Swettenham Explained

Country:England
Official Name:Swettenham
Label Position:top
Map Type:Cheshire
Coordinates:53.2015°N -2.2999°W
Population:291
Population Ref:(2011)
Unitary England:Cheshire East
Region:North West England
Static Image Name:St Peter's Church, Swettenham 2021.jpg
Static Image Caption:St Peter's Church, Swettenham
Constituency Westminster:Congleton
Post Town:Congleton
Postcode District:CW12
Postcode Area:CW
Dial Code:01477
Os Grid Reference:SJ800671

Swettenham is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 Official UK Census, the population of the entire civil parish was 248,[1] increasing to 291 at the 2011 Census.[2] The civil parish includes the hamlet of Kermincham.

The place-name 'Swettenham' is first attested in the Pipe Rolls of 1183, where it appears as Suetenhala. It appears as Swetenham in 1259 in the County Court, City Court and Eyre Rolls of Chester. The name means 'Sweta's homestead'.[3]

Within the parish is the Swettenham Arms pub and restaurant,[4] Kermincham Hall, Swettenham Meadows Nature Reserve (managed by Cheshire Wildlife Trust[5]) and the Lovell Quinta Arboretum (managed by Tatton Garden Society since 2003[6]). The arboretum was founded by astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell, who lived at Swettenham from 1948 until his death in 2012.

The parish is separated from the adjoining parish of Brereton by the River Dane to the south. The parish is bounded by Lower Withington to the north, Marton and Somerford Booths to the east, and Twemlow to the west.[7] The Dane Valley Way long-distance footpath passes through the village on its route from Buxton to Northwich.

St Peter's Church

See main article: St Peter's Church, Swettenham. The parish church of St Peter is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester. A Saxon cross, discovered during 19th-century excavations, is displayed in an alcove but the oldest surviving part of the church is the cruck-framed sanctuary, dating from approximately 1260. The nave was added in around 1500, and the church was encased in brick in 1722, at which time the brick tower was added.[8]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=792547&c=Swettenham&d=16&e=15&g=427933&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779 Official 2001 Census Figures.
  2. Web site: Civil Parish population 2011. 14 March 2016. Office for National Statistics. Neighbourhood Statistics.
  3. Book: Ekwall, Eilert . Eilert Ekwall . The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names . 1936 . 456 . OUP.
  4. Web site: The Swettenham Arms . Individual Inns . 8 November 2021.
  5. Web site: Swettenham Valley . Cheshire Wildlife Trust . 24 November 2020.
  6. Web site: The Lovell Quinta Arboretum . Tatton Garden Society . 17 August 2018.
  7. Ordnance Survey . 268 Wilmslow, Macclesfield & Congleton . 1:25000 . Explorer .
  8. Book: Baker, Michael . The Parish Church of St Peter, Swettenham . n.d. . Church leaflet.