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Map of civil parish of Darnhall within borough of Vale Royal
Darnhall is a civil parish and small village to the southwest of Winsford in the English county of Cheshire. It is situated on the southern edge of borough of Vale Royal.
[edit] Norman History of Darnhall
The Norman earls had a hunting lodge or summer palace at Darnhall in Over parish. There was an enclosed area where deer and wild boar were kept to be hunted by the Earl and his guests. It was there that the last Norman Earl of Chester met his death. It was rumoured that his wife, Helen the daughter of the Prince of Wales, had poisoned him in order to favour the powerful aristocrat that her daughter had married. However, as this was the time of the Second Barons' War, King Henry III took control of the county and of the manor himself and even spent time at Darnhall. It was during this time that the brook there was dammed to drive three water mills and to make pools to keep fish.
The first mention of a priest is in 1307 when a Thomas de Dutton is mentioned, but it is uncertain if this was at St.Chad's in Winsford or as a chaplain at Darnhall, or both. The church and responsibility for the parish was given to St. Mary's convent in Chester, who appointed the priests in charge.
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