HULME WALFIELD: Cheshire East Parish #10 of 148

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]He's the [music] village in it with a map and a plan. No place too tiny for this determined man. Crossing [music] the counties one by one. You'll see in every English corner a bit of [music] history.

[00:00:20][music] Hello people. Welcome back to Cheshure East once again. And now today I've got a parish for you that's a tale of two worlds. You've got one part of this which is very very rural and that's the part I'm standing in right now. I'll just show you. Look at this. This is my view right now. You're not going to get much more rural than that, are you? But there's another part to this one that's also very urban as well. And that's the part that's closest to Congulton, the town that we've been heading sort of towards so far this week. This is the parish of Hume Wfield.

[00:01:06][music] [music] Hume Walfield Island near a walled enclosure. Today on TVI, we're in the parish of Hume Wolffield, just to the north of Congolton in Cheshire East. In this one, we're going to be seeing two different worlds. Out here, the vast rural expanse of Cheshire meets a brand new urban area. There are two parts to the village's name. Hume is usually linked to old Norse or old English words for a river meadow or some raised ground in a marsh. Essentially, it means an island. Woolfield is thought to mean Wallfield, an early enclosure of some sort or maybe an earthwork. For centuries, Hume Woolfield formed a township within the ancient parish of Astbury under Cheshure's old North Witch hundred. [music] In 1878, it gained its own ecclesiastical status, but it was grouped with Somerford Booths and Radner. Today, it shares a parish council with Somerford Booths. Long before written records, this was an area defined by clay soil, streams, and mirror. It was a very wet area. Later, tradition links Wfield with a Roman camp somewhere in the township, though the exact site of that is now lost. In the Doomsday Book, the area now called Hume Wolffield was probably included within the wider estates around Aspbury and Congolton, both held under the Earl of Chester. It was at that time not a named unit in its own right, seeing as it was more just a patch of farmland and swampland. By the 1890s, it had seen major land owners come and go, including the MP William Brmley Davenport, he of the family we met in Martin and Hugh Nest Varden. It had certainly developed.

[00:02:56]The defining landmark today is St. Michael's Church on Giantswood Lane.

[00:03:00]It's a handsome Gothic revival building in sandstone designed by George Gilbert Scott and built in the 1850s. It began as a chapel of east to Aspbury. Hume Walfield's other landmarks within the village itself are a bit scarce, but when you take into account the area covers West Lo Mia, things change. West Loia was once a reservoir and now it's a broad sheet of water used for angling.

[00:03:23]The MI though now has other things to put it on the map. In recent times, Congleton has seen vast amounts of urban expansion as the town gradually grows north. In doing so, new properties have sprung up in Hume Wolffield's boundaries. Most of those now encircle West Lumia. And that's why, as I said at the top, this one is a place where the very rural meets the very urban.

[00:03:46]Regardless, it's all centered on water, pasture, and long views over the Cheshire Plane. Let's go and have a look at it.

[00:03:56]Okay, so we haven't got much of a walk to do today. Effectively, we're just going to walk down what is the main street in Hume Walfield Village. We're going to be walking uh past the church and an old school. But we're starting this walk at Hume Wfield Old Hall, which is this magnificent building right here.

[00:04:13]Now, there are two halls in Hume Wolffield. This is the old hall, and then then there's a newer hall, which is across this field, which we'll drive to at the end. It's a bit too far away to walk on foot. So basically we're going from hall to hall in this first bit.

[00:05:06]So this here is the defining landmark of Hume Wolffield. It's St. Michael's Church. This was built in 1855 and 56 and was shaped by the hand of Sir George Gilbert Scott. Its doineering sandstone walls are the first thing that catch your eye. At first, this simply served as a chapel of ease, giving local people a nearer place to gather without traveling to Astbury. Then, in 1878, it stepped into a new role ecclesiastically as a parish church in its own right. The sandstone gives it a very warm look, especially in late afternoon light. It feels like a building that belongs exactly where it stands, created by the materials and the skills of the area.

[00:05:45]It's grade two listed as well, a status granted in March 1987. The pantile roof added later gives the church a slightly different texture from its original form, but it works well with the Gothic Revival style. Scott's design is clear in the pointed arches, the tracery, and the balanced proportions. Around the church are trfoil headed two light windows which bring in soft light and add delicate detail to the sandstone walls. Look up to the east gable and you'll spot a double bellcoat. A simple but effective feature. Outside in the churchyard there are two war graves.

[00:06:23]A couple of steps away from the church is Hume Wfield's old school. It was built in 1851 with its own attached house. Inside the main school room was originally planned for 100 pupils, though records from 1896 tell us that only 44 turned up on the average day. It taught boys and girls together. That was a practical choice for a farming area like this where children were needed at home as much as in the classroom. The building's early life was tied closely to Astbury Parish, which oversaw the area until Hume Warfield broke away in the 1870s. The school and the church formed a cohesive pair of buildings.

[00:07:00]Both were shaped by the Davenport estate's influence at the time they were built. Together they anchored Hume Wfield. One guiding daily learning, the other guiding Sunday worship.

[00:07:19]So once you get beyond the old school, the road then starts to bend a little bit as it heads towards Congton. We'll be going down there in a few moments time. But first of all, we have to turn take a left turn to go to the other hall, which we talked about at the beginning of this video. So, what I'm going to do is going to walk to the end of the houses up there, and we'll film our walk back to the car, which is parked outside the church. We'll then hop in the car. We'll go up to the hall, check that out, and then we'll head off into Congen Town.

