The Parish Plan for the Civil Parish of Tarvin, Chester
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Tarvin Parish Plan 2011 Your Community - Your Future Foreword In May 2009 Tarvin Parish Council hosted a public meeting in Tarvin Methodist Church to seek support from the public present to create a Parish Plan for Tarvin. The overwhelming response was positive and it was decided to form a Parish Plan Steering Group with local volunteers to undertake the process. There are in existence over 50 Parish Plans in Cheshire and many more at various stages of completion. The driving force behind them all, and that of Tarvin, was Bron Kerrigan from Cheshire Community Action, to whom we are all very much indebted. To seek views and comments from the Tarvin community, the Steering Group produced a questionnaire delivered to over 1200 households in Tarvin Parish in July 2010. In October 2010 we formed three working groups; Community, Economy and Environment to analyse all the responses and the comments received through the questionnaire, to describe in detail what the views represented and to formulate Action Plans to achieve the desired solutions which appear in the Tarvin Parish Plan. The Tarvin Parish Plan is the result of many people’s actions, all of which have been volunteered to achieve a common goal to preserve the benefits we enjoy. The action plans will be taken forward by “Parish Plan Implementation Groups” to seek the improvements requested by our community for generations to come. I sincerely thank all the past and present members of the Steering Group, the various Working Groups, and all the other volunteers, for all their hard work, commitment and enthusiasm. I would also like to thank all the householders who took the time and effort to return their questionnaires and for their comments. This document, the Tarvin Parish Plan, is not the end but the start of the improvement process. Phillip Miles - Chairman, Tarvin Parish Plan Steering Group, Sept 2011 2 Contents Foreword 2 Welcome 4 Steering Group Committee 5 The Parish 6-11 Tarvin Parish Surveys 12-13 Working Groups 14 Environment 15-20 Economy 20-23 Community 23-26 Action Plans 27-32 Acknowledgments 3 Welcome Welcome to the Parish Plan for the civil parish of Tarvin, Chester. Tarvin Parish includes not only the village of Tarvin but also the hamlets of Oscroft and Stapleford, and the smaller settlements of Duddon Heath and Tarvin Sands. The Tarvin Parish Plan (TPP) represents the views The TPP has been produced by the Tarvin Parish and comments received from 30% of households Plan Steering Group (TPPSG) formed in 2009 in Tarvin Parish. from volunteers living within the community. In drawing up this document, the Steering Group This document is based on research and analysis has striven to reflect the views of all our received from responses to the TPP residents who have been given as much questionnaire, the Tarvin Primary School mini- opportunity as possible to contribute to the questionnaire, the Business questionnaire, and the consultation process. views expressed by Tarvin residents at a number of Public Meetings and Tarvin Christmas Fair. It represents the hopes and aspirations of the community and we hope you will enjoy reading it. 4 Steering Group Committee The proposal to create a Tarvin Parish Plan was Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer and up to 15 announced by the Parish Council at a Public members all of whom are volunteers living in Meeting in May 2009. Those present supported Tarvin Parish. the proposal and volunteers from the public were invited to form a Steering Group, supported by Since then, the Steering Group Committee has the Parish Council, with the task of creating the met virtually every month, held one Public Tarvin Parish Plan. Meeting to advise the results of the surveys and formed 3 Working Groups, with additional The Tarvin Parish Plan Steering Group (TPPSG) volunteers to meet independently of TPPSG, to held its first meeting in November 2009. We analyse the responses and comments. quickly established a Constitution and formed a It is only appropriate that you know who they Committee to include a Chairman,Vice- are: Jo Banks Cathy Hones Grenville Phillips Hilary Banner Roger Hones Eric Plenderleath Mary Burgess Duncan Howarth Debbie Ridley Alan Chesters Karin Howarth Greg Ridley Pat Coy Sarah Kirby David Smeatham Libby Dilliway-Parry Rachael Lloyd Brian Spruce Margaret Dixon Jane Lush PC Steve Trow Sarah Evans Ted Lush Mike Tyrie Adam Friend Hazel Manning Iris Weaver Ron Fuller Sophie Marks Sam Weaver Jim Grogan Anna Mellor Jim Wigan Brian Hardacre Fi Miles Cyril Williams Sue Hardacre Kath Miles Dave Williams Karen Hemmings Phil Miles Ray Williams Steve Hemmings Joan Millar Mark Wyatt Hazel Hildreth Christine Oliver Steve Hildreth Kelvin Oliver 5 The Parish Tarvin Parish is located five miles east