Sound, Cheshire
Encyclopedia
Sound is a hamlet and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East
and the ceremonial county of Cheshire
, England
. The hamlet is located 3¼ miles (5 km) to the south west of Nantwich
. The parish also includes the small settlements of Newtown and Sound Heath. Nearby villages include Aston
, Ravensmoor
and Wrenbury
.
The River Weaver
runs along the southern boundary and the Welsh Marches
railway line crosses the parish. There is a small Site of Special Scientific Interest
and Local Nature Reserve
named Sound Heath
, which forms an important habitat for freshwater
invertebrate
s and breeding birds. The area is predominantly rural, with a total population of a little over 200.
origin which means a sandy place. Sound is not mentioned in the Domesday survey
. In 1200–1300, there is evidence for a hamlet named Fouleshurst, which is thought to have been located near Fouleshurst (now Fullhurst) Hall on Sound Lane, in the north of the modern civil parish. However, no traces have yet been uncovered of this settlement. Records exist of the township of Sound itself from 1310. The area of the modern civil parish was divided between two administrative units in the Nantwich Hundred
: part fell within Wrenbury chapelry, which was served by St Margaret's Church, Wrenbury
, and part within the ancient parish
of Acton
, which was served by St Mary's Church, Acton
. The earliest landowners were the Sound family, but the manor had passed to the Chetwode family by the reign of Edward IV
(1461–1483) and by 1800, it was owned by the Cholmondeleys.
In April 1643, during the Civil War
, Sound was one of several townships raided by Royalist
forces. The diarist Edward Burghall wrote:
In 1831 there was a hopyard north of Sound Hall, which had a malt kiln
. Two beerhouse keepers were recorded in Sound in 1850, and one of the cottages adjacent to Sound Hall is believed to have been an alehouse.
The Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway
was approved in 1853. Construction employed engineers Joseph Locke
and John Edward Errington
and contractor Thomas Brassey
, and the line opened on 1 September 1858. It passed through Sound with no station.
Broomhall Church, a Methodist chapel, was built in Newtown in 1838 by Joseph Cartlidge. A Primitive Methodist Chapel was constructed in 1875 at Sound Heath, and a Sunday School was added in the late 1930s. This chapel closed in 1973, when the congregation united with that of Broomhall Church, which was renamed Broomhall and Sound Church. Sound School (on the boundary with Broomhall
) opened in 1876, with 58 pupils in its first year. During the Second World War
, the school served as an emergency rest centre for evacuees. It was expanded with mobile classrooms in the late 20th century.
, Baddington
, Broomhall
and Coole Pilate
. Sound is represented by 4 councillors out of a total of 15. From 1974 the civil parish was served by Crewe and Nantwich
Borough Council, which was succeeded on 1 April 2009 by the new unitary authority
of Cheshire East
. Sound falls in the parliamentary constituency of Eddisbury
, and has been represented by Stephen O'Brien since 1999.
, with glacial sand deposit
providing light sandy soil at Sound Heath. The River Weaver
and Edleston Brook form parts of the southern and northern boundaries of the parish, respectively. Several unnamed brooks also run through the parish, and many small meres and ponds are scattered across its farmland and woodland. The majority of the terrain is relatively flat, with an average elevation of around 60 metres; near the northern parish boundary and adjacent to the Weaver in the southwest the land is more undulating in character. There are several areas of woodland within the parish, including Sound Heath and Asphodel.
The small scattered settlements of Sound and Sound Heath are centred around the junction of Sound Lane and Wrenbury Heath Road. The hamlet of Newtown lies adjacent to the A530
, between Newtown Road and Wrenbury Heath Road. Occasional farmhouses and cottages also lie along Sound Lane and Wrenbury Heath Road. The area is predominantly rural, with the major land use being agricultural. Dairy farming
predominates, but there is also sheep pasture, horse paddocks and some arable
fields. There is an abattoir
at Red Lion Farm in Sound Heath. A few small industrial and service enterprises operate within the parish, including television and video repairs (Sound Heath), metal fabricators (Sound Lane) and secretarial services (Newtown).
The A530
runs along the south-east edge of the civil parish. Three unclassified roads run from the A530. Wrenbury Heath Road runs westwards towards Wrenbury Heath
, where it joins the lane from Nantwich
to Wrenbury. Sound Lane initially runs westwards, joining Wrenbury Heath Road at , and then turns northwards towards Ravensmoor
, where it also joins the lane to Nantwich. Newtown Road connects the A530 and Sound Lane.
