Frodsham, Cheshire
Historical Description
Frodsham, a small town, a township, a lordship, and a parish in Cheshire. The town stands on an eminence at the .foot of the hills forming the northern extremity of Delamere Forest, near the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Mersey, and the Manchester Ship Canal, 4 miles SW of Runcorn, 9 SE of Liverpool, and 10 NE of Chester. It has a stationon the L. & N.W. and Birkenhead railways, and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Warrington. It consists chiefly of two long and well-paved streets, intersecting' each other at right angles. At the east end is a stone bridge over the Weaver, and at the west end stood Frods-bam Castle, supposed to have been of Norman origin, given by Edward I. to David, the brother of Llewelyn, the last sovereign prince of Wales, given afterwards to the Savages, Earl Rivers, and burnt in 1642. A handsome modern house occupies the site of the castle. Fairs are held on the last Tuesday in April and the last Thursday in Oct. There is a town-hall, a bank, and a Conservative club. There is a mission church, and chapels for Wesleyans, Primitive, and Free Methodists. The town is well supplied with water. Beacon Hill, adjacent to it, was formerly surmounted by a beacon, is traversed round the brow by a fine walk, commanding a rich and extensive view. A place called Frodsham Bridge on the Mersey, abouta mile from the town, has a bridge over the Mersey, and a post, money order, a,nd telegraph office under Warrington. Area of Frodsham township, 2426 acres; of Frodsham lordship, 2622 acres. There are also 29 acres which are common to both-township and lordship. Population of township, 3333; of lordship, 1513. The lordship of Frodsham adjoins the township on the NE, and consists of the hamlets of Bradley, Ketherton, Overton, and Woodhouses. The manor was held by the successive owners of Frodsham Castle, and passed to the Earl of Cholmondeley. Many of the inhabitants are employed in salt works, flour mills, cotton manufacture, amd stone quarries. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Chester; net value, £330 with residence. Patron, Christ Church, Oxford. The church stands on the hill adjacent to the town, is within Overton hamlet, and is partly Norman; it was restored in 1882.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Cheshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Frodsham St. Lawrence | |
Hundred | Eddisbury | |
Poor Law union | Runcorn |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Frodsham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Frodsham (St. Lawrence))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Cheshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Frodsham are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Cheshire papers online:
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Cheshire, 1580 is available on the Heraldry page.