Culcheth and Glazebury (Culcheth and Glazebury)
Culcheth and Glazebury is a civil parish in Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 8,534.
Historically part of Lancashire, the area was dense woodland until the Norman conquest, hence the village gets its name from the Celtic for "narrow wood".
Bronze Age pottery discovered at Croft suggests the area was inhabited 4,000 years ago.
The Culcheth family played an important role in shaping village fortunes. Gilbert de Culcheth was lord of the manor of Culcheth and built its first hall in 1200. He was survived by a son Hugh de Gilbert and four daughters. Hugh de Gilbert was murdered by a group of twelve angry men in 1246, leaving no male heir. This saw the land divided between daughters Margery, Elizabeth, Ellen and Joan. However, equality was unheard of and land could not be passed down to women. The responsibility for the girls went to the Baron of Warrington who married off all the girls to his four sons. Eldest girl Margery, married Richard who took the name de Culcheth to ensure its survival. Each couple lived in their own sector of the Manor – Culcheth, Holcroft, Risley and Peasfurlong. Religion played an important role. As Catholics during the Reformation, services took place under complete secrecy in the family chapel which priests would enter through a secret passage by the fireplace in the great hall, and exit at a secluded spot on the tree-lined drive. The Culcheths supported Charles I in the Civil War, whilst their neighbours and enemies the Holcrofts backed Cromwell and the Parliamentarians. The Culcheth name died out with Thomas Culcheth (who died in 1747) being the last. He had no heir, so the hall passed to his cousin Thomas Stanley and then to John Trafford, which is where the family line ends.
The Holcroft family also have some notoriety for a scandal involving the daughter of Lt-Col John Holcroft of Holcroft Hall, who was an officer in Cromwell's army. His daughter, Maria, married Irishman Lieutenant Thomas Blood against Holcroft's wishes. They married on 16 June 1650 in Newchurch before moving to Ireland. At the end of the civil war, Cromwell promoted Blood to the rank of captain. Three years later he was elevated to Commissioner of Parliament. Blood is most famous for devising a plot to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London and using them as a ransom for Charles II. In 1671 he and Maria disguised themselves as a parson and his wife. They visited the keeper of the jewels and Maria pretended to faint to cause a distraction. The keeper unlocked the Crown Jewels and, to his amazement, was seized and held in the strongroom. Just as Blood and his accomplice were leaving, the plan was hindered yet again since they were caught before even getting out of the grounds of the Tower. The King took pity on Blood and, after serving a short sentence, he was returned to Ireland and his estate, where he and Maria lived on a £500-a-year allowance.
The lordship of the manor of Culcheth and Culcheth Hall were latterly owned by the Withington family. The hall was demolished after the Second World War, and the estate has been developed as residential housing by Adam Lythgoe (Estates) Ltd.
Historically part of Lancashire, the area was dense woodland until the Norman conquest, hence the village gets its name from the Celtic for "narrow wood".
Bronze Age pottery discovered at Croft suggests the area was inhabited 4,000 years ago.
The Culcheth family played an important role in shaping village fortunes. Gilbert de Culcheth was lord of the manor of Culcheth and built its first hall in 1200. He was survived by a son Hugh de Gilbert and four daughters. Hugh de Gilbert was murdered by a group of twelve angry men in 1246, leaving no male heir. This saw the land divided between daughters Margery, Elizabeth, Ellen and Joan. However, equality was unheard of and land could not be passed down to women. The responsibility for the girls went to the Baron of Warrington who married off all the girls to his four sons. Eldest girl Margery, married Richard who took the name de Culcheth to ensure its survival. Each couple lived in their own sector of the Manor – Culcheth, Holcroft, Risley and Peasfurlong. Religion played an important role. As Catholics during the Reformation, services took place under complete secrecy in the family chapel which priests would enter through a secret passage by the fireplace in the great hall, and exit at a secluded spot on the tree-lined drive. The Culcheths supported Charles I in the Civil War, whilst their neighbours and enemies the Holcrofts backed Cromwell and the Parliamentarians. The Culcheth name died out with Thomas Culcheth (who died in 1747) being the last. He had no heir, so the hall passed to his cousin Thomas Stanley and then to John Trafford, which is where the family line ends.
The Holcroft family also have some notoriety for a scandal involving the daughter of Lt-Col John Holcroft of Holcroft Hall, who was an officer in Cromwell's army. His daughter, Maria, married Irishman Lieutenant Thomas Blood against Holcroft's wishes. They married on 16 June 1650 in Newchurch before moving to Ireland. At the end of the civil war, Cromwell promoted Blood to the rank of captain. Three years later he was elevated to Commissioner of Parliament. Blood is most famous for devising a plot to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London and using them as a ransom for Charles II. In 1671 he and Maria disguised themselves as a parson and his wife. They visited the keeper of the jewels and Maria pretended to faint to cause a distraction. The keeper unlocked the Crown Jewels and, to his amazement, was seized and held in the strongroom. Just as Blood and his accomplice were leaving, the plan was hindered yet again since they were caught before even getting out of the grounds of the Tower. The King took pity on Blood and, after serving a short sentence, he was returned to Ireland and his estate, where he and Maria lived on a £500-a-year allowance.
The lordship of the manor of Culcheth and Culcheth Hall were latterly owned by the Withington family. The hall was demolished after the Second World War, and the estate has been developed as residential housing by Adam Lythgoe (Estates) Ltd.
Map - Culcheth and Glazebury (Culcheth and Glazebury)
Map
Country - United_Kingdom
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| Flag of the United Kingdom | |
The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 formed the Kingdom of Great Britain. Its union in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which formally adopted that name in 1927. The nearby Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown Dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. There are also 14 British Overseas Territories, the last remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and a third of the world's population, and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language, culture and the legal and political systems of many of its former colonies.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP | Pound sterling | £ | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| EN | English language |
| GD | Gaelic language |
| CY | Welsh language |