The population in 2021 was recorded as 174,970 for the built-up area and 210,900 for the wider borough,[1][2] the latter being more than double that of 1968 when it became a new town. The population of Warrington stood at 211,200 [3] people in January 2024. Warrington is the largest town in the ceremonial county of Cheshire.
Warrington was founded by the Romans at an important crossing place on the River Mersey. A new settlement was established by the Saxon Wærings.[4] By the Middle Ages, Warrington had emerged as a market town at the lowest bridging point of the river. A local tradition of textile and tool production dates from this time.[5]
The expansion and urbanisation of Warrington coincided with the Industrial Revolution, particularly after the Mersey was made navigable in the 18th century. The West Coast Main Line runs north to south through the town, and the Liverpool to Manchester railway (the Cheshire Lines route) west to east. The Manchester Ship Canal cuts through the south of the borough (west to east). The M6, M56 and M62 motorways form a partial box around the town and are all accessible through Warrington.
The earliest known appearance of the name is "Weringtun", when before the Norman Conquest it was the head of a hundred.[6] An entry in the Domesday Book in AD 1086 named it as "Wallintun".[7] The root is likely the Old English word waru – meaning "those that care for, watch, guard, protect, or defend." The suffix -ing is a cognateofinge, an ethnonym for the Ingaevones said variously to mean "of Yngvi,"[8] "family, people or followers of"[9] or a genitiveplural form of an inhabitant appellation.[10] The suffix "ton" is from the Old English word tun meaning "fenced area" or "enclosure."
Warrington has been a major crossing point on the River Mersey since ancient times and there was a RomansettlementatWilderspool.[11] Local archaeological evidence indicates that there were also Bronze Age settlements.[citation needed]Inmedieval times Warrington's importance was as a market town and bridging point of the River Mersey. The first reference to a bridge at Warrington is found in 1285.[12] The origin of the modern town was located in the area around St Elphin's Church, now included in the Church StreetConservation Area,[13] established whilst the main river crossing was via a ford approximately 1 km upriver of
DONT GO PADGATE ITS A TERRIBLE HIGHSCHOOL ONLY GOOD PPL ARE RYAN +AYESHA
English Civil War
Warrington was a fulcrum in the English Civil War. The armies of Oliver Cromwell and the Earl of Derby both stayed near the old town centre (the parish church area). Popular legend has it that Cromwell lodged near the building which survives on Church Street as the Cottage Restaurant. The Marquis of Granby public house bears a plaque stating that the Earl of Derby 'had his quarters near this site'. Dents in the walls of the parish church are rumoured to have been caused by the cannons from the time of the civil war. On 13 August 1651 Warrington was the scene of the last Royalist victory of the civil war when Scots troops under Charles II and David Leslie, Lord Newark, fought Parliamentarians under John Lambert at the Battle of Warrington Bridge.
Industrial history
The expansion and urbanisation of Warrington largely coincided with the Industrial Revolution, particularly after the Mersey was made navigable in the 18th century. As Britain became industrialised, Warrington embraced the Industrial Revolution becoming a manufacturing town and a centre of steel (particularly wire), textiles, brewing, tanning and chemical industries. The navigational properties of the River Mersey were improved, canals were built, and the town grew yet more prosperous and popular. When the age of steam came, Warrington naturally welcomed it, both as a means of transport and as a source of power for its mills.
Second World War
Warrington was the location of the Burtonwood RAF base and Risley Ordnance Factory. During World War II, RAF Burtonwood served as the largest US Army Air Force airfield outside the United States, and was visited by major American celebrities including Humphrey Bogart and Bob Hope who entertained the GIs. The RAF station continued to be used by the USAAF and subsequently USAF as a staging post for men and material until its closure in 1993.
Post-war expansion
Warrington was designated a new town in 1968 and consequently the population grew in size, with many of the town's new residents moving from LiverpoolorManchester, with the Birchwood area being developed on the former ROF Risley site. New council housing was built for families rehousing from slum clearances in Liverpool or Manchester, while Warrington's new private housing estates also became popular with homeowners.[14]
Heavy industry declined in the 1970s and 1980s but the growth of the new town led to a great increase in employment in light industry, retail, distribution and technology.
On 20 March 1993, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated two bombs in Warrington town centre. The blasts killed two children: three-year-old Johnathan Ball died instantly, and twelve-year-old Tim Parry, from the Great Sankey area, died five days later in hospital. Around 56 other people were injured, four seriously. Their deaths provoked widespread condemnation of the organisation responsible. The blast followed a bomb attack a few weeks earlier on a gas-storage plant in Warrington.
