Pott Shrigley may be full of history but it is also a very beautiful hamlet nestled beneath a hillside wood, Holme wood, at the junction of two valleys, looking south towards Bollington with Kerridge hill in the near distance – a truly lovely place to live today. It has a very small core made up of St Christopher’s Church, the school, and a few houses and cottages, all within a large parish, with a very scattered community of farms and cottages stretching from Higher Poynton, Adlington, up onto Bakestonedale, and over to Rainow and Bollington on the south and west.
A house with some history is Pott Hall (right and below), located just along the road to Bollington. This is where Martin Swindells I (1784-1834) came to live when he became successful in the cotton industry in near by Bollington. His son George Swindells (1820-1897) took over the house on his father’s death. At various times the house has been extended and includes a courtyard surrounded by barns and outhouses. For some years in the 1980s and 90s it was used as a care home for the elderly. The house and all other buildings were then, in the first decade of the 21stC, converted into housing units. |
Pott Hall is beautiful in the early summer when the rhododendrons bloom. |
This large Georgian house (right) stands in the centre of the village with the church beside it and the school opposite. Notable for its very fine windows. It used to be the Lowthers Arms inn, closed in 1920. Pott Shrigley Cricket Club have their club house and pitch in what must rate as one of the most beautiful settings for a game of cricket anywhere in the world. With a backdrop of the wooded valley side hanging over it one can scarcely imagine a more relaxing setting for an afternoon of the noble game. |
Pott Shrigley school (left) is one of the smallest, and longest established, in Cheshire catering for the needs of local children up to age 11. It is a very popular school, attracting support from a wide area. |
St Christopher’s Church (right) has been built up from one of the oldest churches in Cheshire, originating from the 13thC. |
The only half timbered building in Pott Shrigley (left), this house is accompanied by a beautiful garden with Holme Wood providing the backdrop. This house is right opposite the church and the school with the road junction in front of it. Here you will find the post box beside the village gas lamp which is kept lit at all times to guide the late traveller! |
Standing opposite the church, these cottages (right) provide the main length of housing in the village. |
This short row of delightful cottages (left) have hardly changed in 100 years – see the old picture on the home page. They stand under Holme Wood looking out across the cricket field towards Bollington and Kerridge Hill. |
The largest house in the parish, with wonderful views over the Cheshire plain, is the stately Shrigley Hall, originally built in the 14thC by the Downes family, who lived there for 500 years, and re-built on a grander scale in the early 19thC by William Turner. In the 1950s the estate was sold to the Salesians who used it for Catholic education and then sold it for conversion into an hotel in the 1980s. It remains, after several changes of ownership, an hotel with a country club featuring a fitness centre and a challenging golf course. |
The valley that leads up from the village towards Shrigley Hall is notable in spring for the fantastic mist of bluebells. The picture (left) shows the view across the valley floor, but there is an equally amazing display behind the camera in Holme wood. As well as the wonderful cricket field, the Bollington & Pott Shrigley golf course was located between today’s cricket field and Engine wood, along the road to Bollington, stretching up the side of the Nab. Opened in 1907, it was abandoned about 1920 when the members went off to establish Prestbury Golf Club – on easier ground no doubt! |