Important dates in Audlem's history

We have been asked to make a couple of changes to the List of Important Dates on AudlemOnline.

These changes follow new information, we are told, from an enthusiast now armed with a new computer who has added the fact that the Police Station was built in 1901 and a change to details about the last Audlem blacksmiths who both died in 1947.

As there are parts of AudlemOnline that rarely come to the notice of many regular readers, we thought it might be of interest to reproduce the whole list of dates which was originally compiled by Dinah Andrew and Pam Seddon – since modified by the webteam with the addition of some recent dates.

These dates can always be found in the Tourism & Heritage section which can be reached by clicking on the large Tourism banner on the Homepage.

If you spot an item that may need updating, or something of note not included, please let us know and, after verification by a distinguished team of archivists and local historians, all will be put right.

Important Dates in Audlem's History

1086 Domesday Survey
1135 Combermere Abbey founded for the monks of St Benedict
1250 Audlem kiln operating in an area near the current butcher's shop
1278 Audlem St James' Church founded
1296 Market Charter granted
1310 Court cases translated by Paul Booth
1348-9 The Black Death
1340-1500 Only names of Church incumbents known
1510 Ball Farm built at Hankelow
1539 Dissolution of the Monasteries (Combermere Abbey bought by Cotton)
1554 Vicarage built, at the corner of Vicarage Lane
1557 Audlem Parish Registers start
1586 Geoffrey Whitney, the Elizabethan poet, wrote "Emblems" in which he acknowledged his debt to a school in Audlem (the first known reference to a school in Audlem)
1586 Highfields built
1616 Black and white houses built (eg Moss Hall)
1621 Bridge built over the River Weaver
1632 New vicarage built replacing the original vicarage which stood at the corner of Vicarage Lane, opposite the church steps.
1644 19 May, a skirmish at Moss Hall Fields during the Civil War
1650 The Barns built, School Lane
1653 Date on Buerton windmill showed J Jones as the miller
1653 Buerton Old House built and Rose Cottage
1655 The Free Grammar School opened
1668 Hearth Tax records
1703 Hatherton House built
1717 Old Cheley Bridge repaired by Joseph Dutton for £2.13.2d
1719 Charity School founded by Mrs Tryphena Bolton
1733 Market Hall (the Butter Market) was built (or refurbished)
1736 Church bells cast by Abel Rudhall of Gloucester
1738 Dr Bellyse born
1745 The Phoenix (now the old Co-op building) and The Crown Hotel built (architect was William Baker)
1769 Burleydam Church built
c1770 New master's house built at the Grammar School capable of receiving 20 boarders
1772 Newcastle to Whitchurch road turnpiked
1777 Earthquake damaged the church
c1779 Houses such as those currently owned by the Tillings, Measures and Cartwrights were built on Stafford Street around this time
1797 Sir Robert Cotton bought the living of Audlem
1808 Buerton Methodist Chapel built
1812 John Lomas hanged for the murder of George Morrey from Hankelow
1815 Side of the church tower fell in
1817 Market revived by Mr Taylor of Moss Hall
1820 Duke of Wellington stayed at Combermere Abbey, visiting Audlem Vicarage on Christmas Eve
1827 Work started on building the Shropshire Union Canal
1831 Brooks Mill and house rebuilt by Lord Combermere
1832 Primitive Methodist Chapel built at Cox Bank
1833 Audlem Poor House closed and poor relief had to be found in Nantwich Union
1835 2nd March – Canal opened
1837 Grand Junction Railway reached Crewe
1838 Wesleyan Chapel (and Mr Green's Chapel) built at Hankelow
1840 Baptist Chapel built (to accommodate 200 worshippers) at a cost of £328 10s 10½d
1846 Parish Room built at Churchfields, which then housed Tryphena Bolton's school
1846 Audlem Canal merged with others to form the Shropshire Union Canal
1846 Company Ancient Order of Foresters Lodge formed with 6 founding members
1850 Wesleyan Chapel built at Coole Pilate
1853 Police Station at Salford built by Peter Shuker at a cost of £500
1857 Canal bought by the L & NW Railway
1861 Primitive Methodist Jubilee Chapel built at Cox Bank
1863 19th October Railway formally opened
1863 Wesleyan Chapel built on Windmill Field
1868 Parochial School built in Cheshire Street
1870 Baptist school room added
1871 Buerton School opened by the British & Foreign School Society Primitive Methodist Chapel built in Cheshire Street
1874 Cemetery opened, with a mortuary chapel each for "Churchmen" and "Dissenters" and managed by a burial board of 9 members (at a cost of £2,000 borrowed from the Public Works Loan Commissioners)
1874 The Manor House became known as Taintree House (name derived from two copper beech trees in the garden)
1875 Hankelow Church School (with chancel) built by subscription
1876 Gas lighting was installed in Audlem Parochial School for £15 19s and the school was enlarged to cater for 200 children
1879 School room added to Cox Bank Methodist Jubilee Chapel
1880 Audlem Cricket Club moved to a new ground near the canal at Swanbach
1880 Buerton Windmill ceased to operate
1885 Band of Hope Lecture Hall built, later used as Buerton School
1815 Royal Victoria Lodge of the Independent Order of Oddfellows formed (originally known as "The Cobblers Club")
