Acton, Cheshire (ancient parish)

53°04′26″N 2°33′00″W / 53.074°N 2.550°W / 53.074; -2.550 Acton was an ancient parish in the Nantwich Hundred of Cheshire, England.[1]

At one time it included the townships of Acton, Aston juxta Mondrum, Austerson, Baddington, Brindley, Burland, Cholmondeston, Edleston, Faddiley, Henhull, Hurleston, Poole, Stoke, Worleston, most of Coole Pilate, parts of Dodcott cum Wilkesley, Newhall and Sound, and possibly all or part of Baddiley.[2][3] It also contained the chapelries of Church Minshull, Nantwich and Wrenbury.[4][5] By around 1870, the townships and chapelries of Baddiley, Church Minshull, Dodcott cum Wilkesley, Nantwich, Newhall, Sound and Wrenbury had been lost from Acton; the total area of the ancient parish was then 15,542 acres (6,290 hectares), with a population of 3,125.[6]

Acton church served as the main parish church for a wide area to the west of Nantwich. Subsidiary churches were chapels of ease; St Mary's Church, Nantwich, for example, despite its size, remained a chapel of ease to Acton until the 17th century.[7]

  1. ^ A Vision of Britain through Time: Acton CP/AP[permanent dead link] (accessed 28 February 2008)
  2. ^ Dunn FI. The Ancient Parishes, Townships and Chapelries of Cheshire (Cheshire Record Office and Cheshire Diocesan Record Office; 1987) (ISBN 0-906758-14-9)
  3. ^ Latham FA, ed. Acton, p. 9, (The Local History Group; 1995) (ISBN 0-9522284-1-6)
  4. ^ Dunn, p. 23
  5. ^ 'Houses of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Combermere', pp. 150–156. In: A History of the County of Chester (Vol. 3) (1980) (accessed 25 February 2008).
  6. ^ Wilson JM. Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–72). Quoted in: A Vision of Britain Through Time: Acton, Cheshire[permanent dead link] (accessed 22 February 2008)
  7. ^ Pevsner N, Hubbard E. The Buildings of England: Cheshire, p. 285 (Penguin Books; 1971) (ISBN 0-14-071042-6)