Travel Over, Cheshire Map

Travel to Over, Cheshire Map

Over, Cheshire tourist guide map of landmarks & destinations by Walkfo

Over, Cheshire history

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Ancient origins

Over owes its origins to the Ice Age when melt waters from the last ice sheet left a long line of sand expanding from Frodsham in the north to beyond Nantwich in the south . The main road through Delamere Street and Swanlow Lane follows this line and is about 200 feet (61 m) above sea level .

Saxon times

The earliest evidence of anyone living in the area is the piece of a Saxon stone cross, which was found between the World Wars when St Chad’s Church was altered . Saint Chad was the first bishop of the Midlands in the 7th Century .

Norman rule

The Norman Earls of Chester had a hunting lodge or summer palace at Darnhall in Over parish . There was an enclosed area where deer and wild boar were kept to be hunted by the Earl and his guests . It was rumoured that his wife, Helen the daughter of the Prince of Wales, poisoned him to favour the aristocrat her daughter had married .

King Edward I and the foundation of Vale Royal Abbey

Edward I made a vow to find an abbey in Cheshire when he was in danger of shipwreck . As he visited Darnhall and knew its quiet secluded setting, he chose this area as a site for Cistercian monks . A group of monks arrived from Dore Abbey in Herefordshire to set up the new abbey .

A borough charter

Walter, the second Abbot of Vale Royal Abbey, laid out land on either side of Delamere Street in a series of matching “burgage plots” Each one was suitable for building a house, forming a garden and/or orchard and have space to keep a pig or cow . The plan of the 13th-century borough is still visible in the modern garden plots .

Disaster

The great plans for Vale Royal Abbey, upon which the early prosperity of Over depended, came to an end . The great castle-building programme of Edward I stripped it of funds and then the Black Death killed half of the population .

New owners

Vale Royal Abbey and its lands were sold during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1545 . Over was purchased by Thomas Holcroft for £466.10s.1d who sold it almost at once to Edmund Pershall .

Civil War

In 1643, Royalists escaping from Nantwich “sacked” Over the years, the situation during the English Civil War was very dangerous to everyone . The coins were declared treasure trove and are now at the Grosvenor Museum in Chester .

Later 17th century

A silver mace was presented by the owner of Vale Royal Abbey mansion in this time, although it is unclear exactly by whom and when . It is still in the possession of Winsford Town Council .

18th century

Robert Nixon, sometimes known as the ‘Palatine Prophet’ and who came from Over, may have lived at this time . Robert Nixon was known for his work in the Palatine and lived in Over .

19th Century – The time of salt

Salt industry became firmly established in Winsford from the 1830s, bringing with it massive pollution . As the wind usually blew away from Over, it became the popular place for more wealthy people in the town to live . The old Borough tried to keep itself separate but had been connected by the 1860s .

  

Over, Cheshire map & travel guide with history & landmarks to explore

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Tourist Guide to Over, Cheshire Map

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Walkfo Over, Cheshire travel map key: visit National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top travel destinations in Over, Cheshire