Baddiley

Baddiley is listed in the Domesday Book as Bedelie,{{cite web|url=http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/cheshire1.html#baddiley |title=Cheshire A–K: Baddiley|publisher=The Domesday Book Online|access-date=31 July 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070805022555/http://domesdaybook.co.uk/cheshire1.html| archive-date= 5 August 2007 |url-status = live}} and the manor then belonged to the Praers family.{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=50773 |title='Babcary – Badgeworth' in A Topographical Dictionary of England, pp. 124–128 (1848)|publisher=British History Online|access-date=31 July 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070711094936/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=50773| archive-date= 11 July 2007 |url-status = live}} The ancient manor was more extensive than the modern parish, also including Faddiley, which lies to the north west.{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=50954 |title='Faccombe – Falkenham' in A Topographical Dictionary of England, pp. 206–209 (1848)|publisher=British History Online|access-date=1 August 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070711211635/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=50954| archive-date= 11 July 2007 |url-status = live}} In the first half of the 13th century, part of the Baddiley parish was granted to Combermere Abbey, a Cistercian monastery which had been endowed on its foundation in 1133 with a large area of land to the south; in 1355, the abbey also acquired the right to appoint the priest of the Baddiley church in exchange for land at Baddiley Grange.{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=39977 |title='Houses of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Combermere' in A History of the County of Chester (Vol. 3), pp. 150–156 (1980)|publisher=British History Online|access-date=31 July 2007}} (Baddiley is not, however, included among the lands surrendered to the government when the abbey was dissolved in 1538.) By the 14th century, the manor had passed by marriage to the Bromley, Hondford and Mainwaring families, finally passing solely to the Mainwarings who occupied Baddiley Hall.

To the south and east of the Hall and the church of St Michael is an area of earthworks interpreted as the site of the medieval village.{{NHLE |num=1018822 |desc=Medieval village remains 230m east of Baddiley Hall |grade=scheduled |access-date=23 July 2024}}

The parish formerly had a population of 276 (1801), 281 (1851), 211 (1901) and 219 (1951). Much of the village of Ravensmoor dates from the second half of the 20th century.

File:Baddiley lock no1.jpg

Ravensmoor lies on the eastern boundary of the civil parish, at an elevation of 65 m, around 2¼ miles south west of Nantwich. Nearby settlements include the village of Wrenbury and the hamlets of Acton, Burland, Faddiley and Sound. Most of the civil parish is flat; the western edge, approaching the Weaver valley, is slightly more undulating in character, however, with a maximum elevation of 85 m. The land use is predominantly pasture, with some arable to the west.

The Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal passes through the parish. This stretch of canal immediately south of Hurleston Junction (where the Llangollen branch splits from the main Shropshire Union) has three grade-II-listed locks by J Fletcher and Thomas Telford. Constructed in blue-and-red brick with stone dressing, they date from 1805.{{NHLE|num=1138587 |desc= Baddiley Locks No. 1 |grade=II |fewer-links=yes |access-date=31 July 2007 }}{{NHLE|num=1330122 |desc= Baddiley Locks No. 2 |grade=II |fewer-links=yes |access-date=31 July 2007 }}{{NHLE|num=1138588 |desc= Baddiley Locks No. 3 |grade=II |fewer-links=yes |access-date=31 July 2007 }} The modern brick-and-concrete Baddiley Bridge carries the Nantwich road across the canal east of Baddiley Hulse (at SJ 607 494). There are also three older footbridges in traditional brick serving public rights of way: Halls Lane, Greenfield and an unnamed bridge.

File:Hell Hole Baddiley.jpg

West of Baddiley lie Baddiley Mere, the marshy Hell Hole and the small fishing lake of Baddiley Reservoir, and many smaller meres or ponds dot the countryside. The area is also crossed by the Ravensmoor and Edleston Brooks, and many unnamed tributaries.

Spinners Wood, a small area of mixed woodland (predominantly oak, birch, hazel and holly), planted by local volunteers in March 2000 to commemorate the millennium, stands just outside Ravensmoor (at SJ 620 505).{{cite web|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/344569 |title=Spinners Wood, Ravensmoor|publisher=Geograph|access-date=31 July 2007}} Baddiley Gorse is a small deciduous wood by the Shropshire Union Canal (at SJ 610 509).{{cite web|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/379548 |title=Shropshire Union at Baddiley Gorse|publisher=Geograph|access-date=31 July 2007}}

File:Ravensmoor Church Cheshire.jpg

The grade-I-listed St Michael's Church, Baddiley (at SJ 604 502), is a rare example of a timber-framed church. Its chancel dates from 1308.{{NHLE|num=1138586 |desc=Church of St. Michael |grade=I |fewer-links=yes |access-date=31 July 2007 }} Only a handful of churches of this type remain in England;{{cite book | last = Clifton-Taylor | first =Alec | title =English Parish Churches as Works of Art | publisher =Batsford | year =1974 | location =London | isbn =0-7134-2776-0 | page =52}} other surviving examples include churches at Lower Peover and Marton (Cheshire), Melverley (Shropshire), Besford (Worcestershire) and Hartley Wespall (Hampshire).Harris, Richard (1993). Discovering Timber-framed Buildings (3rd edn). Princes Risborough: Shire Publications {{ISBN|0-7478-0215-7}} The original timber-framing was largely replaced by brick in 1811. The tympanum is one of the most interesting in England; it is dated 1663 but is structurally medieval and stands on an eight-foot screen.Betjeman, J., ed. (1968) Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches: the North. London: Collins; p. 100

The parish also contains the Baddiley and Ravensmoor Methodist Church, formerly a Wesleyan Chapel, located in Ravensmoor. Dated 1878, the building is in orange brick with stone dressing and has a prominent circular window and pillars capped with decorative stonework.

Historically, St Mary's at nearby Acton also served part of the civil parish of Baddiley.

Other notable buildings within the parish include the grade-II-listed Baddiley Hall, an L-shaped three-storey building in brown brick dating from the late 17th century.{{NHLE|num=1138585 |desc= Baddiley Hall |grade=II |fewer-links=yes |access-date=31 July 2007 }} Formerly the manor house of the Mainwaring family, it has been a farmhouse since the 19th century. Several other farmhouses within the parish are also listed, including Springe Lane Hall (early 17th century),{{NHLE|num=1330123 |desc=Springe Lane Hall |grade=II |fewer-links=yes |access-date=31 July 2007 }} Crabmill Farmhouse (early 19th century),{{NHLE|num=1330121 |desc= Crabmill Farmhouse |grade=II |fewer-links=yes |access-date=31 July 2007 }} and Baddiley Farmhouse and farm-buildings (c. 1870).{{NHLE|num=1135755 |desc= Baddiley Farmhouse |grade=II |fewer-links=yes |access-date=31 July 2007 }}

The Farmer's Arms public house stands at the crossroads opposite the village green in the centre of Ravensmoor.

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• Listed buildings in Baddiley

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Category:Civil parishes in Cheshire

Category:Villages in Cheshire

Category:Former populated places in Cheshire