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Malpas, Cheshire

Malpas
St oswalds malpas from sw.JPG
St Oswald's Church, Malpas from the southwest
Malpas is located in Cheshire
Malpas
Malpas
Malpas shown within Cheshire
Population 1,673 (2011)
OS grid reference SJ487472
Civil parish
  • Malpas
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town MALPAS
Postcode district SY14
Dialling code 01948
Police Cheshire
Fire Cheshire
Ambulance North West
EU Parliament North West England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
CheshireCoordinates: 53°01′08″N 2°45′50″W / 53.019°N 2.764°W / 53.019; -2.764

Malpas is a large village that used to be a market town. It is also a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The parish lies on the border with Shropshire and Wales. The name is from Old French and means "bad/poor" (mal) and "passage/way" (pas).

There is no evidence for Roman settlement in Malpas, but it is known that the Roman Road from Bovium (Tilston) and Mediolanum (Whitchurch) passes through the village.

Dedications to St Oswald are thought to be associated with Æthelræd II (879–911), also known as Earl Aethelred of Mercia and Æthelflæd of Mercia (911–918); they are known to have encouraged the growth of this cult along the Welsh border in places such as Hereford and Shrewsbury. This may indicate that Malpas was not a Norman 'New Town', but an Anglo-Saxon burh.

After the Norman conquest of 1066 Malpas is recorded as being called Depenbech and is mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086 as belonging to Robert FitzHugh, Baron of Malpas. Malpas and other holdings were given to his family for defensive services along the Welsh border. The Cholmondeley family who still live locally at Cholmondeley Castle are reputed to be descended from Robert FitzHugh.

A concentrated line of castles protected Cheshire's western border from the Welsh; these included motte-and-bailey castles at Shotwick, Dodleston, Aldford, Pulford, Shocklach, Oldcastle and Malpas. The earthworks of Malpas Castle are still to be found to the north of St. Oswald's Church.


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Wikipedia

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