Backford Hall

Backford is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is situated between Chester and Ellesmere Port on the A41 trunk road, to the north of the Shropshire Union Canal. Backford Cross is located about 2.5 km (1.6 mi) to the north, the village of Mollington is approximately 2.5 km (1.6 mi) to the west and the hamlet of Croughton is about 3 km (1.9 mi) to the east. According to the 2011 census the parish had a population of 117. Formerly a township in the Wirral Hundred, its population was 138 in 1801, 155 in 1851, 141 in 1901, 119 in 1951 and 109 at the 2001 census. The neighbouring civil parish of Chorlton-by-Backford was added to Backford in 2015.St Oswald's Church is in the centre of the village, as is Backford Hall, which is a Grade II listed building. Until its sale for residential redevelopment in 2012, Backford Hall had operated as offices for Cheshire West and Chester Council. Its grounds were used as a golf course by the now defunct Backford Hall Golf Club from the late 1930s until 1950.

St Oswald's Church is in the village of Backford, to the northwest of Chester, Cheshire, England, close to the A41 road and adjoining Backford Hall. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. The church dates from the 14th century with later additions and restorations. It contains one of the few surviving aumbries in Cheshire and a number of memorial boards painted by the Randle Holme family. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Wirral South. Its benefice is combined with that of Holy Trinity Church, Capenhurst. From March 2018 this benefice shares a vicar with All Saints, Saughall.

Lea-by-Backford is a hamlet and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is situated between Chester and Ellesmere Port, west of the A41 trunk road and to the north of the Shropshire Union Canal. Backford is approximately 1.2 mi (2 km) to the east and Mollington is approximately 1.2 mi (2 km) to the south. At the 2011 census the population of the parish was 207.In 1086, the settlement was recorded in the Domesday Book as Wisdelea.Lea-by-Backford, including part of the hamlet of Dunkirk, was a township within the Backford parish of the Wirral Hundred. The population was recorded at 70 in 1801, 91 in 1851, 73 in 1901, 233 in 1951 and 191 in 2001.

Chorlton-by-Backford is a former civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire West and Chester and ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, approximately 3 mi (4.8 km) to the north of Chester. It was abolished in 2015 and merged into the civil parish of Backford.Chorlton Hall is a Grade II listed building within the area.In the 2001 census it had a population of 80, increasing to 124 at the 2011 census.The name is likely derived from the Old English words ceorl (meaning a free peasant) and tūn (a farmstead or settlement).

Mollington railway station was on the Chester and Birkenhead Railway near to the village of Mollington in Cheshire, England. The station opened on 23 September 1840 at the same time as the railway line and closed to passengers on 7 March 1960 due to its remote location and fairly low passenger numbers. It remained open for goods traffic until 4 January 1965, but only as an unstaffed public siding. The station building still exists as a private house and the line is now operated by Merseyrail as part of the Wirral Line. The very wide embankment in this area included a public footpath, making it possible to walk next to the railway line; the zone was known to local naturalists for its flowers and butterflies.

Chorlton Hall is a country house to the east of the village of Backford, Cheshire, England. It was formerly in the parish of Chorlton-by-Backford. The house was built probably in the middle of the 18th century. The original owners were the Stanley family of Hooton. In 1811 it was bought by the historian, George Ormerod, who wrote his History of Cheshire while living in the house. Ormerod sold the house in 1823 to the Wicksted family of Nantwich.It was extended in 1845–46 by the architect Sir James Picton for James Wickstead Swan. The plan of the house is U-shaped. It is rendered with slate roofs and rendered chimney stacks. The house stands on a stone plinth and is in 2½ storeys. Its front is in three bays; the central bay has three windows, the lateral bays project forward, are gabled, and each has one window. Internally, the dining room is plastered in Jacobean style, and the drawing room in Gothic style. The house is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

Dale Barracks is a British Army base at Moston near Chester, England. It is home to the 2nd Battalion, Royal Yorkshire Regiment. It is scheduled to close in 2029.

Moston is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is in the north east of Chester, close to the Shropshire Union Canal and the A41 trunk road between Chester and Birkenhead. Moston combines with Bache and Upton-by-Chester to form a joint parish council.

Caughall is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Backford, in the Borough of Cheshire West and Chester and ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. In 2001 it had a population of 29. The parish included Caughall Manor and Chester Zoo. The civil parish was abolished in 2015 and merged into Backford.

Chester Zoo is a zoo at Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at 51 hectares (130 acres). The zoo has a total land holding of approximately 160 hectares (400 acres). Chester Zoo is operated by the North of England Zoological Society, a registered charity founded in 1934. The zoo receives no government funding. It is the most-visited wildlife attraction in Britain with more than 2 million visitors in 2019. In 2007 Forbes described it as one of the fifteen best zoos in the world. In 2017, it was named as the best zoo in the UK and third in the world by TripAdvisor.

Strawberry Park and Strawberry Fields are suburbs in the town of Ellesmere Port, Cheshire West and Chester. They are located to the south of Hope Farm and to the west of Backford Cross.

Backford Cross is a suburban locality of Ellesmere Port, within the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire, England. It is located at the southern end of the Wirral Peninsula around the A41/A5117 road junction. Great Sutton is approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) to the north and the village of Backford, near Chester, is about 2.2 km (1.4 mi) to the south. The area is split between postcode districts, with parts in both Great Sutton, Ellesmere Port (CH66) and in Backford, Chester (CH1). Previously farmland, Backford Cross is largely made up of residential homes built from 1990 onwards and serves as a commuter village to Ellesmere Port and Chester. The area covers the residential area around the Willowdale Way/Yeoman Way circle and the property south of Sycamore Park Garden Centre on the A41 Chester Road. Planning permission was granted by Cheshire West and Cheshire Council in 2019 for a housing development to the south west of the A41/A5117 junction. As part of the scheme, the developer was required to financially contribute towards improvements to local amenities and infrastructure.Capenhurst railway station on the Wirral line of the Merseyrail network is located 2 km (1.2 mi) from Backford Cross.