Five Cheshire East parishes selected for local heritage project

Cheshire East Council is updating its list of historic landmarks and places in the borough.

It is working with two other councils – Cheshire West and Chester and Halton, as part of a nationwide project.

Five parishes in Cheshire East have been selected to nominate their places of special interest. These could include local buildings of historical significance, old monuments, landscapes, parks and gardens.

The parishes where residents, town and parish councils, businesses and community groups will be invited to contribute ideas are: Audlem, Alsager, Mobberley, Nantwich and Peckforton.

Residents can get involved by suggesting buildings or places they feel should be recognised as of historical importance. Examples can range from a local pub, an historic park and gardens, monuments, a building, or a specific landscape. Pictured is the 19th Century former Wheelock village school, which has been sensitively repaired and restored.

This is part of a nation-wide project funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The three councils have received £70,000 to update the Cheshire ‘local list’.

A specialist heritage company in Chester will work with volunteers in various villages and towns across the county to establish the new list. This will be maintained and updated in future by the three councils working together.

Cheshire East officers will also be working with the Gardens Trust, local heritage groups and The Campaign for Real Ale to select suitable examples of heritage assets within the borough. A series of public workshops will also be held in Crewe later this year.

Councillor Mick Warren, Cheshire East Council chair of environment and communities committee, said: “The purpose of the project is to allow our communities to highlight buildings and places they feel should be conserved for the future.

“Heritage doesn’t have to be old. We want to include features that are important to new and changing communities. The ‘local list’ will be used to inform the planning system so that places and landmarks that play a significant role in community identity and history, are recognised and conserved.

“It is a key component of conservation area management and neighbourhood plan development and allows for a better understanding and appreciation of the borough’s heritage.”

The list, or register, will also include the existing record of locally-listed buildings in the borough. The existing list for Cheshire East was first drawn up in 2010 and needs updating. 

The five parishes were chosen to cover a range of communities and places and to address priorities identified by the council’s conservation team. In time, all individuals and communities will be able to nominate their own choices so that the ‘local list’ becomes a live document, updated periodically.