Conservation Area: Church Street (Warrington) Conservation Area (054)

Church Street is located within Howley on the north bank of the River Mersey to the west of the town centre, with the Manchester Ship Canal and the Bridgewater Canal further south. The Romans used the adjacent ford over the Mersey at Latchford on their road from Wilderspool to Wigan, but the north bank of the river at Howley is not thought to have been settled until Anglo-Saxon times when a church and settlement grew up around the river crossing and the Normans built a castle on ‘Mote Hill’ close to the church to guard the ford. In Medieval times markets and fairs flourished and during the Civil War both Cromwell and the Earl of Derby came to Warrington and the General Wolf Tavern was thought to be the site of Cromwell’s head-quarters in 1648. Church Street retains a wide spacious appearance, and the subtle curvature and alignment of historic times has been retained despite extensive rebuilding over the last century. The view to the east is visually dominated by the spire of the Parish Church of St. Elphins, and the cluster of domestic scale buildings around the cobbled entrance is particularly attractive. Further to the west, Church Street is revealed when rounding the bend from Manchester Road where the Parish Church and Ring O’ Bells group denote a change in direction proceeding towards the town centre. As the street widens out by the Marquis of Granby group, the tower of st. Mary’s dominates the skyline. Church Street thus is visually contained by two churches at its extremities and by the gentle curvature of the street.