A brief history of Willaston in Wirral
Willaston - one of Cheshire's many interesting villages.
This website is structured so as to give the reader the flavour of an English village, by depicting its origins, its Mediaeval Period, the 17th and 18th Centuries, the period around 1870, as it was just prior to The Great War, then in pre-World War Two, more recently - 1970, and finally as a present day year 2000 village.
The Making of Willaston - click on a date on the time line and leap back to find out about our ancestors.
Willaston is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey ( Doomsday Book ), but Edelaue is thought to have been situated nearby, and that ancient name is mentioned, and is still retained as Hadlow Road, here, bi-secting the village green of Willaston. Reference to a place called Edelaue, which although it had been laid waste around 1066, at the Norman Conquest , had " a man ploughing there " and paying two shillings for the privilege.
Willaston is unusual amongst Cheshire villages, not only in having a village green, but in having one which was, until recently, rectangular in shape - a fact emphasised by the estate map of 1774 and the Tithe map of 1848. The Green, or some rectangular feature that became the Green, evidently existed from at least the 17th and early 18th centuries, because many of the buildings of that period were built around its four sides. It is difficult to determine what the feature may have been. An enclosure associated with the nearby Roman road, or the enclosing ditch of an early homestead or manor house, are two possibilities.
Although not specifically named in the Survey, Willaston was sufficiently well-known, soon after the Conquest, to give its name to the whole administrative division of the the Wirral, which was then known as the Hundred of Wilaveston, probably because it was a convenient meeting place for the governing body or court. ( the suffix TON in a place name usually indicates past existence of a raised mound in the town or village upon which officials held leet courts).
At the Norman Conquest, Cheshire was given to Hugh Lupus, nephew of the Conqueror, to be held as a County Palatine. He, in turn, divided the Shire between those who owed him allegiance. The Wirral was partitioned off between the Church and a small number of barons.
In 1121, the Wirral was made into a forest, for imported deer to roam and be hunted by the ruling classes. Many of the inhabitants were dispossessed for the purpose, and it remained as such for nearly two centuries, until it was disafforested in 1302. When Leland and Camden made their well-known journeys through England the 16th century, it seems that much of the Wirral was still nearly wilderness.
Willaston, however, remained in existence throughout the period, for the township's name appears in a Deed of Conveyance dated the year 1230. At that time it belonged to the De Orreby family, from whom it passed first to the Mainwarings of Warmincham and then, in the time of Henry VII, to the Trussels. Willaston then passed, by marriage of an heiress, into the hands of John Vere, courtier of Henry VIII, and Earl of Oxford. His grandson, in turn, sold the manor to several freeholders, of whom the most prominent was Hugh Bennett, who built the Old Hall circa 1558, or a little later.
The 17th and 18th Centuries.
While the extent and character of Mediaeval Willaston is unknown, the pattern of development in the 17th and 18th centuries may still be seen in the remaining buildings of the period. They are :-
Bennett's Old Hall (c. 1558), Ashtree Farm (early 17th century and perhaps 15th century in parts), The Farm (1616), The Old Red Lion (1631), Corner House (1637), Pear Tree Farm (c. 1697), White House Farm ( early 18th century), The Nag's Head (1733), Cherry Brow Farm (1739), and Smithy Cottage (18th century).
Corner House Farm (now demolished) has been described as "an old manor house", and there is a local tradition that it was the Bennett's house prior to the building of the Old Hall.
More than half the buildings mentioned above are farm houses situated, in typical mediaeval fashion, in the village. The lands farmed would have been dispersed in small pieces, and ownerships, intermixed with one another, and inconveniently situated in the surrounding countryside. The many Acts of Enclosure, passed in the 18th and 19th centuries, gathered together such lands into self-contained farm units, each with its own new farmhouse sited away from the village. In most villages, the original farm houses were adapted as cottages or put to other uses. In others, such as Willaston, where development and expansion were slower, agricultural associations of the old buildings continued well beyond the end of the 18th century.
Willaston is by now a prosperous village at the height of its development as an agricultural community. Prosperity indicated by the fact that the school, church and vicarage have recently been erected by subscription.
Willaston has a distinctive architectural character, derived largely from the strong simple shapes and mellow materials of the old farmhouses and their outbuildings.
The centre of the village consists of a series of clearly enclosed spaces, although the most important of these, the Green, has been altered by the building of the village school.
Trees do much to enhance the village, and create this sense of enclosure. Maps show that each farm has its own orchard, as well as the mature trees in the hedgerows around.
The ancient Roman route way which previously passed down the centre of The Wirral, through Willaston, has been replaced by routes on either side of the Peninsula. It is perhaps because the village is situated between these main routes that it is growing only slowly - despite the arrival of the railway in 1866, and the continuing rapid expansion of Merseyside. However, although the village is still something of a backwater, it cannot long remain unaffected by the growth of the region, with its need for more housing, especially for the merchant classes eager to find sites for their residences away from the industrial areas.
Willaston is still predominantly an agricultural settlement, although as such it is declining, giving way to residential expansion. Continuing prosperity is shown by the building of the Village Institute in 1901, incorporating a reading room and a library.
The social character of Willaston is slowly starting to change.
The farm buildings still form the most important visual element in the village scene, although the number of units has been reduced to just eight. The character has been affected by some loss of trees. The new Institute has been built beside the Green, and the school has been extended.
The motorcar has now arrived upon the scene, and farm buildings near the Nag's Head have been demolished to allow Hooton Road to be widened and re-aligned.
The links with Merseyside have been strengthened by the opening of the Mersey Railway, giving much easier access to Liverpool.. This, together with the growing influence of the motorcar, has reduced Willaston's seclusion - resulting in low-density housing, whose character is very different from that of the closely-knit farming settlement.
The influences likely to affect Willaston's future have now appeared, the motorcar and railway have made commuting possible, and residential expansion has begun.
As an agricultural settlement, Willaston has by now, declined considerably - while housing development for commuters has increased.
The character of the village has changed very little since just before the Great War, although the Green is now back to its original size following the demolition of the school.
The condition of many of the older buildings has deteriorated. The decline in farming and the amalgamation of smaller units to form larger farms has led to a change of use for many farm buildings around the Green. Farmhouses have become private residences or are used as commercial premises; outbuildings are often disused or or only partially used, resulting in their deterioration.
Then, as nowadays, a combination of factors led to Willaston's emergence as a commuter settlement : The general population increase on The Wirral, availability of land for building, a pleasant rural position near an industrialised area and improved communications routes for the mass-produced car, such as the Mersey Tunnel.
The pattern has been set for the rest of the 20th Century. It only remains to be seen how much the new residential development will affect the character of the village, particularly around the historic Green.
Willaston Today
The overall form of the old village was one of a typical neucleated farming settlement, gathered about a green. Typical that is, except for the fact that village greens are very rare in Cheshire, and for the strikingly rectangular shape of the old Willaston Green.
Another pleasant enclosed space which existed in front of the Nag's Head, was destroyed when the farm buildings on the corner of Hadlow Road were demolished.
Of the buildings around the Green, The Old Hall is still dominant, built of warm coloured sandstone. The black and white , half timbered "Old Red Lion" stands out boldly, forming a very important element in the scene. The brick building occupied by the HSBC (Midland) Bank is also very attractive. A number of other 17th and 18th century buildings still stand around the Green but all of theses have been spoiled in one way or another, by rendering or insensitive alterations and additions.
Hadlow Road - The visitor approaching from the south could hardly be impressed by his first view of the village
Bungalows, The old station, Rose Farm, Ashtree farm, cherry Brow - Old Hall
Neston Road - Coming from Neston the village is approached through pleasant open countryside
Dam Head Lane, old walls, hedges, trees and pleasant 19th century row of cottages. Chapel.
As the village centre is approached, the feeling of enclosure returns, with cottages and walls built close up to the roadside. Church Farm - vet surgery. Church attractive area in front, with overhanging trees, buildings close to the road, and glimpses of the Green......spoiled by parked cars and through traffic.
Hooton Road - Built since the 1930s with large houses set in generous gardens. In many places the boundary walls are old red standstone, hedges and trees have matured, enclosing the road, making a pleasant approach to the village- towards the Nag's Head, where the road bends and twists between the pub and sheltered flats, a place of danger and noise.
Mill Lane approaches the village centre through an area of large houses set in pleasant mature grounds, with large trees, and of course passes the Mill. In the country the road is edged by ditches, banks and hedgerows, further on the ditch is covered over, banks neatly mowed and hedges are trimmed, and a footpath appears on one side of the road. Next there are low sandstone walls, backed by tall trees. Finally, as the village centre is approached the edge detail becomes 'hard' in character, with footpaths flanked by tall brick or sandstone walls.
Corner House Farm - this small 'back lane' to the Green.......