Waverton, Cheshire

infobox UK place
official_name= Waverton
map_type= Cheshire
latitude= 53.173426
longitude= -2.814412
population= 1,560 (2001 Census)
civil_parish= Waverton
shire_district= Chester
shire_county= Cheshire
region= North West England
country= England
constituency_westminster= Eddisbury
post_town= CHESTER
postcode_district= CH3
postcode_area= CH
dial_code= 01244
os_grid_reference= SJ456643

Waverton is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. It lies about 5 km south east of Chester. It is almost continuous with the village of Rowton to the north west and that in turn is almost, but not quite, continuous with Christleton. [Ordnance Survey Map, 2005, 1:25000scale. Sheet 266 ("Wirral and Chester/Caer")] Rowton, however, is in the neighbouring civil parish of Christleton.

According to the 2001 Census, the population was 1,560.citeweb|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=792519&c=Waverton&d=16&e=15&g=427772&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779|title=2001 Census: Waverton|work=Office for National Statistics|accessdate=5 May|accessyear=2007] This was made up of 756 males, and 804 femailes, living in 660 households.

The settlement was named "Wavretone" in the Domesday Book, where it was said to be in the Dudestan Hundred. The name was first given as "Waverton" in 1260, having been called "Waueretone" in 1150, and "Wauertone" in 1100. The origin of the name is not certain.citebook|last=Scholes|first=R.|date=2000|title=Towns and Villages of Britain: Cheshire|publisher=Sigma Press: Wilmslow, Cheshire|isbn=1-85058-637-3]

There is one parish church: St. Peter's. The roof of the nave has been dated to 1665. The tower, on the west end of the building, is built in the Perpendicular Style and possess a nineteenth century pyramidal roof. Although the church was restored in the 1880s, the chancel's timber framing, the windows, and clerestory are all original.

The Shropshire Union Canal (originally Chester Canal) runs through the middle of Waverton. A railway line runs half a kilometre west of the village but there is no longer any railway station. This line has Chester as the nearest station to the north-west, and Crewe as the nearest station to the south-east. It carries passengers on the North Wales Coast Line which runs between Crewe, Chester and North Wales, and is named Route 22 on Network Rail's 2006 reorganisation. Services on this line are offered by Arriva Trains Wales, and, as the "London to Holyhead" spur of the West Coast Main Line route, by Virgin Trains.

Waverton is home to the Waverton Good Read Award founded in 2003 for first-time UK novelists.

References

External links

* [http://www.wavertonvillage.info Waverton website]