Bradwall
Bradwall is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, about northwest of Sandbach in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, and about south of Manchester. According to the 2011 census, the population of the entire parish was 182. The area is predominantly agricultural, with no manufacturing or retail outlets.
The village is not mentioned in the 11th-century Domesday survey, but from the 13th century gained notability as the manorial estate of Richard de Bradwall and his successors, including the families of Venables, Berington and Oldfield. From the early 19th century, it became the seat of the Latham family of Bradwall who resided at Bradwall Hall until its demolition in the early 20th century.
Bradwall hosts social events at the Village Hall, horse trial competitions at Manor farm, and coarse fishing at Field Farm Fisheries. The Wesleyan Chapel Methodist Church has been the only place of worship since 1882 and closed in September 2013. The manufacturer of Foden Trucks and their award-winning Fodens Motor Works Band, were based in Bradwall until a boundary change in 1936 placed them in the adjacent parish of Sandbach.
History
Place name
Bradwall is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, completed in 1086 for William I of England, at which time the area was thought to be uncultivated moorland between Brereton and Warmingham, that formed part of the southern boundary of the Barony of Kinderton, the historic name of Middlewich.The township derives its name from the Old English word brāde, meaning broad, and wælla meaning spring. Variant spellings include : Brade-, -wal, -wale, -walle, Bradwall, Bradwell, Brodwall, Beatwall, Broadwall, Bardwell, and, Bradwell. The name was also associated with the local hamlet of Hollinsgreen, where it was referred to as Bradwall et Hollins, and Bradwall cum Hollins. Today, the township also lends its name to the hamlet of Bradwall Green.
Archaeological finds
There is evidence of Bronze Age and Roman activity in the area. A Late Bronze Age axe head dating to around 1000-801 BC was found near Fields Farm Fisheries in Bradwall. Around a thousand Roman coins dating from not earlier than 270 AD were discovered in 1820, on the eastern side of Bradwall, a short distance from the Brindley Moor's Farm and about four miles direct from the Roman station at Kinderton, at a point where a small brook is crossed by the footpath from Brereton to Sandbach. Discovered by a mole-catcher, the coins included examples of denarii of Gallienus, Claudius II, Tetricus, Victorinus, and Diocletian. The remains of part of a Roman road, are also thought to have been discovered near the western side of Bradwall, by Boothlane, towards the west of Sandbach, and near King Street. Since the 1936 parish boundary changes, the road's location is now in Elworth on Roman Way in Sandbach Parish.Manor of Bradwall
The first records that mention Bradwall are from about the 13th century, when the Venables family of Kinderton divided the manorial estate of Bradwall into two parts or "moieties". Several families have been associated with either the Manor, or the more recent country seat at Bradwall Hall, including:| Approx. date | Family | Notable people |
| 13th–14th centuries | Bradwall of Bradwall |
|
| 14th century | Venables of Bradwall | |
| 14th–16th centuries | Berington of Moresbarrow and Bradwall | |
| 16th–18th centuries | Oldfield of Bradwall | |
| 18th–19th centuries | Ward, and Jervis, of Bradwall | |
| 19th century | Latham of Bradwall | |
| 20th century | Barlow Baronetcy of Bradwall Hall |
Seat of Bradwall
The country seat of Bradwall is thought to have been originally on the west side of the parish, within a rectangular moat with a large pool, with the name Hallfields, near Hollins Wood. Hall Field next to Hollins Wood is also found on 19th-century tithe maps. At some later time, the seat moved eastwards to Bradwall Hall.Bradwall Hall
Located nearer the middle of the parish, Bradwall Hall was the seat of the Latham Family. Recorded as early as 1803, the Hall is described as "a large white house with no architectural features of interest, is said by Dr. George Ormerod to have been 'a large building of brick, finished with gables, at the end of an avenue of firs and evergreens,' which had been enlarged and modernised from time to time". Following the 19th-century decline of the English country house, Bradwall Hall was demolished on 16 October 1960, blown up by the 214 Field Squadron of the Royal Engineers, although one of its cottages and the coach-house remain, and they are now Grade II listed buildings, dated by English Heritage to the 17th century.Bradwall Reformatory School for Boys
Bradwall Reformatory School was built by George William Latham on his own property at Bradwall Hall, in 1855, and aimed to reform delinquent boys through the use of an industrial labour apprenticeship. A report to the House of Commons in 1861 reported that:Notable detainees included two eight-year-old boys, Peter Barratt and James Bradley, who on 11 April 1861 abducted and killed two-year-old George Burgess. They were charged with manslaughter, and sentenced by the judge Sir Charles Crompton to be sent to the Reformatory at Bradwall, which "was to rank as the most enlightened and successful institution of its kind in the country". Another detainee was one Joshua Tolley who was sent to Bradwall in 1871 at the age of eight. He was in and out of reform school until the age of 16, but as a persistent offender, served sentences in Knutsford and Dartmoor prisons.
George William Latham's cousin, Charles Latham was surgeon to the Bradwall Reformatory from its foundation until his retirement in 1903. The school was renamed Bradwall Training School in 1908, and closed in 1920. The buildings are now Grade II listed, converted into cottages.
Economic history
Historically, Bradwall has been farming and pasture land with the majority of people working in agriculture. The 1881 Census notes that nearly 20% of the residents were in agriculture followed by nearly 12% in domestic service; 43% had an unknown, or non-specific occupation. The 1902 Kelly's Directory of Cheshire, noted that in Bradwall, "the crops are oats, roots, wheat and rye. The land is chiefly pasture", and that commercially, there are a total of 15 farmers, one blacksmith and the superintendent of the Reformatory School.Geography
Bradwall is a village and parish council in southeast Cheshire in the northwest of England. As the crow flies, the Irish Sea is about northwest, Manchester city centre is about north, the county capital Chester is west, the Peak District is east, Stoke on Trent is southeast, and London is southeast.Locally, Bradwall is a mile north of Sandbach parish council, northeast of Crewe, southeast of Middlewich, south of Holmes Chapel, and west of Congleton. The Parish covers Somewhat irregular in shape, it extends about east-west, and north-south. The land is slightly undulating, at an elevation of about in the northwest, rising to about in the southeast. Wooded areas included Barlow Wood, Bradwall Wood, Denman Wood and Hollins Wood.
A handful of brooks flow throughout the parish, the most notable being the so-called Small Brook which flows into Sanderson's Brook in the adjacent Sproston Parish. The River Croco is about a north of Bradwall, and the River Wheelock about away from the southwest boundary of Bradwall. Both rivers join the River Dane in Middlewich, which itself flows about north,. The Environment Agency indicates that the Small Brook may be subject to occasional, but not extensive flooding.
Bradwall parish also includes the hamlets of Bradwall Green in the east, and Hollinsgreen in the west, which used to be called Hollins, and Bradwall-cum-Hollins, that was noted for a 16th-century water-powered corn mill. There also used to be a hamlet called Hope in the parish.
Climate
Following the rest of United Kingdom and its parent county, Cheshire, Bradwall has an oceanic climate influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, and also by its altitude due to its proximity to the Pennines.See also: Average temperature chart, Precipitation chart, and Wind speed chart