Editing Great Budworth

{{Short description|Village in Cheshire, England}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name          = Great Budworth
| country                = England
| static_image_name      = Great Budworth - geograph.org.uk - 3395131.jpg
| static_image_caption   = Church Street, looking towards [[St Mary and All Saints' Church, Great Budworth|St Mary and All Saints Church]]
| coordinates            = {{coord|53.294|-2.505|display=inline,title}}
| civil_parish           = Great Budworth<ref>{{cite web|url=http://greatbudworth.com/groups-clubs/ |title=Great Budworth Parish Council|access-date=31 October 2017}}</ref>
| unitary_england        = [[Cheshire West and Chester]]
| lieutenancy_england    = [[Cheshire]]
| region                 = North West England
| population             = 302
| population_ref         = (Parish, 2021)<ref>{{cite web |title=Great Budworth parish |url=https://citypopulation.de/en/uk/northwestengland/admin/cheshire_west_and_chester/E04011104__great_budworth/ |website=City Population |access-date=26 February 2025}}</ref>
| post_town              = NORTHWICH
| postcode_district      = CW9
| postcode_area          = CW
| dial_code              = 01606
| os_grid_reference      = SJ6677
}}
'''Great Budworth''' is a village and [[civil parish]] in [[Cheshire]], England, {{convert|4|mi|spell=in}} north of [[Northwich]] off the [[A559 road]], east of [[Comberbach]], northwest of Higher Marston and southeast of Budworth Heath.<ref name="GM">{{cite map|title=[[Google Maps]]|publisher=Google}}</ref> Until 1948, Great Budworth was part of the [[Arley Hall]] estate. At the [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]], the population of the parish was 302.

==Etymology==
According to Sir [[Sir Peter Leycester, 1st Baronet|Peter Leycester]], the name Great Budworth comes from the [[Old Saxon]] words ''bode'' ("dwelling") and ''wurth'' ("a place by water").<ref name="Green1859">{{cite book |last=Green |first=Henry |title=Knutsford, its traditions and history: with reminiscences, anecdotes, and notices of the neighbourhood|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9hI4AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA13 |access-date=11 July 2011 |year=1859 |publisher=Smith, Elder, & Co. |page=13}}</ref>

==History==
The early history of Great Budworth is documented in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086, which mentions a priest at Great Budworth.<ref name=ODOgb>[https://opendomesday.org/place/SJ6677/great-budworth/ Open Domesday Online: (Great) Budworth], accessed February 2019.</ref> In 1130, [[St Mary and All Saints' Church, Great Budworth|St Mary and All Saints Church]] was given to the [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] [[Canon (priest)|canon]] of [[Norton Priory]]{{sfn|Greene|2004|p=67}} by William FitzNigel, [[Constable]] of Chester and [[Barony of Halton|Baron of Halton]].

The lord of the manor during the reign of [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] was Geoffrey de Dutton. He donated to [[Norton Priory]] a third of his land to endow masses for his soul.<ref name="Society1897">{{cite book |author=Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society |title=Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qxy-DMdn3awC&pg=PA95 |access-date=16 July 2011 |year=1897 |page=95}}</ref> After the [[dissolution of the monasteries]], [[Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]] granted the estate to John Grimsditch. It was afterwards divided into several parcels.<ref name="Lysons1810"/>

