Ringway, Cheshire Genealogy

England Cheshire  Ringway



Parish History
Ringway St Mary and All Saints was established in 1515 as "Ringey Chapel," a chapel of ease in Bowdon, Cheshire Ancient Parish.

In 1720 a New Chapel was built and a year later Dissenting worshippers were forcibly ejected from the chapel.

The Chapel became the Parish Church of All Saints in 1863. On 20 April 1895 the present building was consecrated. Designed by Preston &amp; Vaughan of Manchester. Built by William Brown and Son of Salford at a cost of £3,000. Financed by Wilbraham, Baron Egerton of Tatton. Dedication to St. Mary added in memory of Baron Egerton’s first wife.

In 1970 the Church closed after new Parish Church built in Hale Barns. Building used as a storeroom.

In 1997 the Building restored and converted for use as a design studio by:

Richard Chadwick Associates Ltd.

Ringway was formerly called ‘Ringhay’ or ‘Ringey’ from the fact that it was a Lordship within a ring fence belonging to one proprietor. A. Tarbolton, in his book (‘Ringway Chapel Before the Destruction 1515 - 1729’), says it is of great antiquity and indeed an inscription found in 1515 seems to support this view. Ringey Chapel is shown on a map of 1577 by Christopher Saxton. On a later map by John Speed it was wrongly named but marked just south of the River Bollin. On later maps it was put right as Ringey.

Sir Peter Leycester mentions it as a ‘Chapel of Ease’ which was seized during the Civil War by the non-conformists. His obvious disapproval is shown in these remarks;

'Every illiterate person as the humour served him, stepped into the pulpit without Licence of Authority.

'The Vicar of Bowdon from 1690-1708 expressed his disapproval of the use of this Anglican Chapel by Dissenters. A later Vicar wrote a series of letters to the then Bishop of Chester on the subject of the Ringway Chapel. In the first letter he says that the people were rigid Presbyterians and in his third letter he mentions the old bell which bore the date 1627 and a Latin inscription. An amusing footnote explains that he was £100 in debt and goes on to say;

'I can think of no way but one whereby I can immediately pay off so great a sum and that is by marrying a young gentlewoman in this place.'

In about 1721 John Grewe of Crewe Hall inherited the Lordship of Ringway and declared his intention of restoring the chapel to the Established Church. Shortly after this, Mr. Assheton of Ashley Hall, taking matters into his own hands, went to the Chapel one Sunday evening, seized the minister, Mr. Nicholas Waterhouse, by the collar, pulled him down from the pulpit and turned him and the congregation out of the church. The following week they retook possession which they retained until a clergyman licensed by the Bishop of Chester was appointed. Mr. Waterhouse preached in a barn until Hale Chapel was completed in 1723. R. N. Dore, in his book on Hale describes Hale Chapel, where the Dissenters established themselves.

The old Ringway Chapel was pulled down about this time and was replaced by a new, plain, red-brick building. The old bell which hung in a quaint, wooden bell-cote, was later recast or superseded by a new one dated 1741. This building was demolished in 1894 and a new church was built. It was erected by Lord Egerton of Tatton and consecrated by the Bishop of Chester on 20 April 1895. It was dedicated to St. Mary and All Saints and was a memorial to Lady Egerton.

In 1863 it had been detached from Bowdon and became a District Chapelry. The records of Baptisms commenced in 1751 but those of burials at Ringway did not begin until 1821, burials before this time being at Bowdon.

Canon F. Cox, of Ringway Vicarage, Altrincham, said that it was declared redundant by an Order in Council in December 1970. The reason for this, he said, was the decline in population at the Ringway end of the parish due to the airport extensions, the diversion of the Altrincham-Wilmslow Road, and the construction of the new motorway (an extension of Princess Parkway) in the middle of the parish. A new parish church in the name of All Saints, which was the original dedication of the previous Ringway churches, was built at Hale Barns where there had been a tremendous growth of population. This church was consecrated by the Bishop of Chester in November 1967.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Registration Districts

 * Bucklow (1900–74)
 * Manchester (1974–2009)
 * Cheshire West and Chester 2009- Registration events can be searched online at Cheshire BMD

Church records
To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Bowdon, St. Mary (C of E). The ancient parish church for Ringway. Ringway, St. Mary &amp; All Saints (C of E). Founded 1751 as a chapel to Bowdon, becoming a parish church in 1863. Closed in 1967 and replaced by Hale Barns, All Saints. Registers of Baptisms 1751–1959, Marriages 1864–1967 and Burials 1826–1997 have been deposited at the Cheshire Record Office

The chapelry of Ringway, or Ringey, is in the parish of Bowden. Ringway later became a parish. Cheshire Record Office Call number: P236/5388/1-2, 6.

Bishop's Transcripts The chapelry of Ringway, or Ringey, is in the parish of Bowden. Cheshire Record Office call number: EDB 175.

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Cheshire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Poor Law Unions

 * Altrincham (renamed Bucklow) Poor Law Union, Cheshire

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain