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The
History of the Parish
The ancient Parish
of Thurstaston lies some fifteen miles from Chester and
historically is centred on a quiet village just off the now busy
A540; the area overlooks the Dee Estuary and North Wales coast.
Thurstaston, whose name is recorded in the
Domesday Book
as
'Turstanetone',
remains to
this day a tranquil and picturesque place for its many visitors
and a gateway to the nearby Wirral Country Park and Thurstaston
Hill.
The area has an
ancient history; in the last few years a probable
Iron Age site
oval enclosure has been identified and a Romano-British
site
has been partially excavated in Mill Hill Road, Irby,
revealing possible Iron Age and Romano-British evidence as well as
the Roman settlement.
Much has been
written about the Viking origin of many of the place names in the
Wirral. Perhaps the most credible of these referring to
Thurstaston and Irby are; 'Torstein's Tun' - the farm of a farmer
named Torstein, and Irby, the settlement of the Irish. The
latter refers to research that suggests that Viking settlers
around Dublin were made to leave and were then granted land in the
are of what is now Irby. A derivation 'Thor's Stone' for
Thurstaston is almost certainly fanciful. Thor's Stone on Thurstaston
Common, once thought to be an ancient man-made feature
is either a
glacial erratic,
a result of weathering of the
bedrock of the hill or most likely the site of a small quarry.
The origin of Thurstaston Hall, which stands next to the Church,
can be traced to A.D. 1070; in this year Hugh Lupus presented the
manor house, which had formerly belonged to Levenot (a Saxon?),
and other estates in Wirral and North Wales to his relative,
Robert de Rodelent. Samuel Bagshaw, writing in 1850, describes the
Hall as an 'ancient structure with gables and bay windows, the
seat of John B. Glegg Esq.' He also mentions that additions
and alterations were made to the Hall in 1836, creating the East
Wing of the house. The central part of the Hall bears the
date 1680 and the entrance goes back even further to 1350; the
origins of the Hall are mediaeval.
Dawpool Manor is part of the history of Thurstaston village,
though sadly it no longer exists. It was designed by Norman
Shaw
in 1884 and eventually became the home of
Thomas Henry Ismay
(1837-1899) who retired to Thurstaston after 40 years of business
life, during which time he founded the firm of Ismay Imrie &
Co and became the chairman of the White Star Shipping Line.
When
he died, his estate was estimated to be worth £1½ million.
Wealthy and influential, Ismay was able to move the main Heswall
to West Kirby road, which came too close to the doorstep of his
mansion, by means of a cutting through Thurstaston Hill. The
White Star Line owned the Titanic, a connection that brings many
visitors to Thurstaston and the family tomb each year.
The Parish of Thurstaston has grown considerably over the
years and most of Irby now lies within the Parish boundary.
Tangible proof of this is provided by the Thurstaston
war memorial
which unusually has more names inscribed for the
Second World War than it does for the First World War. In
recent years, new development in housing in Irby has pushed the
population of the Parish to around 7000. The daughter church of
St. Chad, Roslin Road, Irby, serves the need of a growing
population in the Irby area and was built in 1967 with the
generous assistance of many parishioners. Again supported by
many very generous benefactors, this church has recently been
considerably enlarged to cater for the growing congregation.
The Domesday
Entry for Turstanetone: 'The same
Robert (Robert de Rodelent)
holds
Turstanetone, and William holds in under him. There
are two hides assessable; in desmesne is one; and there are two
herdsmen, four villagers, and four borderers, who have one
carucate and a half. It was valued at thirty shillings and
afterwards at eight, and is now worth sixteen.'
Translation from Mortimer's 'The History of the Hundred of
Wirral' Published in 1847.
Glossary -
'Borderers' or 'bordars' - unfree peasants, smallholders but with more
land than a cottar.
'Carucate' - land
measurement used in the eastern counties of England that had been
settled by the Danes; the equivalent of a hide i.e. c. 120 acres.
'Desmesne' (or demesne) - land held directly by the lord
of the manor.
'Hide'
- measurement of land for taxation purposes, between 60 and 120
acres.
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