Willington

WILLINGTON, an extra-parochial district, locally in the parish of Tarvtn, union of Great Boughton, Second division of the hundred of Eddisbury, S. division of the county of Chester, 1½ mile (S. by E.) from Kelsall; containing 103 inhabitants. It is situated on the south-west side of Delamere Forest, and comprises 977a. 3r. 17p., of which, deducting 30 acres of wood, two-thirds are pasture and one-third arable land, mostly the property of Colonel Tomkinson. The upland is a strong red loamy soil, adapted to the culture of potatoes, of which great quantities are grown for the Manchester market, a hundred bushels being now produced where thirty years ago there was but one bushel. In the lower part of the township, the soil is a strong clay, and excellent cheese is made. Red stone and sandstone are quarried. The mansion of Colonel Tomkinson, standing on the borders of the forest, is a modern and elegant building in the Elizabethan style. For the performance of ecclesiastical rites the inhabitants resort to the church of St. Oswald, Chester. The tithes on 327¾ acres are paid to the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield; 620 acres are tithe-free. A school for boys and girls is supported by Col. Tomkinson.