Shocklach
| Shocklach | |
|---|---|
 The Bull Inn at Shocklach |
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 Shocklach
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| Shocklach shown within Cheshire | |
| OS grid reference | SJ438491 |
| Civil parish | |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MALPAS |
| Postcode district | SY14 |
| Dialling code | 01829 |
| EU Parliament | North West England |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | http://www.shocklach.com/ |
Shocklach is a village in the civil parishes of Church Shocklach and Shocklach Oviatt in Cheshire, England. Shocklach village is in the southwestern corner of Cheshire, approximately 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) from the border between Wales and England, the River Dee. The village lies between Wrexham, 10 kilometres (6 mi) to the west, and Nantwich, 21 kilometres (13 mi) to the east.
In the 1870s, Shocklach was described as being "on River Dee, 4½ miles N W. of Malpas, 2957 ac., pop. 325; the par. contains the townships of Shocklach Church, 1278 ac., pop. 135, and Shocklach Oviatt, 1848 ac., pop. 135".
Shocklach had a population of 290 according to the 2011 census.
Firstly, there is history behind the name of the village. According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names, the village name Shocklach means 'goblin stream'. Investigating this meaning further, the old English (according to the Oxford English Dictionary) for goblin "was scucca and lache which is a variant of letch which means wet ditch or bog or a stream flowing through boggy land; a muddy, ditch or hole". Similarly there is a village named Shobrooke in Devon, and the dictionary compares the original meaning of this name (goblin brook) with that of the village Shocklach.
Using information provided by the Vision of Britain website, we are able to see the history of the social structure of Shocklach in the nineteenth century. In 1831, the largest occupational status was 'labourers and servants' (70 people). The next occupational status was 'employees and professionals' (22 people), the next 'middling sorts' (20 people) and the lowest occupational status was a category of 'other' (3 people). "Based on contemporary ideas than on modern definitions of social class: ‘middling sorts’ combines small farmers not employing labourers with both masters and skilled workers in urban manufacturing and handicrafts".
The "well-preserved" remains of an early post-Conquest motte castle lie on the northern edge of the parish, near the hamlet of Castletown. The castle is situated on what is thought to have been an ancient trackway, and was built by the Barons of Malpas in around 1100 to protect the region from frequent Welsh raids. The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
St Edith's Church, standing in the middle of fields on its own a mile north of the village overlooking the River Dee and Wales, is a Grade I listed building. The church has a Norman doorway but the level of the ground outside is higher than the base of the door. In The Buildings of England: Cheshire, it is described thus: “a small Normal building – cf. the very crudely decorated S doorway with zigzag, rope, and lozenges broken by ninety degrees. Nave and chancel, and double bellcote... the odd W baptistery squeezed between the two buttresses looks a rustic C17 job”.
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Wikipedia