Cholmondeley, Cheshire

Cholmondeley Castle is a country house in the civil parish of Cholmondeley, Cheshire, England. Together with its adjacent formal gardens, it is surrounded by parkland. The site of the house has been a seat of the Cholmondeley family since the 12th century. The present house replaced a timber-framed hall nearby. It was built at the start of the 19th century for George Cholmondeley, 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley, who designed most of it himself in the form of a crenellated castle. After the death of the Marquess, the house was extended to designs by Robert Smirke to produce the building in its present form. The house is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. The first formal garden was designed in the 17th century by George London. Following neglect in the 18th century, the garden was re-ordered by William Emes, who also created the landscape park. During the 20th century the garden was further developed under the care of Lavinia, widow of the late 6th Marquess. The park and gardens are listed Grade II in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. In the park and gardens are a number of other listed buildings. The most important of these is St Nicholas Chapel, which dates from the 13th century and contains much 17th-century furniture. It is listed Grade I in the National Heritage List for England. Standing across the main drive is a wrought iron screen and gateway made by Robert Bakewell in 1722 for the Old Hall and moved here in the early 19th century. This is listed as Grade II*. The other Grade II listed buildings include the altered remains of the Old Hall, five of the lodges in and around the estate and a variety of structures in the gardens. During the Second World War, the house and grounds were used for a variety of military purposes which included a hospital. Until her death in November 2015, the house was occupied by Lavinia, Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley, mother of the present Marquess who lives in the other family seat, Houghton Hall in Norfolk. The house is not open to the public, but the park and gardens are open during the summer season. A variety of events are organised in the grounds and one of the lodges can be used as a holiday cottage.

St Nicholas Chapel is a private chapel in the grounds of Cholmondeley Castle, Cheshire, England, the ancient seat of the Marquess of Cholmondeley, hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain of England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.

St Wenefrede's Church is in Bickley, Cheshire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, and is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester, and the deanery of Malpas.

Bulkeley Grange is a country house to the southeast of the village of Bulkeley, Cheshire, England. It replaced an earlier timber-framed house on the site, Bulkeley Old Hall, built by Thomas Brassey in about 1600. Bulkeley Grange was built in about 1865 by his successor and namesake, the railway contractor Thomas Brassey for his brother, Robert Brassey, as a model farm. The house is constructed in red brick with slate roofs in Jacobean style. Some half-timbering has been applied to the exterior. The entrance front is in two storeys and three bays with gables. It has a large, mainly stone, projecting porch with Jacobean-style pilasters and an openwork parapet. The house is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

Bickley is a village in the parish of No Man's Heath and District in Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 Census it had a population of 498, that reduced to 481 at the 2011 census. The parish included the villages of Bickley Town and Bickley Moss. Bickley was a township in the parish of Malpas. In 1866 Bickley became a civil parish and on 1 April 2015 it was abolished to form "No Mans Heath and District".The name is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and relates to bees.The parish church is St Wenefrede's, a grade-II-listed sandstone building designed by John Douglas and Daniel Porter Fordham.

Bulkeley Methodist Church is in Wrexham Road in the village of Bulkeley, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

Bulkeley () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bulkeley and Ridley, in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village is on the A534 road, 9 miles (14 km) west of Nantwich. In the 2011 census it had a population of 239.

Bulkeley Hall is a country house to the southwest of the village of Bulkeley, Cheshire, England. It dates from the middle of the 18th century, and was built for Thomas Bulkeley. The house is constructed in brick with a slate roof. Its architectural style is Georgian. The entrance front has three storeys, and is in seven bays. A service wing at right-angles gives it an L-shaped plan. The interior contains 18th-century plasterwork and joinery. The house is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

Bickerton Hill refers to two low red sandstone hills that form the southern end of the Mid Cheshire Ridge in Cheshire, north-west England. The high point, Raw Head, lies on the northerly hill and has an elevation of 227 metres. Parts of the southerly hill are also known as Larkton Hill. There is evidence of settlement on the hills dating as early as the Neolithic or Bronze Age. The earthworks of an Iron Age hill fort, Maiden Castle, are located on the summit of the southerly hill; they are a Scheduled Monument. The hills have been quarried and mined for copper since the 17th century, and a grade-II-listed engine house chimney remains as a remnant of the mining industry. Several caves occur in the sandstone, some of which have a history of habitation. The Sandstone Trail, a long-distance footpath, runs along the ridge, and the area is popular with walkers. A large area of the southerly hill is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its biological importance; much of this hill is owned by the National Trust. Its summit plateau has an extensive area of lowland heath, a rare habitat in Cheshire, and one that is particularly important for reptiles. A substantial population of lobed maidenhair spleenwort, a fern that is rare in Britain, is found here. Nationally scarce species observed in the area include the bleached pug and alder kitten moths, and the Malthus frontalis species of soldier beetle. The western escarpment of the northerly hill has also been designated an SSSI for its exposed Triassic sandstones.

Ridley is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Bulkeley and Ridley, in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies to the north east of Malpas and to the west of Nantwich. The parish is largely rural with scattered farms and buildings and no significant settlements. In 2001, the population was 120. Nearby villages include Bulkeley, Bunbury, Faddiley, Peckforton and Spurstow. At the 2011 Census the population had fallen less than 100. Details are included in the civil parish of Peckforton.

The Bulkeley Hill Narrow Gauge Railway was a 350 yards (320 m) long 2 ft (610 mm) gauge rope-hauled incline on the Bulkeley Hill near Bulkeley in Cheshire, England. With a grade of nearly 1:1 in one section, it is known as Cheshire's Steepest Railway.

The Peckforton Hills are a sandstone ridge running broadly northeast–southwest in the west of the English county of Cheshire. They form a significant part of the longer Mid Cheshire Ridge which extends southwards from Frodsham towards Malpas. Bulkeley Hill (grid reference SJ525552) stands at the south end, and the ridge is continued southwards by Bickerton Hill. The high points are Peckforton Point (SJ529557; 203 m), immediately north of Bulkeley Hill (224m), and Stanner Nab (SJ531573; 200 m), towards the northern end of the ridge. Settlements around the hills include Burwardsley to the west, Beeston to the north, Peckforton and Bunbury to the east and Bulkeley to the south. On Ascension Day the parishioners of St Boniface, Bunbury walk to the 200m summit of Stanner Nab for a service as the sun sets.