There may have been a school in Great Budworth as early as 1563, but certainly one existed by 1578.<ref name="CoxHopkins1975">{{cite book |last1=Cox |first1=Marjorie |last2=Hopkins |first2=L. A. |title=A history of Sir John Deane's Grammar School, Northwich, 1557–1908 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bn67AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA52 |access-date=11 July 2011 |year=1975 |publisher=Manchester University Press ND |isbn=978-0-7190-1282-2 |page=52}}</ref> For centuries, the village was owned by the head of Arley Hall who would collect rent from the villagers.<ref name="Lambert1996"/> [[Rowland Egerton-Warburton]] of Arley Hall paid for restorations and improvements to the church in the 1850s.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.greatbudworthchurch.org/A%20brief%20history.htm|title=A Brief History of Great Budworth Church|access-date=9 September 2007|last=Steele|first=Robert J.|date=May 2003|publisher=St Mary's and All Saints Church|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823195832/http://www.greatbudworthchurch.org/A%20brief%20history.htm|archive-date=23 August 2007}}</ref> Egerton-Warburton also undertook a "campaign to render it (the village) [[picturesque]] in [[Victorian era|Victorian]] eyes".<ref>Hubbard, p. 92</ref> To this end he commissioned architects including [[William Eden Nesfield|William Nesfield]] and [[John Douglas (English architect)|John Douglas]] to work on buildings in the village.<ref>Hubbard, pp. 79–80</ref> Douglas remodelled the [[George and Dragon, Great Budworth|George and Dragon inn]] in 1875,<ref>Hubbard, pp. 92–93, 246</ref> and restored some of the cottages.<ref>Hubbard, pp. 240, 242, 278</ref>

A running pump was the only source of drinking water for the whole community until 1934 when a piped supply was first connected. Until 1948, Great Budworth was part of the Arley Hall estate.<ref name="Boast">{{cite web|url=http://www.cc-publishing.co.uk/Archives/gbudworth.html|title=History on your doorstep – Great Budworth|last=Boast|first=Howard |publisher=Cheshire Magazine|access-date=16 July 2011}}</ref>

==Governance==
There are two tiers of local government covering Great Budworth, at [[civil parish]] (town) and [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]] level: Great Budworth Parish Council and [[Cheshire West and Chester Council]]. The parish council meets at the Parish Hall on Smithy Lane.<ref>{{cite web |title=Great Budworth Parish Council |url=https://greatbudworth.com/groups-clubs/ |access-date=26 February 2025}}</ref>

===Administrative history===
Great Budworth was an [[ancient parish]]. It was {{convert|15|miles|km}} in length, and by land area it was the second largest parish in Cheshire, after [[Prestbury, Cheshire|Prestbury]].<ref name="Lysons1810">{{cite book |last=Lysons |first=Daniel |title=Magna Britannia: being a concise topographical account of the several counties of Great Britain. Containing Cambridgeshire, and the County Palatine of Chester |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n8U_AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA519 |access-date=11 July 2011 |year=1810 |publisher=Cadell|page=519}}</ref> The parish straddled the [[Hundred (county division)|hundreds]] of [[Bucklow Hundred|Bucklow]], [[Eddisbury (hundred)|Eddisbury]] and [[Northwich (hundred)|Northwich]]. It was subdivided into 35 [[Township (England)|townships]]:<ref>{{cite book |title=Book of Reference to the Plan of the Parish of Great Budworth |date=1877 |publisher=Ordnance Survey |location=London |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Book_of_Reference_to_the_Plan_of_the_Par/P9MHAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=RA16-PP11&printsec=frontcover |access-date=26 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Great Budworth Ancient Parish / Township / Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10112916 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=26 February 2025}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Allostock]]
*[[Anderton, Cheshire|Anderton]]
*[[Antrobus, Cheshire|Antrobus]]
*[[Appleton, Warrington|Appleton]]
*[[Aston by Budworth]]
*[[Barnton, Cheshire|Barnton]]
*Bartington
*Birches
*Castle Northwich
*[[Cogshall Hall|Cogshall]]
*[[Comberbach]]
*Crowley
*[[Dutton, Cheshire|Dutton]]{{efn|Part, rest of township in [[Runcorn]] parish}}
*Great Budworth
*[[Hartford, Cheshire|Hartford]]{{efn|Part, township also included three detached parcels of [[Weaverham]] parish}}
*[[Higher Whitley]]
*Hulse
*[[Lach Dennis]]
*[[Little Leigh]]
*[[Lostock Gralam]]
*[[Lower Whitley]]
*[[Anderton with Marbury|Marbury]]
*[[Marston, Cheshire|Marston]]
*[[Nether Peover]]
*[[Northwich]]
*[[Peover Inferior]]
*[[Pickmere]]
*[[Plumley]]
*[[Rudheath]]{{efn|Part, remainder of township split between [[Davenham]] and [[Sandbach]] parishes}}
*Seven Oaks
*[[Stretton, Cheshire West and Chester|Stretton]]
*[[Tabley Inferior]]
*[[Wincham]]
*[[Winnington]]
*[[Witton cum Twambrooks]]
{{div col end}}

