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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"SANDBACH, a parish, township, and market town in the hundreds of Northwich and Nantwich, county Chester, 26½ miles S.E. of Chester, and 4½ from Crewe. It is a station on the Manchester and Crewe section of the London and North-Western railway. The parish, which is situated in the midst of a fertile tract of country, is extensive, comprising the townships of Arclid, Betchton, Bradwell, Blackden, Cotton, Cranage, Hassall, Leese, Radheeth, Sandbach, Twemlow, and Wheelock, with the chapelries of Elworth, Church-Hulme, Wheelock, and Goostrey. The parish is traversed by the Grand Trunk canal and the Manchester and Crewe railway. The surface is in general flat, but from certain points views are obtained of the Vale Royal, the hills of Staffordshire and Derbyshire, and the distant mountains of Wales. The land is peculiarly adapted for grazing, the pasture being rich and luxuriant. The town stands on an eminence overlooking the small river Wheelock, which falls into the Dane, after putting in motion a large silk mill. The town is irregularly built, but contains several good streets, and the houses are in general neat. It has been considerably improved of late years, and is now lighted with gas and amply supplied with water. The principal public buildings are the townhall, occupying the S. side of the market place, with the butter market beneath; the assembly rooms, erected in 1857 at a cost of £2,800, containing a public hall, library, reading rooms for the upper and lower classes, and county offices, with lock-ups, constables' rooms, and residence for the principal police officer. There are besides a savings-bank, erected in 1854 in the Elizabethan style of architecture; gasworks, constructed in 1847; and public baths. The inhabitants formerly carried on a brisk trade in malt, and the manufacture of worsted yarn and stuffs, but these have been superseded by the throwsting and manufacture of silk, for which there are extensive factories. The manufacture of boots and shoes is also carried on to a considerable extent for houses in Manchester and Liverpool. There are brine springs, salt works, and steam and water corn-mills in the parish. The population of the parish in 1851 was 8,552, and of the township, 4,567, but these numbers had increased by 1861 to 9,046 and 4,989 respectively. The limits of the town, however, are not co-extensive with the township, comprising only 3,252 inhabitants. Petty sessions are held in the townhall every alternate Monday, and two constables are appointed yearly at the petty sessions of the county magistrates. A court leet and baron is held annually by Lord Crewe, of Crewe Hall, who is lord of the manor and principal landowner. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Chester, value £1,000, with 50 acres of glebe. The parish church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient structure with an open arched tower at the W. end, surmounted by crocketed pinnacles, containing a clock and peal of eight bells. It has been recently re-cased with stone, and the tower rebuilt from the foundation. In addition to the parish church are the following district churches, viz: St. John, at Sandbach Heath, St. Peter's, Elworth, Church-Hulme, Goostrey, and Wheelock, the livings of which are perpetual curacies,* varying in value from £175 to £120. There are places of worship for Wesleyan, Primitive, and Association Methodists, and Independents. The charities comprise several benefactions originally amounting to only £420, but having been laid out in 1790 in the purchase of land in the neighbourhood of Burslem, under which some valuable strata of coal have been discovered, they now produce between £1,000 and £2,000 a year. The grammar school, founded in 1694 by Francis Wells, has an income from endowment of £200 per annum. The school buildings are an Elizabethan pile situated in the Wheelock road, and were erected at a cost of £5,000. There are besides large National schools for boys, girls, and infants, British and Foreign schools, industrial schools, and several private seminaries. In the market place are two ancient obelisks or crosses, covered with rude sculptures, and asserted by tradition to have been erected by Penda, the Saxon king of Northumbria, on his conversion to Christianity in 609. Market day is Thursday. Fairs are held on Easter Tuesday, the first Tuesday after 12th September, and on 28th December, on which last day a statute fair is also held for hiring farm servants."

"ABBEYFIELD, near the village of and in the parish of Sandbach, in the hundred of Northwich, union of Congleton, in the county of Chester, 1 mile S.W. of Sandbach, near the Manchester Rail and Grand Trunk Canal."

"ARCLID, a township in the parish of Sandbach, hundred of Northwich, in the county palatine of Chester, 2 miles to the E. of Sandbach."

"BARNSHAW-CUM-GOOSTREE, a township in the parish of Sandbach, and hundred of Northwich, in the county palatine of Chester, 5 miles to the S.E. of Knutsford, Sandbach has a station on the London and North-Western railway."