of Chester. Its Northwich and Chester, and between Nantwich and boundary extends to the parish boundaries of Horton Crewe to Chester. cum Peel and Kelsall in the north, Willington, Pryors Hayes and Duddon in the east, Bruen Stapleford, The parish today has a population in excess of 2693 Hockenhull and Cotton Edmunds in the south, and (2001 census) most of whom live in Tarvin township Barrow in the west. which provides a mixture of housing. The High Street has a number of medieval andVictorian buildings Tarvin Parish extends to approximately 17 sq miles whilst the immediate surrounds include a number of and includes, in addition to the township of Tarvin, the 20th century estates with a mixture of terraced, semi- hamlets of Austin’s Hill, Broombank, Old Moss, detached and detached private dwellings. Hamlets Oscroft, Tarvin Sands (part), Weetwood and Willington offer countryside living in renovated cottages and Corner (part). The predominant landscape farm buildings as well as single new-build surrounding the village is of medium scale pastoral developments. fields typical of this part of Cheshire. There are pleasant views over agricultural countryside towards the mid-Cheshire sandstone ridge to the east and over the plain to the River Mersey estuary and the Clwydian Range to the north and west. A settlement has existed on the site of modern Tarvin since long before the Domesday Survey of 1086, when it was one of the highest populated manors in Cheshire. In his book ‘The Place Names of Cheshire’, J McN. The western and southern boundaries of Tarvin Dodgson suggests that the name may be derived from township are defined by the two major roads the Welsh for a boundary. proceeding east from the city of Chester. These are the A54(T) from Chester to Manchester, and the The Roman road between Chester and Manchester A51(T) from Chester to Nantwich. These provide ran through Stamford Bridge but passed to the north swift access to the M53, M56 and the M6, as well as of Tarvin village. The Chester to Nantwich road only the international airports at Liverpool and came through Tarvin when it was turnpiked after Manchester, and to the mainline railway stations at 1769. Prior to that, the route followed either the Chester and Crewe. Tarvin has a regular public pack trail and salt route via Hockenhull Platts or the transport service with buses every half-hour between coach track via Waverton and Stapleford. 6 The oldest buildings in Tarvin are St Andrew’s Church for the widening of the streets and construction of and Holme Street Hall. The south aisle of the church new houses, which form the heart of Tarvin as we was built in the 13th or early 14th century, and Holme know it today. Street Hall is early 17th century, probably the oldest continuously occupied building in Tarvin. The premises currently occupied by the fish and chip shop was built in 1753 as an inn, The Flaggs and Hamilton House on Church Street were built in 1756 and the Red Lion Inn rebuilt about 1756. The George and Dragon was built at the end of the 18th century and refurbished in the 21st century. Tarvin Hall was constructed sometime before 1776 replacing an earlier building. In the 19th century theVictorians built their private villas in the village centre and extended outside the village envelope on the main road to Chester and at Tarvin Sands. Workers’ cottages (shown below) were built in Lower High Street for those employed in agriculture including blacksmiths, carters, shoemakers, millers and wheelwrights. St Andrew’s Church, pictured above, displays a fine collection of artifacts discovered across Tarvin Parish dating from pre-historic times through to the recent past, and includes one of the few Saxon Crosses discovered in Cheshire. Tarvin was a Royalist strongpoint in the Civil War and St Andrew’s Church still bears shot marks on the west wall (For further reading we suggest “Tarvin, The History of a CheshireVillage” published by Tarvin Local History Group.) There have been shops and rural businesses located in Tarvin for at least four hundred years but little is known about its appearance prior to the Great Fire of 1752. The Great Fire of Tarvin broke out on the last day of April 1752. Within a couple of hours the greater part of the village burnt down, leaving the timber framed In the immediate pre-war developments of the 1930s buildings of Church Cottages and Bull’s Cottage there was a need for modern housing for those (opposite Tarvin Hall) standing at its extremities. working in agriculture and industry. This demand was The clearance of the old buildings in Tarvin village met by Tarvin Rural District Council, initially by centre provided the Georgians with an opportunity building on Hockenhull Lane and the Heath 7 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 TarvinVillage Centre was designated as a Conservation Area on 8th February 1973.