Marbury
OS Grid ref:- SJ560457
The village of Marbury lies around 3 miles (5 km) to the north east of Whitchurch and 7 miles (11 km) south west of Nantwich. It boasts five meres, formed when water filled the numerous glacial depressions which were left after the last Ice Age, which are important wildlife habitats. Marbury Big Mere is a fishing lake and the Quoisley Meres are a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Wetland of International Importance. The meres are important sites for wildfowl, gadwall, garganey and ruddy ducks are among the species observed at Quoisley, with great crested, red-necked and Slavonian grebes, great and little bittern, Canada and pink-footed geese, coots, moorhens and mute swans recorded at Marbury.
Little is recorded of the village prior to the Norman Conquest. An axe dating from the Bronze Age was found near to the village which was dated from around 1000-1200 BC. Roman coins have also been found in the area, however there is no evidence of Roman settlement. Parts of two skulls, those of an adult and a child, were recovered from Marbury Big Mere; they have been dated to around 750 AD. Marbury is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Merberie. The name means 'the burg by a lake'.
Marbury Big Mere
St. Michael and All Angels Church
The red sandstone village church of St Michael and All Angels straddles the top of a hill overlooking Marbury Big Mere. The building dates back to the fifteenth century and is in the perpendicular style. A host of gargoyles depicting such images such as monkeys, twins, smiling faces and grotesque faces decorate the exterior of the church. The tower of the building was recorded as being 25 inches (64 cm) from the vertical in 1999, due to subsidence of the sandy soil in the area. A timber, wattle and daub church occupied the site.
The octagonal pulpit is the oldest surviving wooden pulpit in Cheshire and dates from the fifteenth century. In the churchyard stands the hollow trunk of a 1000-year-old yew, which is held together by chains.
The highly attractive lych gate, built in around 1919, is a Grade II Listed Building and commemorates those who lost their lives in the First World War. The rear is inscribed:-
'Ye who live on mid English pastures green Remember us, and think what might have been.'
Nearby places of interest
Nantwich Cheshire market town with a long hstory which was founded in Roman times. The town has many fine half timbered buildings and an impressive church.