Grappenhall

Grappenhall
Parr Arms and St Wilfrid's Church
Grappenhall
Location within Cheshire
Population9,651 
OS grid referenceSJ639863
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWARRINGTON
Postcode districtWA4
Dialling code01925
PoliceCheshire
FireCheshire
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament

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]

History

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

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.

Along with the church, the centre of the village contains three pubs, the Parr Arms, the Ram's Head and the Bellhouse.[5] The Grappenhall Hall Residential School (closed down) and St Wilfrid's Primary School and 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,[6] on 1 April 1974 the merged parish was renamed "Grappenhall and Thelwall".[7] In 1931 the parish of Grappenhall (prior to the merge) had a population of 2449.[8]

Leisure

Grappenhall Heys Walled Garden is near the village.[9] Grappenhall is home to the 25th Warrington East (St Wilfred's) Scout Troop.[10]

Sport

There is a cricket ground, which is the home of Grappenhall Cricket Club.[11] Australian cricketer Steve Smith was signed for the club for five weeks in 2007, when he was 17.[12]

Library

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[13][14] due to local authority cuts.[15] The library is run by the Friends of the Grappenhall library who pay £10 a year to help with its upkeep.[16]

Parts of the Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes were filmed in the centre of Grappenhall.[17] The village name appears in the title of the song "Grappenhall Rag", by the Darwen singer-songwriter Bryn Haworth.[18]

Notable people

Grappenhall is the birthplace of actor and singer Tim Curry (born 19 April 1946).[19]

See also

References

  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". Citypopulation.de/. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  4. ^ History, St Wilfrid's Church, Grappenhall, retrieved 9 January 2021
  5. ^ "Home page". The Bellhouse Bar. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  6. ^ "Relationships and changes Thelwall CP/Ch through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Warringtin Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Population statistics Grappenhall AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Grappenhall Heys Walled Garden". Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council. 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  10. ^ "25th Warrington East Scout Group » History". Grappenhallscouts.org.uk. 3 August 1914. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  11. ^ "Grappenhall Cricket Club". Grappers.com. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  12. ^ "Cheshire village cricket club recalls 'homesick' Steve Smith". BBC News. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  13. ^ "A brief history of Grappenhall Library". Grappenhall.org.uk. Grappenhall Community Library. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  14. ^ "Grappenhall Community Library". Community Knowledge Hub. 21 January 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  15. ^ "Grappenhall villagers win campaign to take ownership of former council library". Warringtonguardian.co.uk. The Warrington Guardian. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  16. ^ "Community libraries: 10 case studies" (PDF). locality.org.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  17. ^ "Filming Location Matching "Grappenhall, Warrington, Cheshire, England, UK" (Sorted by Popularity Ascending)". IMDb. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  18. ^ "Bryn Haworth Grappenhall Rag". YouTube. 20 November 2012. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  19. ^ Whittaker, Jim (1998). Cosmic Light: The Birth of a Cult Classic. Acme Books. p. 31. LCCN 98232656. Timothy James Curry was born in Cheshire, England, on April 19, 1946, the son of a Methodist Navy chaplain who died when Curry was twelve.
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