The Welsh Marches
railway line runs through the parish from the south-west to the north-east, crossing Wrenbury Heath Road at and Sound Lane at . Two further railway bridges serve Sound Hall and Bridge Farm , with no public right of way. The National Cycle Network
Regional Route 75 runs westwards from the A530 along Newtown Road and then follows Sound Lane.
(SSSI) and Local Nature Reserve
of Sound Heath
, also known as Sound Common. The designated site comprises two distinct areas totalling 4.8 Ha, the larger centred at and the smaller at . The habitat is varied, with damp and dry lowland heath
, grassland
, scrub
and young woodland
. There are many permanent or seasonal pools, which originate from sand extraction.
Sound Heath is one of the most important sites in Cheshire for freshwater
invertebrate
s. Pond-dwelling species that are rare in the UK which have been observed here include the mud snail
, great raft spider
and a species of water scavenger beetle. The beautiful snout moth
is another nationally scarce species which has been recorded at Sound Heath. The area is also an important breeding site for a wide range of birds.
at one end, which was extended in 1980. It belongs to the Audlem section of the Nantwich Circuit.
. The grade-II-listed Fulhurst Hall, also on Sound Lane , dates originally from the mid-17th century. The two-storey, T-shaped building is partly timber-framed with a 20th-century brick extension and a tiled roof.
A former red-brick malt kiln
stands opposite Sound Hall on Wrenbury Heath Road . Such buildings were common in around 1800, but very few examples are still standing. A long low wing forms the former drying area, where malt
and hops
were dried; six sets of wooden shutters on each of the two floors were used to adjust the airflow. An adjoining wing with a higher roof was used for brewing. The building was substantially unaltered and in use as a barn in 2006, but was being converted into residential use in 2010.
at . It serves the civil parish of Sound, as well as Austerson, Baddington
, Broomhall, Coole Pilate
and Newhall
.
The school building dates from 1876 and is listed at grade II. A single-storey building of three bays with a bell turret forms the school, with an adjoining two-storey schoolmaster's house; both are in red and blue brick with a blue tile roof.
The parish falls within the catchment area of Brine Leas High School
in Nantwich
.
Cheshire East
Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England.The borough was established in April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, by virtue of an order under the Local Government and Public Involvement in...
and the ceremonial county of Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The hamlet is located 3¼ miles (5 km) to the south west of Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
. The parish also includes the small settlements of Newtown and Sound Heath. Nearby villages include Aston
Aston by Wrenbury
Aston is a village in the civil parish of Newhall in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England.The village should not be confused with several other villages named Aston in Cheshire, which include Aston...
, Ravensmoor
Ravensmoor
Ravensmoor is a village in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, located at . It is split between the civil parishes of Baddiley and Burland...
and Wrenbury
Wrenbury
Wrenbury is a village in the civil parish of Wrenbury cum Frith, the unitary authority of Cheshire East, and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England...
.
The River Weaver
River Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732...
runs along the southern boundary and the Welsh Marches
Welsh Marches Line
The Welsh Marches Line , known historically as the North and West Route, is the railway line running from Newport in south-east Wales to Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of England by way of Abergavenny, Hereford and Craven Arms, and thence to Crewe via Whitchurch...
railway line crosses the parish. There is a small Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
and Local Nature Reserve
Local Nature Reserve
Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...
named Sound Heath
Sound Heath
Sound Heath, also known as Sound Common, is an area of common land in Sound, near Nantwich in Cheshire, England, which includes heathland, grassland, scrub, woodland and wetland habitats...
, which forms an important habitat for freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s and breeding birds. The area is predominantly rural, with a total population of a little over 200.
History
Sound, or Soond, is a name of SaxonSaxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
origin which means a sandy place. Sound is not mentioned in the Domesday survey
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
. In 1200–1300, there is evidence for a hamlet named Fouleshurst, which is thought to have been located near Fouleshurst (now Fullhurst) Hall on Sound Lane, in the north of the modern civil parish. However, no traces have yet been uncovered of this settlement. Records exist of the township of Sound itself from 1310. The area of the modern civil parish was divided between two administrative units in the Nantwich Hundred
Hundreds of Cheshire
The Hundreds of Cheshire, as with other Hundreds in England were the geographic divisions of Cheshire for administrative, military and judicial purposes. They were introduced in Cheshire some time before the Norman conquest...