1886 St James' Church restored (north doorway re-opened and vestry built). The architects were Lynam & Rickman
1886 Buerton Chapel built
1890 Gas street lighting in the village, provided by Audlem Gas Company
1894 Audlem Parish Council founded along with other Parish Councils in Cheshire
1899 Fire Brigade started with a horse-drawn appliance
1900 24 April, on Queen Victoria's birthday children paraded and sang the National Anthem in the Square
1900 24 July, the market rights and tolls were bought by J C Hassalls at auction
1901 Police Station built in Cheshire Street
and sold in 19921901 Victoria Bakery built on Stafford Street
1902 Moss Hall extensively renovated
1904 Public Hall was built, including reading rooms and billiards room
1906 Methodist Chapel built at Lightwood Green
1907 Last meet of the South Cheshire Hounds in Audlem
1908 The Grammar School was closed as an endowed school
1908 Grand opening of the Public Hall
1911 Church clock (costing £83) installed to celebrate the coronation of George V
1913 The Grammar School was re-opened as a mixed Senior School, managed by the County Council
1916 Pond at Little Heath filled in
1916 Kingbur Mill built (powered by oil)
1920 Audlem District Nursing Association formed
1925 Post of Beadle ceased (last holder of the post was William Ellison Farrington)
1925 1st Audlem Company of Girl Guides formed
1926 Motorised fire tender bought and the Firemen Joined the National Fire Brigades Association
1929 Audlem & District Branch of the British Legion formed with founding membership of 20
1930 Gasworks closed
1933 Mains water installed
1934 Electric street lighting installed
1934 Cox Bank Halt opened
1935 Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists united
1935 Coole Pilate Halt opened
1935 Methodist Chapel built at Hankelow, near the village green
1936 Public Hall bought for the village by public subscription
1937 Methodist Church refurbished with light oak fittings
1937 Oak shutters added to the Crown Hotel, giving the appearance of a French town building
1939 Market rights acquired by the Parish Council for £5
1940 Incendiary bomb fell at Woolfall
1943 Audlem Youth Club founded (for young people of both sexes from 14 to 21)
1943 Infant Welfare Centre opened on 22 November by members of the Women's Instititute
1944 The Grammar School ceased to be the Elementary School and became Audlem Secondary School
1947 Toll Gate House, on Green Lane opposite Tollgate Drive, demolished (last used as an air raid precautions post during World War II)
1947 The last blacksmiths were John and Thomas Shuker who both died this year
1947 Audlem Bowling Club founded (using lawns at Taintree)
1948 Medieval kiln discovered (behind the present butcher's shop on Cheshire Street)
1949 Ash House bought as a manse for the minister of the Methodist Chapel
1950 Audlem Bowling Club opened at its present site
1951 WI Scrapbook compiled
1955 Shops demolished in Shropshire Street
1958 Taintree Cottage burned down
1963 9 September, Audlem Railway station closed to passenger traffic
1965 Grammar School closed (and is now a nursing home)
1965 Audlem Cricket Club reformed at Gorsecroft Farm
1967 Railway closed by Dr Beeching's cuts
1967 Foot & mouth epidemic (which lasted 224 days in Cheshire from Oct '67 to June '68)
1969 24 July, Pageant at Highfields (visited by 1500 people)
1972 Hankelow Mill closed and sold for private development
1974 Audlem Primary School opened on Heathfield Road
1975 New triple lamp erected in the Square
1975 Audlem won Best Kept Village award
1976 Audlem won Best Kept Village award
1977 Audlem Town Football Team started
1977 Bonfire held on Holmes' Bank to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee
1983 16th July, Second Pageant at Highfields
1985 "Home Watch" scheme set up in the village
1986 Barclays Bank sub-branch closed; NatWest Bank sub-branch closed
1989 Audlem again won Best Kept Village award
1992 Doctor's Surgery moved from Salford to current position in Cheshire Street
1992 Crown Hotel closed and converted into flats
1995 Probus Club founded in the village (for retired businessmen)
1996 Audlem 700 celebration of the 700th anniversary of the Market Charter
1996 Audlem Rangers Football Team started
2000 First Audlem Festival of Transport
2001 First Audlem Festival
2001 Audlem Proms starts with 3,000 attendees
2004 Audlem Festival of Transport celebrates 100 years of Rolls-Royce
2005 VE and VJ 60th Anniversary Celebrations
2005 Businesses on Moseley's Yard closed, to be replaced by a housing and retail development known as "Moseley's Yard"
2005 Audlem won Calor Northern Village of the Year award and the Defra national "building community life" award
2005 Audlem Parish Council gained "Quality Parish Council" status
2005 AudlemOnline website started
2006 Winner of Cheshire's Best Kept Village award again
2006 31 Dec , Buerton Primary School closed
2007 Winner of Cheshire's Best Kept Village award
2008 Winner of "Award for Excellence" in Cheshire County Council's Community Pride competition
2008 Volunteer team of First Responders set up, to augment the ambulance service
2011 ADCA (Audlem District Community Action) founded and starts to run Tuesday Lunches and Friday Coffee Mornings
2011 Parish Council takes over public toilets which are completely refurbished
2011 Audlem wins 'Community Spirit' award

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.