Tim Parry's father, Colin Parry, founded The Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace (known as the Peace Centre) as part of a campaign to reconcile communities in conflict. The centre opened on the seventh anniversary of the bombing, 20 March 2000. He and his family still live in the town.
Other history
In 1981, Warrington was the first place to field a candidate for the new Social Democratic Party: former Home Secretary Roy Jenkins stood for Parliament but lost to Labour Party candidate Doug Hoyle by a small number of votes.
In October 1987, Swedish home products retailer IKEA opened its first British store in the Burtonwood area of the town, bringing more than 200 retail jobs to the area.[17]
In 1813 improvement commissioners were appointed for the township of Warrington, being the town's first form of urban local government; prior to that the town was governed by its vestry and manorial courts.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). which takes place in Victoria Park during the May bank holiday weekend. The event was first launched in 2018, over 50,000 people attended the event over the two days. The event was repeated in 2019 and was scheduled to return in 2020 but did not take place as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown. The event was subsequently held in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Plans for a 2024 festival were cancelled but will take place again in 2025.[22]
Open spaces
Warrington has an array of open spaces, including parks, trails, nature reserves and gardens rich in history and visual beauty. Many of these attractions are dog friendly, and free of charge to enter, usually with man-made paths created to ensure safety. The attractions include:
Culcheth Linear park- open 24hrs, with public toilets, parking, and staff based around the park
Lymm Dam pictured at sunsetLymm dam - open 24hrs, water features, wildlife and woodland walks. Also has angling opportunities and links to the Trans Pennine trail.
New Cut heritage and ecology trail- ongoing project including linear footpaths, Paddington meadows nature reserve, and links to several other parks in the area (listed below)
Risley Moss local nature reserve - works with schools and partakes in regular subjects to help aid the life of local wildlife. Includes car parking and toilets
Sankey valley park - open 24hrs, includes picnic benches, car parking, angling opportunities and play areas.
Trans Pennine Trail - open 24hrs, suitable for cycling, walking and running. Links to many other paths in the area.
Victoria park - includes sports facilities, changing facilities, training pitches, ASICS Stadium, play area and home to the annual Neighbourhood Weekender music festival
Walton gardens - includes gardens, Walton hall, petting zoo, play areas, mini golf and footpaths accessible to all.
Warrington is also home to other small parks and open spaces such Woolston park, Birchwood forest park and Bank park. Most open areas are dog friendly and only require unfriendly dogs to be kept under proper control by owners.
Rugby league is the town's premier sport in the form of Warrington Wolves, who were historically nicknamed "The Wire"[26] because of Warrington's history of wire making. In 2003 the club left Wilderspool Stadium, its home for over a century, and moved to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. Warrington RLFC are the only team to have played every season in the top flight of rugby league. They established themselves as one of the leading rugby clubs in the country by taking home the Challenge Cup for two years running in 2009 and 2010 and a further win in 2012. This was won by them for the first time since 1974.[27]
The club also reached the cup finals in 2016 and 2018, where they lost to Hull FC & Catalans Dragons respectively. In 2019, Warrington triumphed over St Helens in the Challenge Cup Final, 18-4, to lift the trophy for the 7th time. In 2011 the Wolves gained the Super League Leaders Shield for the first time (winning again in 2016), and in 2012 they appeared in the Super League Grand Final for the first time versus Leeds Rhinos with the chance to become only the third team to win the Challenge Cup/Grand Final double – however, they lost. They also reached the Grand Final again in 2013, 2016 and 2018, losing to Wigan Warriors on all occasions, Warrington's last domestic title came in 1955, when they beat Oldham at Manchester City's Maine Road. Warrington is represented in the British Amateur Rugby League Association leagues by:
Bank Quay Bulls ARLFC
Burtonwood Bulldogs ARLFC
Crosfields ARLFC
Culcheth Eagles ARLFC
Latchford Albion ARLFC
Rylands ARFLC
Woolston Rovers ARLFC
Football is represented by Warrington TownatCantilever Park, next to the Manchester Ship Canal. The club has several nicknames including Town, Yellows and The Wire. Warrington Town are currently in National League North following promotion in 2023. Warrington's biggest success was in the 2014 FA Cup where they reached the first round proper for the first time, whilst in the eighth tier. Warrington drew Exeter City of the fourth tier, who were at the time of the game 100 places above the Yellows. The match was shown live on BBC One and sold out Cantilever Park. Warrington famously won the game 1–0, but lost to 5th-tier Gateshead in the second round. The town also has another non-league team, Rylands F.C. who currently play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.[28]
Rowing in Warrington may well have been taking place for nearly 200 years. It is known that Warrington Regatta is well over 150 years old, often attracting large crowds on the riverbank.