"BECHTON, a township in the parish of Sandbach, hundred of Nantwich, in the county palatine of Cheshire, 2 miles from Sandbach. Bechton Hall is a farmhouse on the site of an old mansion. The Grand Trunk canal passes through the township."

"BLACKDEN, a township in the parish of Sandbach, hundred of Northwich, in the county palatine of Chester, 6 miles to the N.E. of Sandbach. The London and North-Western railway passes through it."

"BRADWALL, a township in the parish of Sandbach, hundred of Northwich, in the county palatine of Chester, 2 miles to the N. of Sandbach. The London and North-Western railway runs through it. The principal residence is Bradwall Hall, the residence of Dr. Latham."

"CHURCH HULME, (or Holmes Chapel), a chapelry and township in the parish of Sandbach, in the hundred of Northwich, in the county of Chester, 3½ miles N. of Sandbach, and 4 E. of Middlewich. It is a station on the London and North-Western railway. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Chester, value £120, in the patronage of the vicar. The church, dedicated to St. Luke, is an ancient edifice in the Gothic style, with square embattled tower, and contains monuments and a register commencing in 1680. The Wesleyans have a place of worship, and there is a school for both sexes. The annual value of the charities is about £2 13s. Fairs for horses, cattle, and sheep are held on the first Wednesday after the 13th April, on the 12th October, and 27th November. Lawrence Armistead, Esq., is lord of the manor.

"COTTON, a township in the parish of Sandbach, hundred of Northwich, in the county of Chester, 3 miles E. of Middlewich, its post town: It is situated on the river Dane. The Hall, an ancient structure, once the seat of the Cotton family, is now a farmhouse. Lawrence Armitstead, Esq., is lord of the manor."

"CRANAGE, a township in the parish of Sandbach, hundred of Northwich, in the county of Chester, 5½ miles N. of Sandbach, and 3½ N.E. of Middlewich. It is situated on the river Dane, near the Crewe railway. L. Armitstead, Esq., is lord of the manor, and resides at Cranage Hall."

"DEAN HILL, a hamlet in the parish of Sandbach, hundred of Nantwich, in the county of Chester, 1 mile S.E. of Sandbach."

"ELWORTH, a village in the parish of Sandbach, county palatine of Chester, 1 mile N.W. of Sandbach. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Chester, value £120, in the patronage of the Vicar of Sandbach. The church is dedicated St. Peter."

"GOOSTREY-CUM-BARNSHAW, a township and chapelry in the parish of Sandbach, hundred of Northwich, county palatine Chester, 6 miles N.E. of Middlewich, its post town, and 11 N.W. of Congleton. The Holmes Chapel station on the Manchester and Crewe branch of the London and North-Western railway is 3 miles S.E. of the village. The townships of Blackden and Twemlow are included in the chapelry The abbots of Chester had a seat here in the 13th century, called Barnshaw Hall, subsequently converted into the manor-house. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Chester, value £175, in the patronage of the Vicar of Sandbach. The church is a modern structure, standing upon the site of one built in the 13th century; it is dedicated to St. Luke. There is a National school amalgamated with the old free school; it is an elegant building of the Elizabethan style of architecture. There are charities producing £8 per annum. Harry Mainwaring, Esq., is lord of the manor and sole proprietor."

"HASSALL, a township in the parish of Sandbach, hundred of Nantwich, county Chester, 2½ miles S.E. of Sandbach. The township is situated near the river Wenlock and the Trunk canal. The soil is sandy, and the chief crops wheat, oats, and potatoes. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Chester. The church is a modern building of brick with a small spire. Mrs. Redhall, of Congleton, is lady of the manor and chief landowner."

"LEESE, a township in the parish of Sandbach, hundred of Northwich, county Chester, 3 miles N.E. of Middlewich. It is situated near the river Dane."

"TWEMLOW, a township in the parish of Sandbach, hundred of Northwich, county Chester, 5 miles N.W. of Congleton, and 5 N.E. of Middlewich. It is situated near the Manchester and Birmingham railway and the river Dane. It is a meet for the Cheshire hounds."

"WHEELOCK, a township in the parish of Sandbach, hundred of Nantwich, county Chester, 1 mile S.W. of Sandbach. It is situated on the river Wheelock, a branch of the Dane, and is intersected by the Grand Trunk canal, on the banks of which are wharves and warehouses. There are a brewery and cotton-mills, but the inhabitants are chiefly employed in the manufacture of salt from brine, found on either side of the river at the depth of 60 yards below the surface."