Several of the townships had [[chapel of ease|chapels of ease]], a notable example being [[St Helen Witton Church, Northwich|St Helen's Church]] at [[Witton, Northwich|Witton]], built in the 14th century to serve the southern townships of Great Budworth parish, including Northwich.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Church of St Helen|num=1329880|grade=I}}</ref>

From the 17th century onwards, parishes were gradually given various civil functions under the [[poor laws]], in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including Great Budworth, the civil functions were exercised by each township separately rather than the parish as a whole. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so the townships also became [[civil parish]]es.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Youngs |first1=Frederic |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume II, Northern England |date=1991 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |location=London |isbn=0861931270 |page=xv}}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:Budworth Mere - geograph.org.uk - 399423.jpg|thumb|left|Budworth Mere with Great Budworth church in the distance]]
Great Budworth is approached from the main Warrington to Northwich road about {{convert|2|mi|spell=in}} from Northwich, along a ridge overlooking two [[Mere (lake)|meres]], Budworth to the west and Pickmere to the east.<ref name="The British architect: a journal of architecture and the accessory arts">{{cite book |title=The British architect: a journal of architecture and the accessory arts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mbcQAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA282 |access-date=16 July 2011 |year=1884|page=282}}</ref>

===Flora and fauna===
In the [[Middle Ages]], Budworth Mere was used as a fish hatchery. Stocked with bream and pike, its reeds shelter breeding [[Eurasian reed warbler|reed warbler]]s and [[great crested grebe]]s.<ref name="Darling1988">{{cite book|last=Darling|first=Jen|title=West Cheshire Walks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mIBD5PsVg6EC&pg=PA73|year=1988|publisher=Sigma|isbn=978-1-85058-111-6|page=73}}</ref> Other avifauna includes [[mallard]]s and [[Eurasian coot|coot]]s.<ref name="Boast" />

==Landmarks==
The Grade I listed [[St Mary and All Saints Church, Great Budworth|St Mary and All Saints Church]] is in the village.  [[Arley Hall]], a [[historic house]], is nearby.<ref name="Lambert1996"/> Also of note in the area are the [[George and Dragon, Great Budworth|George and Dragon]] and Cock o' Budworth [[public house]]s,<ref name="Lambert1996"/> [[54–57 High Street, Great Budworth|54–57 High Street]], [[Dene Cottages, Great Budworth|Dene Cottages]], [[Goldmine House, Great Budworth|Goldmine House]] and [[Belmont Hall, Cheshire|Belmont Hall]].

===St Mary and All Saints' Church===
{{main|St Mary and All Saints' Church, Great Budworth}}
[[File:St Mary and All Saints Church, Great Budworth exterior.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[St Mary and All Saints Church, Great Budworth|St Mary and All Saints Church]]]]
St Mary and All Saints' Church is recorded in the [[National Heritage List for England]] as a designated Grade&nbsp;I [[Listed building#England and Wales|listed building]].<ref name="images2">{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1139156|desc= Church of St Mary and All Saints, Great Budworth|access-date= 26 March 2015}}</ref> It is an active [[Anglican]] [[parish church]] in the [[diocese of Chester]], the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Great Budworth.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.achurchnearyou.com/great-budworth-st-mary-all-saints/ |title=St Mary & All Saints, Great Budworth |access-date=1 January 2011 |publisher=[[Church of England]]}}</ref> [[Alec Clifton-Taylor|Clifton-Taylor]] includes it in his list of best English parish churches.<ref>{{cite book |last=Clifton-Taylor |first=Alec |author-link=Alec Clifton-Taylor |title=English Parish Churches as Work of Art |publisher=Batsford|year=1974 |page=240 |isbn=0-7134-2776-0}}</ref> Richards describes it as "one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical architecture remaining in Cheshire".<ref name="richards"/> The architectural historian [[Nikolaus Pevsner]] considered it to be "one of the most satisfactory [[Perpendicular Gothic|Perpendicular]] churches in Cheshire".<ref name=pev>{{cite book |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |author-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |last2=Hubbard |first2=Edward |author2-link = Edward Hubbard (architectural historian) |series=The Buildings of England |title=Cheshire |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=2003| orig-year=1971 |pages=227–228 |isbn=0-300-09588-0}}</ref> In the north chapel is a memorial to [[Sir Peter Leycester, 1st Baronet|Sir&nbsp;Peter Leicester]], the 17th-century historian, and in the Warburton Chapel is the [[alabaster]] [[effigy]] of Sir&nbsp;John Warburton who died in 1575.<ref name="richards">{{cite book |last=Richards |first=Raymond |title=Old Cheshire Churches |publisher=Batsford |year=1947 |pages=170–175}}</ref> In the north chapel is an organ designed by [[Samuel Renn]], installed in 1839.

