Thelwall - History

History

A fortified village was established at Thelwall in 923 during the reign of King Edward the Elder, which is mentioned in two very early sources, including the Anglo Saxon Chronicle:

"Kynge Edwarde made a cite at Thelewall in e northe parte of e Marches, nye the water of Mersee, where he put certeyne knyghtes."--Higden's Polychronicon

"A.D. 923. This year went King Edward with an army, late in the harvest, to Thelwall; and ordered the borough to be repaired, and inhabited, and manned. And he ordered another army also from the population of Mercia, the while he sat there to go to Manchester in Northumbria, to repair and to man it. This year died Archbishop Plegmund; and King Reynold won York."--Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

An inscription on the Pickering Arms records that "In the year 920 King Edward the Elder founded a city here and called it Thelwall". According to Sir Peter Leycester it was "so called from the stakes and stumps, cut from the trees, wherewith it was environed about as a wall". It is more likely that the original meaning of Thelwall was "pool by a plank bridge" (the earliest record of the name is in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 923 as "Thelwæl", in 1241 it occurs as "Thelewell").

Earthworks remain of an embankment, possibly part of these fortifications, found in the grounds of Chaigeley School. These remains are a designated English Heritage National Monument.

At Thelwall derive many stories of ghosts, since many of the old buildings still remain in the area: sightings are relayed from the local pub, "The Little Manor". However, there are stories of witches at the well of the "Old White House" too, on the outskirts of Thelwall.