[00:08:13]Saturday.

[00:08:46]On Smithy Lane, there's a much older building to discuss. Thus, Hume Wolffield Hall. It's one of the three listed buildings in this village, the other two being the church and a dwelling called Brick Farmhouse. Of the three, it's the hall that has the greatest historical status. The hall's beginnings lie in the 1600s, long before the church or the school were even thought of. It was a period when brick farmhouses were gaining ground across Cheshire. Stand close to it, and the red Flemish bond brick work should be the first thing you notice. Above a plain tile roof settles neatly over the three-story front. The hall's height gives the building a tall upright stance and therefore it stands out among the surrounding fields. It feels like a building built to last, not simply to impress. The entrance is a real highlight. It's a classical doorway framed by Tuscan pillars. Above them, there's an open pediment holding a fan light. It's a confident piece of design for a rural farmhouse. Behind the main block, there's an older wing from the 1600s, though later render covers much of it now.

[00:10:01]So, the lane this hall stands on runs towards a place called Eaton. You'll need to know that for tomorrow because that's going to feature heavily tomorrow. But that's for tomorrow. To get to Eaton, I'm going the other way, and that's because to the south of everything you've seen so far in Hume Warfield, there's a massive expanse of new housing. It's uh flanked by something called the Congolton Link Road, which we'll be driving down as well. So, get ready for a bit of a sea change here, people, because this is all very rural and very nice. It's about to get urban.

[00:11:20]Hey.

[00:13:24]Hume Wfield is a very rural village once defined by raised ground within a wet and boggy area. Surrounding it is farmland today, though that farmland is now shrinking. The south of the parish reaches an area around Wesllo Mia. The MIA still exists, but the open fields now are disappearing a bit. Most of these homes you see here appeared through the 2010s and the 2020s. These streets all sit within the Congolton local plan, part of the planned growth belt around the town's northern edge.

[00:13:55]This was once working land grazed by cattle and horses, cut for hay, and plowed for crops. Parts of the area were used for sand extraction. West Lomir itself was formed through that industrial use before later being managed as a fishing lake. Some new houses now look towards that calm sheet of water. As with most new estates, these are not especially notable.

[00:14:19]Instead, they are modern with curving culde-sacs and loops designed to slow traffic. House types include detached, semi- detached, and muse designs. It feels like a compact world wrapped around the MIR's edge with small play areas and green corridors threading between the bricks. To the north between Westl Mia and Hume Wolffield Village runs the new Congolton Link Road built to give quicker access to the A34 and beyond.

[00:14:49]And so we come to the end of Hume Wolffield, an area of Cheshire shaped primarily by water, by farms, and by long straight lanes. It's a bit odd these days, you have to admit, given the northern arm is still very rural and the south is greatly urban. That said, what it does do is bring home how much rural life is changing. St. Michaels stands as the old anchor while West Lomir remind you of what was around here before all the new builds. Ironically, even that was born out of an industrial need. By the time you leave, Hume Woolfield feels like a place where old and new sit side by side without any fuss. Everything links neatly, giving Hume Wfield a sense of balance. Tomorrow we're off to another place that's similar, just up the Congol and Link Road.

[00:15:40][music] [music] >> [music] >> We stepped by the mirror with a fresh set grin. [music] New paths in our minds [music] as the day drew in.

[00:16:09]Fields [music] rolled ahead [singing] with a soft green sway.

[00:16:16]And [music] each small track felt like a friendly way.

[00:16:22]>> [music] >> A sandstone church stood calm on the rise. [music] It's warm old walls catching gold brush skies.

[00:16:38][music] A pair settled near waters so clear.

[00:16:45]found a [music] village that felt rather [singing] near.

[00:16:53]With [music] a smile [singing] and a strive and the mirror at their side, they said, "This [music] is a grand place right here.

[00:17:14]>> [music] >> Fresh homes now stand where the fields [music] once lame. [singing] Yet [music] the hush of the me still guides each [singing] day.

[00:17:37][music] Old hedge lines mark where the past held sway and the [music] breeze brings hints of an older way.

[00:17:52]We wander [music] past farms with an easy glide, [music] finding small delights [singing] set near each stride.

[00:18:07]there settled near [music] waters so clear.

[00:18:14]Found [music] a village that felt rather near.

[00:18:21]With a smile [music] [singing] and a stride and the mirror at their side, they said, "This [music] is a grand place right here.

[00:18:38]>> [music] [music] >> Heat.

[00:19:12]>> [music] >> Now, just before I go, remember this video is part of a huge project to visit every civil parish in England. That's more than 10,000. These routes are pre-planned, and due to time constraints, I can't cover every detail or walk down every street. Please don't complain if this video missed something out. I pronounce names how I choose to.

[00:19:35]I am very aware that local dialect may vary, and I don't take kindly to criticism about this. [music] You've been warned. It's impossible to know everything, too. If this video was terrible, make your own. If you're a regular watcher of The Village Idiot, you're not the only one. If you've got a small business, why not use my videos to advertise it? Leave a comment below if you're interested. And finally, thanks for watching this episode, everybody.

[00:19:58]Give us a like and a subscribe if you've enjoyed this episode and share it with your friends and relatives. It [music] all helps to keep this mission going.

[00:20:05]Until next time, I've been Andy, also known as the Village Idiot, [music] and I'm out.