===Houses===
[[Goldmine House, Great Budworth|Goldmine House]] and its attached cottage (Rose Cottage), designated as a Grade&nbsp;II listed building,<ref name= Goldmine>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1329888|desc= Goldmine House, Rose Cottage, Great Budworth|access-date= 26 March 2015|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> were built in 1870 for [[Rowland Egerton-Warburton]] of Arley Hall and were designed by the [[Chester]] architect [[John Douglas (English architect)|John Douglas]].<ref>Hubbard, p.278</ref> Built with brown brick with some timber framing, and clay tile roofs the house faces west. It is a double storied building with two gabled [[Bay (architecture)|bays]]. The cottage is simple in form with a dormer and blue brick [[diapering]].<ref name=Goldmine/>

[[Dene Cottages, Great Budworth|Dene Cottages]], a Grade&nbsp;II listed pair of cottages, were built in 1867–68, again for Rowland Egerton-Warburton and by Douglas.<ref>Hubbard, p.240</ref> The lower storeys are constructed in brown brick. The upper storeys are [[timber framing|timber-framed]] with [[Plasterwork|plaster]] panels. The roof is in clay tiles. The plaster panels are [[Pargeting|pargetted]] with floral motifs.<ref name=Cottage>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1329854|desc= Dene Cottages, 1 and 2 Warrington Road, Great Budworth|access-date= 26 March 2015|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

[[Belmont Hall, Cheshire|Belmont Hall]] in this parish was built by J. H. Smith-Barry Esq., who deposited in it his valuable collection of pictures and statues, afterwards removed to Marbury. Smith-Barry sold it to Henry Clarke.<ref name="Lysons1810"/> Built in 1755 and designed by [[James Gibbs]], it is a Grade&nbsp;I listed building.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1139129 |desc= Belmont Hall|access-date= 26 March 2015|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> As of 2020 it is occupied by [[Cransley School]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cransleyschool.org.uk/ |title=Cransley School |access-date=16 July 2008 |publisher=Cransley School |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080607085557/http://www.cransleyschool.org.uk/ |archive-date=7 June 2008}}</ref>

===George and Dragon pub===
[[File:George and Dragon, Great Budworth.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The [[George and Dragon, Great Budworth|George and Dragon]] pub]]
The [[George and Dragon, Great Budworth|George and Dragon pub]], another Grade&nbsp;II listed building,<ref name=images>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1329885|desc= George and Dragon Inn, Great Budworth|access-date= 26 March 2015|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> was initially built as a simple three-[[bay (architecture)|bay]] [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] inn. In 1875, John Douglas was commissioned to restore it by Egerton-Warburton. He added tall rubbed chimneys, [[mullion]]ed windows and a steep pyramidal [[Turret (architecture)|turret]].<ref name=Hubbard>Hubbard, pp. 92–93</ref> The double-storied inn has [[bay (architecture)|bays]] built in brick with a [[roughcast]] [[stucco|rendering]] on the upper storey. It has clay tiled covered hipped roofs. Its other architectural features comprise a projecting two-storey porch with oak post-and-rail fence inscribed with a number of sayings on either side, lateral bay with four-light mullioned window in the lower storey and a three-light mullioned window in the upper storey, a tall rubbed brick chimneystack, and the inn sign located diagonally from the right corner.<ref name=images/><ref name=Hubbard/> The inn continues to function as a public house and restaurant.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.onionring.co.uk/restaurants/restaurant_info.asp?RID=1536 |title=George and Dragon |access-date=14 July 2011 |publisher=Onionring |archive-date=16 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016114334/http://www.onionring.co.uk/restaurants/restaurant_info.asp?RID=1536 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2015 the pub was used as a location in the video game ''[[Contradiction: Spot the Liar!|Contradiction]]'' by developer Baggy Cat.<ref>{{Cite web|title=I visited the town from Contradiction and I took photos! - Contradiction: Spot The Liar!|url=https://www.giantbomb.com/contradiction-spot-the-liar/3030-50336/forums/i-visited-the-town-from-contradiction-and-i-took-p-1776616/|access-date=2021-04-07|website=Giant Bomb|language=en}}</ref>

