Woolstanwood

Marshfield Bridge (A530) over Valley Brook

Woolstanwood (also Woolstan Wood) is a village (at SJ680556) and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies immediately to the west of Crewe, 1½ miles from the centre. The parish also includes the settlements of Brassey Bank and Marshfield Bank.^[1] Nearby villages include Wistaston and Worleston.

According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 723.^[2]

Governance

Woolstanwood is administered by Minshull Vernon and District Parish Council, jointly with Minshull Vernon and Leighton. Of 22 parish councillors, seven represent Minshull Vernon, eleven represent Leighton (eight from Leighton Urban and three from Leighton Rural) and four represent Woolstanwood.^[3][4] Current Parish Councillors (as of August 2010) are: Mr A Forrest (Leighton Rural), Mrs L Horne (Leighton Rural), Mr J Parker (Leighton Rural), Mr K Halford (Minshull Vernon) (Vice Chair), Mr R Hollinshead (Minshull Vernon), Mr L Horne (Minshull Vernon), Mr M McGlone (Minshull Vernon), Mr B Palin (Minshull Vernon), Mr J Whittingham (Minshull Vernon), Mr D Preece (Leighton Urban), Mr B Barnes (Leighton Urban), Mr T Beard (Leighton Urban), Mr D Bebbington (Leighton Urban), Mr D Forrest (Leighton Urban) (Chair), Mr J Winstanley (Leighton Urban), Mrs P Butterill (Woolstandwood) and Mr M Wilson (Woolstanwood).

There are currently five seats vacant on the Parish Council; two representing Woolstanwood, one representing Minshull Vernon and two representing Leighton Urban.

From 1974 to 2009 the Borough Council was Crewe and Nantwich. Since 1 April 2009 civil parish has been administered by the new unitary authority of Cheshire East .^[5] Woolstanwood falls in the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich,^[6] which has been represented by Edward Timpson since a by-election in 2008.

Geography and transport

Much of the civil parish is rural, with the major land use being agricultural. Urban development is present east of the A530 adjacent to Crewe. The River Weaver forms the western boundary of the parish; its tributaries Leighton Brook and Valley Brook form the northern and southern boundaries, respectively. The Crewe–Chester railway line runs east–west through the parish. The A530 between Nantwich and Middlewich runs north–south through the parish, and the A532 splits from it at Marshfield Bank to run eastwards into Crewe.^[7][8]

Landmarks

The parish contains one building that is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated listed building. This is Marshfield Bank Farmhouse, which dates from the late 18th century, and contains some internal timber work possibly from an earlier date. It is built in brick with a tiled roof, is in 2 ¹⁄₂ storeys, and has a three-bay front. Most of the windows are casements, and there are some horizontally-sliding sashes at the rear. The farmhouse is listed at Grade II.^[9] This grade is the lowest of the three gradings given to listed buildings and is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest".^[10]

The Farmhouse public house is located on the roundabout in Marshfield Bank.^[7]

References

External links

Media related to Woolstanwood at Wikimedia Commons

Ceremonial county of Cheshire Cheshire Portal Unitary authorities Cheshire East Cheshire West and Chester Halton Warrington Major settlements Alsager Birchwood Chester Congleton Crewe Ellesmere Port Knutsford Macclesfield Middlewich Nantwich Neston Northwich Poynton Runcorn Sandbach Warrington Widnes Wilmslow Winsford See also: List of civil parishes in Cheshire Rivers Bollin Croco Dane Dean Dee Gowy Goyt Mersey Weaver Wheelock Topics Flag Parliamentary constituencies Places SSSIs Country Houses Grade I listed buildings Grade II* listed buildings History Museums Lord Lieutenants High Sheriffs

Coordinates: 53°05′48″N 2°28′45″W / 53.0966°N 2.4793°W / 53.0966; -2.4793