Geography and Economy
The civil parish has a total area of 2,168 acres (877 ha). The terrain is undulating in character, rising from around 75 metres by the Llangollen Canal in the north and west of the parish to around 120 metres near Hollyhurst in the south east. Five sizable meres lie wholly or partly within the civil parish: Marbury Big Mere (SJ559454) and Little Mere (SJ562456), Quoisley Big Mere (SJ546455) and Little Mere (SJ549455), and part of Brankelow Moss (SJ579444). The largest, Marbury Big Mere, is around 500 metres in length. The Marbury and Quoisley Meres originate in glacial kettle holes, formed at the end of the last ice age some ten or fifteen thousand years ago. Additionally, numerous smaller ponds are scattered across the farmland. There are many small areas of woodland including Big Wood, Buttermilk Bank, Glebe Covert, Hadley Covert, Holly Rough, Limepits, Marley Hall Covert, Marley Moss, Poole Gorse, Poole Hook and Square Covert, and parts of Brankelow Moss, Hollyhurst Wood and Poole's Riding Wood.
The Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal runs along the northern boundary of the parish, with Marbury Brook and Steer Brook running alongside parts of the canal; the canal turns southwards at SJ539463 to form the parish's western boundary. An unnamed brook running from Wirswall Road via Quoisley Meres to the canal forms part of the southern boundary. Church Bridge carries School Lane across Marbury Brook at SJ562464, by Church Bridge Lock in the adjacent civil parish of Norbury. The grade-II-listed red sandstone bridge dates from the late 18th or early 19th century; half of the bridge lies in Marbury cum Quoisley and the other half in Norbury. The modern road bridges of Steer Bridge (Marbury Road) and Quoisley Canal Bridge (A49) cross the canal at SJ553463 and SJ539463, respectively. Quoisley Lock is at SJ538461.
The area is predominantly rural, with the major land use being agricultural, mainly dairy. Tourism is also significant, including walking, cycling, fishing and the canal trade. The village of Marbury is centred around the T-junction of Hollins Lane, Wirswall Road and Wrenbury Road at SJ560457, with housing also extending along School Lane.
A large area in the centre and south of the civil parish, including Marbury village and the five meres, forms part of the Wirswall/Marbury/Combermere Area of Special County Value. A small area in the south east falls within the parkland of Combermere Abbey, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens at grade II. The village of Marbury was designated a conservation area in 1973.
Read more about this topic: Marbury, Cheshire
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