Wimbolds Trafford

The present name Wimbolds Trafford comes from Winebald's Trafford, with the latter meaning "valley ford". Winebald (a personal noun) is combined with the Old English words trog (a trough or hollow) and ford (a ford or crossing).{{cite web|last=Watts, Ekwall, Mills and Dodgston|title=Key to English Place-Names|url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Cheshire/Wimbolds%20Trafford|publisher=University of Nottingham|access-date=10 April 2013}}

Wimbolds Trafford was recorded in the Domesday Book with a population of three households of "two smallholders and one riders". Consisting of one ploughland under the ownership of Earl Hugh of Chester, it had a taxable value of "1 geld units".{{cite web|last=Powel-Smith|first=Anna|url=https://opendomesday.org/place/SJ4472/wimbolds-trafford/ |title=[WIMBOLDS] TRAFFORD|publisher=University of Hull|access-date=10 April 2013}}

Wimbold Trafford in the early 1870s was described as:

:...a township in Thornton-le-Moors parish, Cheshire; 4¼ miles NE of Chester. Acres, 574. Real property, £1,081. Pop., 113. Houses, 18.{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=John|title=Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales|year=1870–72|publisher=A. Fullarton and Co.|location=Edinburgh|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/place_page.jsp?p_id=5460&st=Wimbolds%20Trafford |access-date=4 February 2013}}

There are two tiers of local government covering Wimbolds Trafford, at parish and unitary authority level: Mickle Trafford and District Parish Council, and Cheshire West and Chester Council. The parish council generally meets at the village hall in Mickle Trafford.{{cite web |title=Agendas |url=https://mickletrafford.org.uk/agenda/ |website=Mickle Trafford and District Parish Council |access-date=19 January 2025}}

Wimbolds Trafford was historically a township in the ancient parish of Thornton-le-Moors, which formed part of the Eddisbury Hundred of Cheshire.{{cite web |title=Wimbolds Trafford Township / Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10195482 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=9 February 2025}} From the 17th century onwards, parishes were gradually given various civil functions under the poor laws, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including Thornton-le-Moors, the civil functions were exercised by each township separately rather than the parish as a whole. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so Wimbolds Trafford became a civil parish, whilst remaining part of the ecclesiastical parish of Thornton-le-Moors.{{cite book |last1=Youngs |first1=Frederic |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume II, Northern England |date=1991 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |location=London |isbn=0861931270 |page=xv}}

From 1972 the parish was placed under a grouped parish council called the Mickle Trafford and District Parish Council, which also covered Bridge Trafford, Mickle Trafford, Hoole Village, and Picton.{{cite news |title=Rural District of Chester: Grouping of Parishes under Common Parish Councils |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0003591%2F19721124&page=32 |access-date=7 February 2025 |work=Chester Chronicle |date=24 November 1972}} On 1 April 2015 the five parishes within the group were merged into a single civil parish called Mickle Trafford and District, subject to some minor adjustments to boundaries with neighbouring parishes.{{cite web |title=The Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council (Reorganisation of Community Governance) (Bridge Trafford, Hoole Village, Mickle Trafford, Picton and Wimbolds Trafford) Order 2015 |url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20221202003348mp_/https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/lgbce/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/25960/BridgeTrafford-HooleVillageMickleTrafford-PictonWimboldsTrafford.pdf |website=Local Government Boundary Commission for England |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=19 January 2025}}{{cite web|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/CHS/wimboldstrafford|title=Wimbolds Trafford|publisher=GENUKI UK & Ireland Genealogy|access-date=24 March 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/cheshire%20west%20and%20chester.html|title=Cheshire West and Chester Registration District|publisher=UKBMD|accessdate=2 September 2023}}

Following the abolition of the parish in 2015, data is no longer published for Wimbolds Trafford alone. The population of the township or civil parish recorded in selected censuses up to 2011 was as follows:

File:Population wimbolds trafford.jpg

File:Occupation data classified into the 24 1881 'Orders', plus sex.jpg

This graph shows occupation data for both males and females in 1881. Work in agriculture was the most common occupation for men, while for women the highest occupation was in domestic service.

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File:Trafford Hall Geograph-4653410-by-David-Dixon.jpg

Trafford Hall was built in 1756 and is designated a Grade II* listed building.

{{NHLE |num=1145900|desc=Trafford Hall with attached service wing and carriage house|access-date=25 September 2020}}

As of {{year}} the venue is used as a National Communities Resource Centre, which is a registered charity offering training and support to those living and working in low-income areas throughout the United Kingdom. Trafford Hall can also be hired out for events, conferences and as a wedding venue.

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• Listed buildings in Wimbolds Trafford

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Category:Hamlets in Cheshire

Category:Former civil parishes in Cheshire

Category:Cheshire West and Chester