: part fell within Wrenbury chapelry, which was served by St Margaret's Church, Wrenbury
St Margaret's Church, Wrenbury
St Margaret's Church, Wrenbury overlooks the village green of Wrenbury, Cheshire, England. The church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of...
, and part within the ancient parish
Ancient parishes of Cheshire
The Ancient Parishes of Cheshire refers to the group of parishes that existed in Cheshire, roughly within the period of 1200–1800. Initially, the ancient parishes had only an ecclesiastical function, but reforms initiated by King Henry VIII, developed by Queen Elizabeth I and expanded by...
of Acton
Acton, Cheshire (ancient parish)
Acton was an ancient parish in the Nantwich Hundred of Cheshire, England.At one time it included the townships of Acton, Aston juxta Mondrum, Austerson, Baddington, Brindley, Burland, Cholmondeston, Edleston, Faddiley, Henhull, Hurleston, Poole, Stoke, Worleston, most of Coole Pilate, parts of...
, which was served by St Mary's Church, Acton
St Mary's Church, Acton
St Mary's Church, Acton is an active Anglican church in Acton, a village to the west of Nantwich, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. A church has been present on this site since before the time of the Domesday Survey. The tower is the...
. The earliest landowners were the Sound family, but the manor had passed to the Chetwode family by the reign of Edward IV
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
(1461–1483) and by 1800, it was owned by the Cholmondeleys.
In April 1643, during the Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, Sound was one of several townships raided by Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
forces. The diarist Edward Burghall wrote:
In 1831 there was a hopyard north of Sound Hall, which had a malt kiln
Malthouse
A malt house, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain foods. The traditional malt house was largely phased out during the...
. Two beerhouse keepers were recorded in Sound in 1850, and one of the cottages adjacent to Sound Hall is believed to have been an alehouse.
The Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway
Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway
The Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway was a railway owned by the London and North Western Railway company, built to connect Crewe with the jointly owned with the GWR Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway....
was approved in 1853. Construction employed engineers Joseph Locke
Joseph Locke
Joseph Locke was a notable English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with railway projects...
and John Edward Errington
John Edward Errington
John Edward Errington was an English civil engineer, particularly noted for his work on railway construction in the United Kingdom.-Biography:...
and contractor Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about one-third of the railways in Britain, and by time of his death in 1870 he had built one...
, and the line opened on 1 September 1858. It passed through Sound with no station.
Broomhall Church, a Methodist chapel, was built in Newtown in 1838 by Joseph Cartlidge. A Primitive Methodist Chapel was constructed in 1875 at Sound Heath, and a Sunday School was added in the late 1930s. This chapel closed in 1973, when the congregation united with that of Broomhall Church, which was renamed Broomhall and Sound Church. Sound School (on the boundary with Broomhall
Broomhall Green
Broomhall Green or Broomhall is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It includes part of the settlement of Sandford. According to the 2001 Census the parish had a population of 206. The village is about 3½ miles...
) opened in 1876, with 58 pupils in its first year. During the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the school served as an emergency rest centre for evacuees. It was expanded with mobile classrooms in the late 20th century.
Governance
Sound is administered by Sound and District Parish Council, jointly with the nearby civil parishes of Austerson, BaddileyBaddiley
Baddiley is a scattered settlement and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The civil parish also includes the north-western part of the village of Ravensmoor , as well as the small settlements of Baddiley Hulse, Batterley Hill, and...
, Baddington
Baddington
Baddington is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies immediately to the south west of Nantwich and north of Audlem...
, Broomhall
Broomhall
Broomhall may refer to:* Broomhall, district in Sheffield, England* Broomhall Green, Crewe and Nantwich, Cheshire, EnglandPeople with the surname Broomhall:...
and Coole Pilate
Coole Pilate
Coole Pilate is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies to the north of Audlem and to the south of Nantwich. The area is predominantly rural with scattered farms, and a total population of 60 people...
. Sound is represented by 4 councillors out of a total of 15. From 1974 the civil parish was served by Crewe and Nantwich
Crewe and Nantwich
Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It had a population of 111,007...
Borough Council, which was succeeded on 1 April 2009 by the new unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
of Cheshire East
Cheshire East
Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England.The borough was established in April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, by virtue of an order under the Local Government and Public Involvement in...
