Baddiley

Baddiley is a scattered settlement and civil parish in the Crewe and Nantwich district of Cheshire, England. The civil parish also includes the north-western part of the village of Ravensmoor (also in the parish of Burland), as well as the small settlements of Baddiley Hulse, Batterley Hill, and parts of Gradeley Green and Swanley.citeweb|url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=792554&c=Baddiley&d=16&e=15&g=428440&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779 |title=2001 Census: Baddiley CP|work=Office for National Statistics|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007] citeweb|url=http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/chs/baddiley.html |title=Cheshire Towns & Parishes: Baddiley|work=GENUKI UK & Ireland Genealogy|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007] According to the 2001 Census the parish had a total population of 226.

The largest settlement within the parish, Ravensmoor centres around a crossroads with a small village green. It lies around six miles south west of Crewe.

History

Baddiley is listed in the Domesday Book as "Bedelie", [citeweb|url=http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/cheshire1.html#baddiley |title=Cheshire A–K: Baddiley|publisher="The Domesday Book Online"|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007] and the manor then belonged to the Praers family.citeweb|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=50773 |title='Babcary – Badgeworth' in "A Topographical Dictionary of England", pp. 124–128 (1848)|publisher="British History Online"|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007] The ancient manor was more extensive than the modern parish, also including Faddiley, which lies to the north west. [citeweb|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=50954 |title='Faccombe – Falkenham' in "A Topographical Dictionary of England", pp. 206–209 (1848)|publisher="British History Online"|accessdate=1 August|accessyear=2007] In the first half of the 13th century, part of the Baddiley parish was granted to Combermere Abbey, a Cistercian monastery which had been endowed on its foundation in 1133 with a large area of land to the south; in 1355, the abbey also acquired the right to appoint the priest of the Baddiley church in exchange for land at Baddiley Grange. [citeweb|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=39977 |title='Houses of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Combermere' in "A History of the County of Chester" (Vol. 3), pp. 150–156 (1980)|publisher="British History Online"|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007] (Baddiley is not, however, included among the lands surrendered to the government when the abbey was dissolved in 1538.) By the 14th century, the manor had passed by marriage to the Bromley, Hondford and Mainwaring families, finally passing solely to the Mainwarings who occupied Baddiley Hall.

The parish formerly had a population of 276 (1801), 281 (1851), 211 (1901) and 219 (1951). Much of the village of Ravensmoor dates from the second half of the 20th century.

Geography and transport

Ravensmoor lies on the eastern boundary of the civil parish, at an elevation of 65 m, around 2¼ miles south west of Nantwich. Nearby settlements include the village of Wrenbury and the hamlets of Acton, Burland, Faddiley and Sound Heath. Most of the civil parish is flat; the western edge, approaching the Weaver valley, is slightly more undulating in character, however, with a maximum elevation of 85 m. The land use is predominantly pasture, with some arable to the west.

The Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal passes through the parish. This stretch of canal immediately south of Hurleston Junction (where the Llangollen branch splits from the main Shropshire Union) has three grade-II-listed locks by J Fletcher and Thomas Telford. Constructed in blue-and-red brick with stone dressing, they date from 1805. [citeweb|url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=56874 |title=Images of England: Baddiley Locks No. 1|work=English Heritage|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007] [citeweb|url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=56875 |title=Images of England: Baddiley Locks No. 2|work=English Heritage|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007] [citeweb|url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=56876 |title=Images of England: Baddiley Locks No. 3|work=English Heritage|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007] The modern brick-and-concrete Baddiley Bridge carries the Nantwich road across the canal east of Baddiley Hulse (at SJ 607 494). There are also three older footbridges in traditional brick serving public rights of way: Halls Lane, Greenfield and an unnamed bridge.

West of Baddiley lie Baddiley Mere, the marshy Hell Hole and the small fishing lake of Baddiley Reservoir, and many smaller meres or ponds dot the countryside. The area is also crossed by the Ravensmoor and Edleston Brooks, and many unnamed tributaries.

Spinners Wood, a small area of mixed woodland (predominantly oak, birch, hazel and holly), planted by local volunteers in March 2000 to commemorate the millennium, stands just outside Ravensmoor (at SJ 620 505). [citeweb|url=http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/344569 |title=Spinners Wood, Ravensmoor|publisher="Geograph"|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007] Baddiley Gorse is a small deciduous wood by the Shropshire Union Canal (at SJ 610 509). [citeweb|url=http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/379548 |title=Shropshire Union at Baddiley Gorse|publisher="Geograph"|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007]

Places of worship

The grade-I-listed St Michael's Church, Baddiley (at SJ 604 502), is a rare example of a timber-framed church. The chancel dates from 1308, [citeweb|url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?&id=56872 |title=Images of England: Church of St. Michael|work=English Heritage|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007] and is one of the oldest timber-framed churches in Europe.cite book | last =Bilsborough | first =Norman | title =The Treasures of Cheshire | publisher =The North West Civic Trust | date =1983 | location =Manchester | pages =151 | isbn =0901347353 ] Only a handful of churches of this type remain in England; [cite book | last = Clifton-Taylor | first =Alec | title =English Parish Churches as Works of Art | publisher =Batsford | date =1974 | location =London | pages =52 | isbn =0713427760] other surviving examples include churches at Lower Peover and Marton (Cheshire), Melverley (Shropshire), Besford (Worcestershire) and Hartley Wespall (Hampshire). [Harris, Richard (1993). "Discovering Timber-framed Buildings" (3rd edn). Princes Risborough: Shire Publications, 89. (ISBN 0-7478-0215-7)]

The parish also contains the Baddiley and Ravensmoor Methodist Church, formerly a Wesleyan Chapel, located in Ravensmoor. Dated 1878, the building is in orange brick with stone dressing and has a prominent circular window and pillars capped with decorative stonework.

Historically, St Mary's at nearby Acton also served part of the civil parish of Baddiley.

Other notable buildings

Other notable buildings within the parish include the grade-II-listed Baddiley Hall, an L-shaped three-storey building in brown brick dating from the late 17th century. [citeweb|url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=56871 |title=Images of England: Baddiley Hall|work=English Heritage|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007] Formerly the manor house of the Mainwaring family, it has been a farmhouse since the 19th century. Several other farmhouses within the parish are also listed, including Springe Lane Hall (early 17th century), [citeweb|url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=56877 |title=Images of England: Springe Lane Hall|work=English Heritage|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007] Crabmill Farmhouse (early 19th century), [citeweb|url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=2&id=56873 |title=Images of England: Crabmill Farmhouse|work=English Heritage|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007] and Baddiley Farmhouse and farmbuildings (c. 1870). [citeweb|url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=56878 |title=Images of England: Baddiley Farmhouse|work=English Heritage|accessdate=31 July|accessyear=2007]

The Farmer's Arms public house stands at the crossroads opposite the village green in the centre of Ravensmoor.

References