Bunbury

Bunbury
Cheshire
Bunbury staircase locks
Location
Grid reference:	SJ568580
Location:	53°7’5"N, 2°38’42"W
Data
Population:	1,308  (2001)
Post town:	Tarporley
Postcode:	CW6
Dialling code:	01829
Local Government
Council:	Cheshire East
Parliamentary constituency:	Eddisbury

Bunbury is a village in Cheshire, found to the south of Tarporley and northwest of Nantwich. The Shropshire Union Canal runs through the village.

The village is not the direct origin of the word "Bunburying" coined by Oscar Wilde in The Importance of Being Earnest (Algenon's excuse for getting away from town on larks is a fictional friend whom he named "Bunbury") but this village is as good a place as any to go Bunburying.

History

On 23 December 1642 some prominent gentlemen of the county of Cheshire met in Bunbury and drew up the Bunbury Agreement. The terms of the agreement were intended to keep Cheshire neutral during the English Civil War. It proved to be a forlorn hope, because of the national strategic importance of Cheshire and of the city port of Chester meant that national interests overruled local ones.

Bunbury was a victim of the Blitz during Second World War. German aircraft returning from a night raid on Liverpool in 1940 jettisoned surplus bombs over the village, obliterating Church Row (the houses have since been rebuilt). The blast causing minor damage to the exterior of St Boniface's Church and the immediate area. The original village centre surrounding the church was hit, damaging shops beyond repair. This has largely caused the current centre to evolve in the geographical heart of the village.

Four old villages have combined to form the modern-day Bunbury. These are:

• Higher Bunbury (centred around the church and the Dysart Arms),
• Lower Bunbury (the main part of the village today),
• Bunbury Heath (essentially School Lane) and
• Bunbury Common (from Higher Bunbury towards Bunbury Locks).

The last three have coalesced to form a single village. The River Gowy is a natural divide between Higher and Lower Bunbury.

Parish church

The parish church is named St Boniface and is built on the highest point of the village. It is over 1,000 years old. This was a collegiate church built in the 14th century; the nave arcades and aisle windows are about 100 years later than this.

There is an alabaster effigy of the founder of the college, Sir Hugh Calveley, other effigies, and a 17th-century tomb. It was restored after bomb damage during the Second World War.

The church suffered some damage form German bombs in 1940.

About the village

Bunbury Locks are a working wharf with some "high-rise" staircase locks and canal horse stables.

Bunbury Mill is a watermill dating from 1844, although there has been a mill on this site since 1290. Following damage caused by a flood in 1960, the mill closed in 1966. It was restored to working order and reopened to the public as a museum by North West Water Authority. It was closed again in 2010, and passed into the ownership of the Bunbury Watermill Trust, who have reopened it to visitors.

Society

The main lane in Bunbury is Bunbury Lane which contains three shops (butcher, general convenience store/Post Office and fish & chip shop), two hairdressers and three pubs. These are the Nags Head, the Dysart Arms (Cheshire Dining Pub of the Year 2009) and the Yew Tree (formerly the Crewe Arms) which re-opened in 2010. Bunbury Aldersey C of E Primary school is in School Lane.

Bunbury a cricket pavilion, sports pitches, tennis courts, a scout hut and a village hall. It also has several clubs and societies.

Sadlers Wells Woods is located near the A49 road. The wooded area was also mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Outside links

• Photos and information about Bunbury

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Bunbury)