. Sound falls in the parliamentary constituency of Eddisbury
Eddisbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Eddisbury is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.- Boundaries :...
, and has been represented by Stephen O'Brien since 1999.
Geography, economy and transport
The civil parish has a total area of 1089 acres (440.7 ha). The underlying geology is Keuper marlKeuper marl
Keuper marl is the former name for a layer of mudstones and siltstones from the late Triassic period . Typically red, or occasionally...
, with glacial sand deposit
Till
thumb|right|Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material , and this characteristic, known as matrix support, is diagnostic of till....
providing light sandy soil at Sound Heath. The River Weaver
River Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732...
and Edleston Brook form parts of the southern and northern boundaries of the parish, respectively. Several unnamed brooks also run through the parish, and many small meres and ponds are scattered across its farmland and woodland. The majority of the terrain is relatively flat, with an average elevation of around 60 metres; near the northern parish boundary and adjacent to the Weaver in the southwest the land is more undulating in character. There are several areas of woodland within the parish, including Sound Heath and Asphodel.
The small scattered settlements of Sound and Sound Heath are centred around the junction of Sound Lane and Wrenbury Heath Road. The hamlet of Newtown lies adjacent to the A530
A530 road
The A530 road is a road linking the A525 east of Whitchurch, Shropshire, England with the A559 east of Northwich, in Cheshire. The road follows the route:*A525*Nantwich*Crewe*Middlewich*A559...
, between Newtown Road and Wrenbury Heath Road. Occasional farmhouses and cottages also lie along Sound Lane and Wrenbury Heath Road. The area is predominantly rural, with the major land use being agricultural. Dairy farming
Dairy farming
Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, usually from dairy cows but also from goats and sheep, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale.Most dairy farms...
predominates, but there is also sheep pasture, horse paddocks and some arable
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
fields. There is an abattoir
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
at Red Lion Farm in Sound Heath. A few small industrial and service enterprises operate within the parish, including television and video repairs (Sound Heath), metal fabricators (Sound Lane) and secretarial services (Newtown).
The A530
A530 road
The A530 road is a road linking the A525 east of Whitchurch, Shropshire, England with the A559 east of Northwich, in Cheshire. The road follows the route:*A525*Nantwich*Crewe*Middlewich*A559...
runs along the south-east edge of the civil parish. Three unclassified roads run from the A530. Wrenbury Heath Road runs westwards towards Wrenbury Heath
Wrenbury
Wrenbury is a village in the civil parish of Wrenbury cum Frith, the unitary authority of Cheshire East, and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England...
, where it joins the lane from Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
to Wrenbury. Sound Lane initially runs westwards, joining Wrenbury Heath Road at , and then turns northwards towards Ravensmoor
Ravensmoor
Ravensmoor is a village in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, located at . It is split between the civil parishes of Baddiley and Burland...
, where it also joins the lane to Nantwich. Newtown Road connects the A530 and Sound Lane.
The Welsh Marches
Welsh Marches Line
The Welsh Marches Line , known historically as the North and West Route, is the railway line running from Newport in south-east Wales to Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of England by way of Abergavenny, Hereford and Craven Arms, and thence to Crewe via Whitchurch...
railway line runs through the parish from the south-west to the north-east, crossing Wrenbury Heath Road at and Sound Lane at . Two further railway bridges serve Sound Hall and Bridge Farm , with no public right of way. The National Cycle Network
National Cycle Network
The National Cycle Network is a network of cycle routes in the United Kingdom.The National Cycle Network was created by the charity Sustrans , and aided by a £42.5 million National Lottery grant. In 2005 it was used for over 230 million trips.Many routes hope to minimise contact with motor...
Regional Route 75 runs westwards from the A530 along Newtown Road and then follows Sound Lane.
Sound Heath
The parish includes the Site of Special Scientific InterestSite of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
(SSSI) and Local Nature Reserve
Local Nature Reserve
Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...
of Sound Heath
Sound Heath
Sound Heath, also known as Sound Common, is an area of common land in Sound, near Nantwich in Cheshire, England, which includes heathland, grassland, scrub, woodland and wetland habitats...
, also known as Sound Common. The designated site comprises two distinct areas totalling 4.8 Ha, the larger centred at and the smaller at . The habitat is varied, with damp and dry lowland heath
Heath (habitat)
A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
, grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
, scrub
Shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...
and young woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
. There are many permanent or seasonal pools, which originate from sand extraction.
