News & Notices



Posted 1 June 2023

As part of Chester's Heritage Festival, there will be a walk of Chester's Walls, talking about the Great Siege of 1643-46, the Battle of Rowton Moor, and how Langdale got his cavalry across the Dee, apparently unnoticed by his foes.
The date : Saturday 24th June, starting from King Charles' Tower at 10.30 am, at gentle pace, we should conclude at the High Cross about 12.30. The walk is free, but donations to Battlefields Trust would be welcome. As part of the Festival, Chester Castle should be open to the public too. Because of various flights of steps, the Walls Walk is not wheelchair - friendly, unfortunately.   Booking is not necessary.

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Posted 15 January 2022

A new book is now available via Amazon Books UK - 'The Norman Earls of Chester and their Barons'. In addition to chapters on each of the seven earls and the barons there are sections on the creation of the forests and avowries in Cheshire. It also contains some useful appendices on the Domesday holdings of the first earl of Chester and his barons in the county and elsewhere in England, along with a 16/17th century poem on the 'doings' of the earls. 

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Posted 17 September 2021

It is with regret that we must report the sad death of Morris Garratt.

He was well known in local history circles across the North West - a most knowledgeable gentleman and a good friend.

He was a longstanding member of the executive committee of the Cheshire Local History Association and its precursor the local history committee of Cheshire Community Council.  He made a significant contribution to local history in the North West.  He was a local studies librarian by profession and had a long association with many local history societies particularly Stockport Historical and the Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian societies as well as Bramhall Hall.  He will be missed.

The funeral service will take place on Friday 24 September 2021 at Stockport Crematorium and a memorial to his late wife Eileen who passed away during the pandemic.

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Posted 23 October 2020

Cheshire Historic Environment Record (HER) holds information on a wide range of historic sites, buildings, finds, and landscape of Cheshire, Warrington and Halton. Information is held on a database and linked geographical system.  It holds reports of surveys, excavations, published and unpublished material and aerial photographs.

HERs are a primary source for planning, development control and land management, and a great starting point for anyone researching the history of an area or building. There are these options for accessing information :    www.cheshirearchaeology.org.uk  also  www.heritagegateway.org.uk and the HERs direct email below. 

Pre–pandemic, it was possible to arrange an appointment to see source material, at Cheshire Historic Environment Record, The Forum, Chester CH1 2HS. Tel. 01244 973667 / 973997 where the contact was Moya Watson. In the absence of staff to answer telephones, email enquiries to hbsmradmin@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk, and also note that the National Library of Scotland has historic maps countrywide, accessible via https://maps.nls.uk/.   For the moment, online searching is likely to be the best way forward, and if you email a question, response times may be longer than usual.  You may also find that the oldest records are the least detailed, and the more recent ones the more complete.

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Posted 16 July 2019

With great sadness, we report the death of Mrs Hilary Morris, who convened the meeting which founded Cheshire Local History Association in 1998 and was elected its first chairman. She has been a wise and steadfast presence at the Association’s meetings ever since, while also maintaining her own local historical research. Among many other activities, Hilary was a pillar of Burton & Neston History Society and one of the driving forces behind its vibrant series of publications. Her funeral is to be at Christ Church, Willaston, on Monday 22 July 2019 at 1pm.

A fuller obituary will appear in next year’s Cheshire History.

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Posted 9 April 2019

News about Cheshire Archives and Local Studies

The excellent CALS tithe maps website has improved even further with a complete redesign.  However the address for it has changed - it is now https://maps.cheshireeast.gov.uk/tithemaps/

Some of the pages of the CALS website have changed addresses.  The homepage is at http://www.cheshirearchives.org.uk/home.aspx

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