Witton in the Domesday Book (1086)

Witton is named in the Domesday Book, compiled by Norman commissioners in 1086, entered under the hundred of Middlewich in Cheshire. The survey assessed Witton at 2 carucates of taxable land.

The survey records Witton’s value at 1 shilling in 1086. No pre-Conquest figure survives – not unusual in the North, where records were disrupted by the Harrying and by the patchy coverage of the survey.

Resources Recorded at Witton (1086)

• Mills: 1 mill (valued at 2d)

Other Settlements in Middlewich

• Alsager
• Bostock
• Brereton
• Byley
• Clive
• Congleton
• Croxton
• Davenham
• Davenport
• Goostrey
• Hassall
• Kinderton
• Lach [Dennis]
• Leftwich

The Meaning of the Name

The name Witton is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Its final element derives from the Old English word tūn, a farmstead or village. The first element is most likely a personal name or an early descriptive term, now difficult to recover with certainty. Taken together the name probably meant something close to ‘a farmstead’.

Remarkably, the name has changed little since 1086, when the Domesday scribes wrote it as Witton.

Listed Buildings Near Witton

Historic England records 24 listed buildings within about a mile of Witton. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade I

• Church of St Helen - 0.37 km

Grade II

• Sundial 8 Metres South of South Porch of Church of St Helen (Witton Church) - 0.36 km
• Church of St Wilfred (Roman Catholic) - 0.63 km
• Northwich Post Office - 0.69 km
• Plaza Bingo Club - 0.7 km
• Brunner Public Library - 0.77 km
• R.a.o.b Hall - 0.79 km
• The Brockhurst - 0.81 km
• Weaver Hall - 0.83 km
• Weaver Railway Viaduct - 0.84 km
• Former Verdin Technical Schools & Gymnasium, Northwich - 0.89 km
• Dock Road Pumping Station - 0.93 km
• Hayhurst Bridge Over Weaver Navigation, and Control Cabin - 0.95 km
• Weir East of Hunt’s Lock, With Footbridge - 0.98 km
• Clock Tower Between British Waterways Board Office and River Weaver - 0.98 km
• Navigation House - 0.99 km
• Town Bridge Over Weaver Navigation, and Control Cabin - 0.99 km
• British Waterways Board Area Office - 1.0 km
• Stable Block With Attached Outbuildings, Walls and Gateway at Navigation House - 1.0 km
• Gates and Gatepiers to Verdin Park - 1.06 km
• Nos 256,258,260,262,264,266 and 268 - 1.06 km
• Church of the Holy Trinity - 1.1 km
• Hunt’s Locks - 1.15 km
• Victoria Infirmary, Old Wing - 1.22 km

Witton Today

Today Witton lies within the administrative area of Cheshire West and Chester.

Read more about modern Witton on Wikipedia .

Nearby Domesday Settlements

Other places recorded in the 1086 survey within a few miles:

• Northwich - 1.0 km W
• Higher and Lower Shurlach - 1.4 km SE
• Leftwich - 1.4 km SW
• Winnington - 2.2 km NW
• Shipbrook - 2.2 km SE
• Wincham - 2.2 km NE