Hooton, Cheshire

infobox UK place
country= England
official_name= Hooton
map_type= Cheshire
latitude= 53.2996
longitude= -2.9558
population=
shire_district= Ellesmere Port and Neston
shire_county= Cheshire
region= North West England
constituency_westminster= Ellesmere Port and Neston
post_town= ELLESMERE PORT
postcode_district= CH66
postcode_area= CH
dial_code= 0151
os_grid_reference= SJ363784 Hooton is a village in Cheshire, England in the south of the Wirral Peninsula near Ellesmere Port. It is part of the district of Ellesmere Port and Neston.

History

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Sir William Stanley obtained a licence to crenellate in 1487 but built a half timbered manor house which survived until 1788 when it was demolished. The old house was replaced by a mansion called "Hooton Hall", built from local stone from the quarries at Storeton. Hooton Hall was designed by the architect Samuel Wyatt in the Italian Palladian style for the fifth Baronet, Sir William Stanley. The family sold the estate in the nineteenth century after Sir Massey Stanley had gone bankrupt due to his high living. It was used during the First World War as a military hospital, but was demolished in 1935. In 1917 Hooton Park airfield was built to train pilots from Canada and the United States. The Second World War saw the airfield utilised as a military base, and three RAF auxiliary squadrons were based there until disbandment in 1957. Much of the airfield (including the site of the Hall) was transformed in 1962 into a factory for Vauxhall Motors. The Hooton Park Trust was formed in 2000 with the aim of restoring the remaining Grade II* listed hangars, but with little success to date.

Until 1933, Hooton was part of the parish of Eastham in the Wirral Hundred. The population was 91 in 1801, 110 in 1851 and 200 in 1901. [citeweb|url=http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/chs/hooton.html|work=GENUKI UK & Ireland Genealogy|title=Cheshire Towns & Parishes: Hooton|accessdate=9 June|accessyear=2008]

Transport

Hooton railway station lies on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network with frequent electric trains to Liverpool, and is also near the junction of the branches to Chester and Ellesmere Port.

Hooton is near the M53 motorway and the A41 trunk road, between Birkenhead and Chester, passes through the area.

References

External links

* [http://www.multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?X=337500&Y=378600&scale=10000 Aerial photo with site of Hooton Hall in the centre]
* [http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=336500&y=378500&z=3&sv=336500,378500&st=4&ar=N&dn=832 Map of the area]