Noctorum

NOCTORUM, a township, in the parish of Woodchurch, union, and Lower division of the hundred, of Wirrall, S. division of the county of Chester, 1½ mile (W. by S.) from Birkenhead; containing 30 inhabitants. From the Domesday survey, this manor, then called "Chenotrie," appears to have been granted to the barons of Nantwich, by whom, shortly afterwards, it was alienated to Richard de Praers. It was given by him, under the name of "Knocktirum," to the monks of St. Werburgh, who held it till the Dissolution, when it was appropriated to the new diocese of Chester; and falling, with the principal possessions of the Dean and Chapter, into the hands of the Cottons, it was finally surrendered to the crown, and granted, 35th of Elizabeth, to the Harpur family. The estate was subsequently purchased by the Crosses, of Lancashire, who sold it to the Chauntrells; and from them it passed, also by purchase, to Dr. Wilson, prebendary of Westminster, under whose will it was acquired by the Pattens. In 1844 John Wilson Patten, Esq., sold the property to William Vaudrey, Esq., of Liverpool, for £37,000. The township comprises 327 acres, of a clayey soil, and is farmed to one person.