Sound Heath is one of the most important sites in Cheshire for freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s. Pond-dwelling species that are rare in the UK which have been observed here include the mud snail
Omphiscola glabra
Omphiscola glabra is a species of small to medium-size, air-breathing, freshwater snail, an aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Lymnaeidae.-Distribution:This European snail can be found from southern Scandinavia to southern Spain....
, great raft spider
Great raft spider
The great raft spider or fen raft spider is a European species of spider in the Pisauridae family. Like other Dolomedes spiders, it is semi-aquatic, hunting its prey on the surface of water...
and a species of water scavenger beetle. The beautiful snout moth
Hypena crassalis
The Beautiful Snout is a moth of the family Noctuoidea. It is found in Europe.The wingspan is 25–30 mm. The length of the forewings is 14–16 mm. The moth flies in one generation from mid May to August....
is another nationally scarce species which has been recorded at Sound Heath. The area is also an important breeding site for a wide range of birds.
Places of worship
Broomhall and Sound Methodist Chapel is in Newtown at . Founded in 1838 as Broomhall Church, it belonged successively to the Wesleyan Methodist Association, United Methodist Free Churches and United Methodist Church. In 1973, it amalgamated with Sound Heath Chapel. It is a white rendered building with an apseApse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
at one end, which was extended in 1980. It belongs to the Audlem section of the Nantwich Circuit.
Other landmarks
Sound Oak Farmhouse on Sound Lane dates from the early 17th century and is listed at grade II. The two-storey, timber-framed building is on an H-shaped plan with a tiled roof. The two end bays are gabled and have small jettiesJettying
Jettying is a building technique used in medieval timber frame buildings in which an upper floor projects beyond the dimensions of the floor below. This has the advantage of increasing the available space in the building without obstructing the street...
. The grade-II-listed Fulhurst Hall, also on Sound Lane , dates originally from the mid-17th century. The two-storey, T-shaped building is partly timber-framed with a 20th-century brick extension and a tiled roof.
A former red-brick malt kiln
Malthouse
A malt house, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain foods. The traditional malt house was largely phased out during the...
stands opposite Sound Hall on Wrenbury Heath Road . Such buildings were common in around 1800, but very few examples are still standing. A long low wing forms the former drying area, where malt
Malt
Malt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as "malting". The grains are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air...
and hops
Hops
Hops are the female flower clusters , of a hop species, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine...
were dried; six sets of wooden shutters on each of the two floors were used to adjust the airflow. An adjoining wing with a higher roof was used for brewing. The building was substantially unaltered and in use as a barn in 2006, but was being converted into residential use in 2010.
Demography
In 2006, the total population of the civil parish was estimated as 220. The 2001 census recorded a population of 233, in 88 households. The historical population figures were 192 (1801), 261 (1851), 234 (1901) and 237 (1951).Education
Sound and District Primary School is on the A530A530 road
The A530 road is a road linking the A525 east of Whitchurch, Shropshire, England with the A559 east of Northwich, in Cheshire. The road follows the route:*A525*Nantwich*Crewe*Middlewich*A559...
at . It serves the civil parish of Sound, as well as Austerson, Baddington
Baddington
Baddington is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies immediately to the south west of Nantwich and north of Audlem...
, Broomhall, Coole Pilate
Coole Pilate
Coole Pilate is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, which lies to the north of Audlem and to the south of Nantwich. The area is predominantly rural with scattered farms, and a total population of 60 people...
and Newhall
Newhall, Cheshire
Newhall is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village lies 3½ miles to the west of Audlem and 5 miles to the south west of Nantwich...
.
The school building dates from 1876 and is listed at grade II. A single-storey building of three bays with a bell turret forms the school, with an adjoining two-storey schoolmaster's house; both are in red and blue brick with a blue tile roof.
The parish falls within the catchment area of Brine Leas High School
Brine Leas High School
Brine Leas School is a comprehensive academy in Nantwich, Cheshire, UK. The school has 1287 students enrolled, and has Technologyand Language, status....
in Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
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Sources
- Lamberton A, Gray R. Lost Buildings around Nantwich (Landmark Publishing; 2006) (ISBN 1 84306 229 1)
- Latham FA, ed. Acton (The Local History Group; 1995) (ISBN 0 9522284 1 6)