The modern Warrington rowing club started in the mid-1980s and is based near Kingsway Bridge. Warrington is home to both recreational and competitive rowers.[citation needed]
Warrington Athletic Club is based at Victoria Park, where a new eight-lane synthetic track was built in 1998, after the original track was destroyed in a fire the previous year.
Speedway racing, formerly known as dirt track racing, was staged in Warrington in its pioneering era between 1928 and 1930. The track entered a team in the 1929 English Dirt Track League and the 1930 Northern League. Efforts to revive the venue in 1947 failed to materialise.
Warrington Wolves Basketball team was set up in 2009 and competes in the English Basketball League Division Four.[citation needed]
Warrington has four predominant rugby union teams: Warrington RUFC, Lymm RFC, Gentlemen of Moore RUFC and Eagle RUFC, who are based at Thornton Road.[citation needed]
Media
Warrington receives its television signals from the Winter Hill TV transmitter.
Warrington's longest established newspaper is the Warrington Guardian. Published weekly and costing £1, it is currently owned by Newsquest and has sales of just over 17,000.[30] Bridge Foot based Orbit News Ltd produce a monthly free news magazine, Warrington Worldwide, as well as three community magazines, Warrington Worldwide, Lymm Life (first published April 1999) and Culcheth Life (First published April 2003) and the daily news website. The free monthly newspaper Cheshire Times is also distributed in the southern half of the borough.
Susanna Wright (1697 in Warrington – 1784), colonial American poet[42] and pundit, botanist, business owner and legal scholar
Hamlet Winstanley (1698–1756), painter and engraver;[43] designer of Stanley Street in Warrington town centre. Born in Warrington and lived there in his later years before dying there.
Joseph Priestley FRS, (1733–1804), non-conformist clergyman,[47] philosopher and scientist, discoverer of oxygen; lived in Warrington and taught at the Warrington Academy between 1761 and 1767
Thomas Percival FRS FRSE FSA (1740 in Warrington − 1804), physician and author, crafted the first modern code of medical ethics
John Webster (1845 in Warrington – 1914), civil engineer who specialised in designing bridges
Jack Wilson (1894 in Warrington – 1970), partner in Wilson, Keppel and Betty, a popular British music hall and vaudeville act
Henry Woods RA (1846 in Warrington – 1921), painter and illustrator, an artist of the Neo-Venetian school
1900 to 1950
George Formby (1904–1961), entertainer, lived for many years in Warrington and is buried in Warrington Cemetery, with his father George Formby Sr, also an entertainer[65]
Geoffrey Hewitt (1934–2019) FREng, FRS, British chemical engineer notable for contributions to heat transfer and multiphase flow, in 2007 recipient of Global Energy Prize
Dave Cook (1941 in Warrington–1993), British communist activist, also known as a rock climber
Ossie Clark (1942–1996), fashion designer, raised in Warrington, attended William Beamont Secondary Technical School[69]
Rebekah Brooks (born 1968), journalist, newspaper editor and former chief executive of News International, attended Appleton Hall County Grammar School in Warrington[76]
Edna Savage (1936 in Warrington – 2000), traditional pop singer
Tim Curry (born 1946), actor, singer and composer, born in Warrington and lived in Grappenhall
Pete Waterman OBE (born 1947), record producer, lives in Warrington, in the village of Winwick[81]
John Maines (born 1948 in Warrington), musician, trombone player and active figure in the British brass band movement as a performer, conductor, tutor, compere and concert presenter
Gareth Jones (born 1954 in Warrington), music producer and engineer notable for working with Depeche Mode
Miles Tredinnick, also known as Riff Regan (born Warrington 1955), rock musician, songwriter and a stage and screenwriter
Fred Worrall (1910 in Warrington– 1979), footballer, made 425 professional appearances
Harold 'Moggy' Palin (1916 in Warrington–1990), professional rugby league footballer
Roger Hunt (1938-2021), footballer[89] for Liverpool F.C., member of England's 1966 World Cup squad, born in Glazebury, lived in Warrington, made a Freeman of the Borough on 5 December 2016
^"Contact Us". Manchester Japanese School. Retrieved 15 February 2015. "Oughtrington Lane, Lymm, Cheshire, WA13 0RB, UK (Language Centre at Lymm High School)"
^Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; William Beamont diaries in Warrington Library; "History of the Mayor". Warrington Borough Council. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007.
Hilden, Germany[100]
Náchod, Czech Republic[100][101]
Meung-sur-Loire, France
