Monument record 1277 - Strettle

Deserted medieval village of Strettle, probably in Mere parish. The name probably comes from 'Street hill, hill on a main or Roman road'. The village may have been located at Hulme Barns (SJ 722827) (1). Strettle or Strethull was a small manor in Mere, part of which, if not the whole was held by a family bearing the local name and probably descended from Gilbert, the son of Robert de Mara (2). Strethleye is mentioned in the Chartulary of St Werburgh's Abbey, Chester. Two 'de Strethul' families are active in the land market in the 2nd half of the 13thC, when settlement associated with this place name had fields in strips as well as crofts. In 1337 this land passed from the Mere family to the Venables. Richard de Venables and his wife Isabel were described as 'de Strethul' in the reign of Richard I (2). Higham notes there is no evidence to link ithe settlement with Hulme Barns. He suggests that the de Strethul settlement of the Venables should be equated with Hough Hall (RN:1273/1/1) and the Strethul placename fell out of use (3).

<1> Dodgson J McN, 1970-2, 1981, The Place-Names of Cheshire, 2/52 (Y) (Book). SCH3228.

<1> Dodgson J McN, 1970-2, 1981, The Place-Names of Cheshire, vol .II p.52 (Book). SCH3228.

<2> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, 1/468 (Y) (Book). SCH1389.

<3> Chester Archaeological Society, Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society, 70/87-97 1988 (Journal/Periodical). SCH1595.