===54–57 High Street===
[[54–57 High Street, Great Budworth|54–57 High Street]] is a row of four Grade&nbsp;II listed<ref name=list>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1139118|desc= Jasmine Cottage, Nos. 55 & 56 and No. 57 High Street, Great Budworth|access-date= 26 March 2015|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> dwellings in the High Street, built in the early 18th century.<ref name=list/> They were refaced and partly rebuilt for Rowland Egerton-Warburton of Arley Hall by John Douglas in 1870 or 1875.<ref name=images/><ref>Hubbard, p. 242</ref> The two outer buildings are houses and the two central buildings are cottages. They are built in brown brick with clay tile roofs, and have two storeys plus attics. Each building has a [[gable]], those on the outer buildings larger than those on the inner, all decorated with brick and plaster.<ref name=list/>

==Culture==
The [[Mummers Play#Local seasonal variants|Soul Cakers Play]] is a seasonal [[folk play]] performed in the village every November which brings together the whole community. It features [[Saint George]], the Black Knight and a Hobby Horse.<ref name="Boast" /> In Great Budworth, the "soul cake" may be a glass of beer or other sustenance; into it comes the devil, or [[Beelzebub]], now "Belshy Bob".<ref name="Wright1974">{{cite book|last=Wright|first=Peter|title=The language of British industry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uOS0AAAAIAAJ|year=1974|publisher=Macmillan|page=66}}</ref> The village is a popular location for films and television including ''[[Cluedo (UK game show)|Cluedo]]'',<ref name="Lambert1996">{{cite book |last=Lambert |first=Nick |title=Cheshire walks with children |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y3ZTHzxD-z8C&pg=PA72|access-date=11 July 2011|date=1 July 1996 |publisher=Sigma Leisure|isbn=978-1-85058-560-2|page=72}}</ref> and more recently a [[National Westminster Bank|NatWest]] advert and the 2019 BBC drama ''[[The War of the Worlds (British TV series)|War of the Worlds]]''.{{citation needed |date=April 2021}}

==See also==
{{portal|Cheshire}}
*[[Listed buildings in Great Budworth]]

==References==
{{notelist}}

'''Citations'''
{{reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Boyd |first=Arnold |author-link=Arnold Boyd |title=A Country Parish: Great Budworth in the county of Chester |year=1951 |publisher=Collins |oclc=221053881}}
*{{cite book |last=Foster |first=Charles |chapter=The History of the House and the Family |year=1999 |editor-last=Albrighton |editor-first=Tom|title=Arley Hall and Gardens, Cheshire |publisher=Jarrold}}
*{{cite book |last=Greene |first=J. Patrick |title=Norton Priory: The Archaeology of a Medieval Religious House |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70PACwvVscEC&pg=PA67 |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-60278-5 }}
*{{cite book |last=Groves |first=Linden |title=Historic Parks & Gardens of Cheshire |publisher=Landmark |year=2004 |isbn=1-84306-124-4}}
*{{cite book |last=Hubbard |first=Edward |author-link = Edward Hubbard (architectural historian) |title=The Work of John Douglas |publisher=[[Victorian Society]] |year=1991 |isbn=0-901657-16-6}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Great Budworth}}

{{Cheshire, Cheshire West and Chester}}
{{Cheshire}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Cheshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Cheshire]]