draper, Anne (2019), Audlem Remembers, The village fallen in WW1.

Hewitt, H J, Church Building in Cheshire during the Thirteenth Century, Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Volume 95. This article offers deep structural analysis of regional churches, including the architectural development of Audlem's St James Church during the medieval period.

Latham F A, Editor (1997), Audlem, The History of a Cheshire Parish and its five townships, Local History Group.

Marshall, Charles and Meredith, Gordon (1980), A History of Mills in Audlem. *

Ormerod, George, History of the County Palatine and City of Chester. Volume 2 page 465 to 472 (Audlem), 473 to 475 (Buerton).

Redwood, Brian C (1965), Audlem Free Grammar School, in the Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society New Series Volumes 51 and 52. *

Audlem History Society Archive.

The Story of Audlem, Audlem online.

Audlem, Cheshire, A vision of Britain Through Time.

Audlem Terriers, available at Cheshire Archives and Local Studies, 1701 to 1747, 2 July 1728, 20 May 1701, 30 June 1747.

Further research

For detail on land transactions, in Fine Rolls of the reign of King John, 1199 to 1216, search for Aldelyme.