OCTOBER 27TH, 2009
By ADMIN
Builders
Approximate Population: 195,200
Warrington is a large town, borough and unitary authority area in Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. The population of the borough of Warrington, including its 18 civil parishes, is around 194,000. Its population has more than doubled since its designation as a New Town in 1968.
Historically a part of Lancashire, Warrington was founded by the Romans at an important crossing place on the River Mersey. A new settlement was established by the Saxons and by the Middle Ages, Warrington had emerged as a market town at an important bridging point. A local tradition of textile and tool production dates from this time.
The expansion and urbanisation of Warrington largely coincided with the Industrial Revolution, particularly after the Mersey was made navigable in the 18th century. The West Coast Mainline 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.
OCTOBER 26TH, 2009
By ADMIN
Builders Ripon North Yorkshire
Approximate Population: 15,922
Ripon became a cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Ripon, in 1836, with the creation of the Diocese of Ripon, the first new diocese to be created in England since the Reformation. This also led to the recognition of city status for Ripon.
There are a number of monuments of historical and antiquarian interest. The diocese, called ‘Ripon and Leeds’ since 1999, includes rather less than one-third of the parishes of Yorkshire. Bishop Mount, the home of the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, is about a mile north of Ripon, while the old Bishop’s Palace, a Victorian building in Tudor style, is situated in extensive grounds about a mile west. In the vicinity is the domain of Studley Royal, the seat of the Marquess of Ripon, which contains the celebrated ruins of Fountains Abbey. The principal secular buildings are the town hall, the public rooms, and the mechanics’ institution (1894).
There are several old charities, including the hospital of St John the Baptist, founded in 1109 but modernized; the hospital of St Anne, founded probably in the reign of Henry VI by an unknown benefactor; and the hospital of St Mary Magdalene for women. This last was founded by Thurstan, archbishop of York (1114–41), as a secular community, one of the special duties of which was to minister to lepers. In the 13th century a master and chaplain took the place of the lay brethren, and in 1334 a chantry was founded. The chapel remains, with its interesting Norman work, its low side-windows, said to have allowed the lepers to follow the services, and its pre-Reformation altar of stone, a rare example.
Builders Ripon North Yorkshire
