Grappenhall (original) (raw)

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Human settlement in England

Grappenhall
Parr Arms and St Wilfrid's Church
Grappenhall is located in CheshireGrappenhallGrappenhallLocation within Cheshire
Population 9,651
OS grid reference SJ639863
Civil parish Grappenhall and Thelwall
Unitary authority Warrington
Ceremonial county Cheshire
Region North West
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town WARRINGTON
Postcode district WA4
Dialling code 01925
Police Cheshire
Fire Cheshire
Ambulance North West
UK Parliament Warrington South
List of places UK England Cheshire 53°22′23″N 2°32′35″W / 53.373°N 2.543°W / 53.373; -2.543

Grappenhall is a village within the civil parish of Grappenhall and Thelwall in the Borough of Warrington in Cheshire, England. The parish had a population of 9,377 at the 2001 census,[1] 9,687 at the 2011 census,[2] and 9,651 at the 2021 census.[3]

Grappenhall is first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 with the name Gropenhale and with a valuation of five shillings.

Sandstone carving of a 'Cheshire Cat', St Wilfrid's Church

St Wilfrid's Church has a carving of a cat on the west face of the tower. This may have been Lewis Carroll's inspiration for the grinning Cheshire Cat in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.[4] The church itself was first constructed in 1120, though was rebuilt 400 years later. The church was also, at a time, in the possession of the Boidelle (Boydell) family.[_citation needed_]

Along with the church, the centre of the village contains two pubs, the Parr Arms and the Ram's Head, and Grappenhall Hall Residential School (closed down) and St Wilfrid's Primary School. Bradshaw Community Primary School is located north of the village centre.

On 1 April 1936 the parish of Thelwall was abolished and merged with Grappenhall,[5] on 1 April 1974 the merged parish was renamed "Grappenhall and Thelwall".[6] In 1931 the parish of Grappenhall (prior to the merge) had a population of 2449.[7]

Grappenhall Heys Walled Garden is near the village.[8]Grappenhall is home to the 25th Warrington East (St Wilfred's) Scout Troop.[9]

There is a cricket ground, which is the home of Grappenhall Cricket Club.[10] Australian cricketer Steve Smith was signed for the club for five weeks in 2007, when he was 17.[11]

The Grappenhall Community library is a community-run library in the village. It was opened by the local authority in 1959 before being handed over to the Friends of Grappenhall Library after closure on 2 April 2011[12][13] due to local authority cuts.[14] The library is run by the Friends of the Grappenhall library who pay £10 a year to help with its upkeep.[15]

Parts of the Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes were filmed in the centre of Grappenhall.[16] The village name appears in the title of the song "Grappenhall Rag", by the Darwen singer-songwriter Bryn Haworth.[17]

  1. ^ 2001 Census: Grappenhall and Thelwall civil parish, Office for National Statistics, archived from the original on 6 March 2016, retrieved 10 June 2007
  2. ^ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish (E04000325)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics.
  3. ^ "Grappenhall and Thelwall". www.citypopulation.de/. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  4. ^ History, St Wilfrid's Church, Grappenhall, retrieved 9 January 2021
  5. ^ "Relationships and changes Thelwall CP/Ch through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Warringtin Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Population statistics Grappenhall AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Grappenhall Heys Walled Garden". Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council. 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  9. ^ "25th Warrington East Scout Group » History". Grappenhallscouts.org.uk. 3 August 1914. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Grappenhall Cricket Club". Grappers.com. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  11. ^ "Cheshire village cricket club recalls 'homesick' Steve Smith". BBC News. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  12. ^ "A brief history of Grappenhall Library". grappenhall.org.uk. Grappenhall Community Library. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  13. ^ "Grappenhall Community Library". Community Knowledge Hub. 21 January 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  14. ^ "Grappenhall villagers win campaign to take ownership of former council library". warringtonguardian.co.uk. The Warrington Guardian. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  15. ^ "Community libraries: 10 case studies" (PDF). locality.org.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  16. ^ "Filming Location Matching "Grappenhall, Warrington, Cheshire, England, UK" (Sorted by Popularity Ascending)". IMDb. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  17. ^ "Bryn Haworth Grappenhall Rag". YouTube. 20 November 2012. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2013.