Acton, Cheshire (ancient parish)

St Mary's Church is an active Anglican parish church located in Monk's Lane, Acton, a village to the west of Nantwich, Cheshire, England. Since 1967 it has been designated a Grade I listed building. A church has been present on this site since before the time of the Domesday Survey. The tower is the oldest in Cheshire, although it had to be largely rebuilt after it fell in 1757. One unusual feature of the interior of the church is that the old stone seating around its sides has been retained. In the south aisle are some ancient carved stones dating back to the Norman era. The architectural historian Alec Clifton-Taylor includes the church in his list of 'best' English parish churches. In the churchyard is a tall 17th-century sundial. The church is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Nantwich. Its benefice is united with those of St David, Wettenhall, St Oswald, Worleston, and St Bartholomew, Church Minshull.

Acton is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Burland and Acton, lying immediately west of the town of Nantwich, in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The civil parish covered 762 acres (3.08 km2) and also included the small settlement of Dorfold and part of Burford, with an estimated population of 340 in 2006. It is administered jointly with the adjacent civil parishes of Henhull and Edleston. Historically, Acton refers to a township and also to an ancient parish in the Nantwich Hundred covering a wide area to the west of Nantwich. The area is agricultural, with dairy farming the main industry. Around a third of the area falls within the Dorfold Estate. Historically, agriculture was the major employer, but it has now been overtaken by the service industries, with many residents commuting significant distances outside the parish to work. The civil parish is believed to have been inhabited since the 8th or 9th century. Acton appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, when it was one of the wealthiest townships in the Nantwich Hundred, being valued for the same sum as Nantwich. The name means "oak town", referring to the pedunculate oaks that predominated in the adjacent Forest of Mondrem. During the Civil War, the village was taken by siege several times. The Shropshire Union Canal reached the parish in 1835, using a long embankment to avoid Dorfold Park. The parish contains many historic buildings, including two listed at grade I: Dorfold Hall was considered by Nikolaus Pevsner to be one of the two finest Jacobean houses in Cheshire, while St Mary's Church has a tower dating from the 13th century, one of the earliest in the county.

Dorfold Hall (SJ635524) is a Grade I listed Jacobean mansion in Acton, Cheshire, England, considered by Nikolaus Pevsner to be one of the two finest Jacobean houses in the county. The present owners are the Roundells.

The Battle of Nantwich was fought on 25 January 1644 in Cheshire during the First English Civil War. In the battle, Sir Thomas Fairfax in command of a Parliamentarian relief force defeated Lord Byron and the Royalists. The Parliamentarian victory halted a series of Royalist successes in the area and was a major setback to King Charles' planned military campaign for 1644.

The International Cheese Awards is an annual cheese show and competition. Until 2019, it was held at Dorfold Park near Nantwich, England. Held since 1897, the show attracts entries from around the world.In Nantwich, day one of the two-day event was the judging and trade day, attended primarily by industry participants and press, while day two was scheduled to coincide with the Nantwich and South Cheshire Agricultural Show, and attracted about 40,000 visitors to sample the wares and hear the announcements of the winners.The International Cheese Awards is an activity of the Nantwich Agricultural Society, a UK registered charity.In 2021 it was announced the Awards would be moving to the Staffordshire Show Grounds and would no longer be part of the Nantwich Show event.

Henhull is a former civil parish, now in the parishes of Burland and Acton and Nantwich, in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies to the north west of Nantwich. For administrative purposes, was is combined with adjacent civil parishes of Acton and Edleston to form a total area of 765 hectares (1890 acres). The parish was predominantly rural with scattered farms and houses and no large settlements. In 2019 a 1,100-house development called Kingsbourne was being built in the east of the parish as an extension to the town of Nantwich. Henhull civil parish also included the hamlets of Basin End, Bluestone, Welshmen's Green and part of Burford. Nearby villages include Acton and Rease Heath. According to the 2001 census, Henhull had a population of 71. At the 2011 Census the population remained less than 100. In 2017, there were 26 households in the civil parish.

Ravensmoor Windmill is a former windmill located to the south of Wrexham Road (A534) between the villages of Acton and Burland, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. The structure dates from the early 19th century, and is constructed in red brick. It consists of a circular tapering tower with a boarded roof. The original roof and sails are no longer present, and water pumping mechanism has been installed on the roof. There are windows on three levels, some of which are blocked.

Nantwich Aqueduct is a navigable aqueduct in Acton in Cheshire, England, which carries the Shropshire Union Canal over the Chester to Nantwich road. Designed by Thomas Telford, it dates from around 1826 and is listed at grade II*.

Malbank School is a comprehensive secondary school and sixth form in Nantwich, Cheshire with pupils of both sexes aged from 11 to 18.

The Tollemache Almshouses, also known as the Wilbraham Almshouses or Wilbraham's Almshouses, are six former almshouses in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. They are in two blocks of three cottages each, located on the north side of Welsh Row at numbers 118–128 (at SJ6442852469). The present buildings, which are listed at grade II, were erected in 1870 by John Tollemache (later created first Baron Tollemache) to replace adjacent almshouses founded by Sir Roger Wilbraham in 1613. The almshouses were modernised in 1980 and remain in residential use. The Hospital of St Lawrence, a medieval house for lepers, was possibly on or near the site of the present almshouses. Nikolaus Pevsner considers Welsh Row "the best street of Nantwich". The street has many listed buildings and is known for its mixture of architectural styles, including timber-framed black-and-white cottages such as the Wilbraham's and Widows' Almshouses, Georgian town houses such as Townwell House and number 83, and Victorian buildings such as the former Grammar School, Primitive Methodist Chapel and Savings Bank.

The Hospital of St Lawrence, variously known as St Lawrence's Hospital, the Hospice of St Lawrence and the free Chapel and Hospice of St Lawrence and St James, was a medieval house for lepers outside the town of Nantwich, Cheshire, England. It was located to the west of the town, on what is now Welsh Row, within the parish of Acton. St Lawrence's later became a hospital for the infirm poor. Dissolved in 1548, the hospital's land and property was purchased by the Wright family. One of its buildings was subsequently used for dwellings.

The Wilbraham's Almshouses, also known as the Wilbraham Almshouses, are six former almshouses in Nantwich, Cheshire, England, located on the north side of Welsh Row at numbers 112–116 (at SJ6444252448). Founded by Sir Roger Wilbraham in 1613, they were the town's earliest almshouses. They remained in use as almshouses until 1870, when they were replaced by the adjacent Tollemache Almshouses. The timber-framed building, which is listed at grade II, was subsequently used as a malthouse and as cottages, and was later considerably altered to form a single house. The Hospital of St Lawrence, a medieval house for lepers, might have been situated nearby. Nikolaus Pevsner considers Welsh Row "the best street of Nantwich". The street has many listed buildings and is known for its mixture of architectural styles, including other black-and-white cottages such as the Widows' Almshouses founded by Sir Roger's descendant, Georgian town houses such as Townwell House and number 83, and Victorian buildings such as the former Grammar School, Primitive Methodist Chapel and Savings Bank.