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| St. Wilfrid's at Davenham |
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| View from the churchyard |
Davenham lies in the centre of Cheshire, just off the A553, and due south of Nantwich. In the Domesday book it occurs as Devenham meaning a hamlet on the River Dane. Castle Hill is named from Shipbrook Castle, a Norman defence of which no trace remains.
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| St. Wilfrid's at Davenham |
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| View from the churchyard |
The church of St. Wilfrid at Davenham is not easy to photograph as it is very large and lies just north of a narrow lane; this prevents one from standing back far enough to get all the church in the frame. These pictures are taken from the east to take advantage of morning light in midsummer. The dedication to St. Wilfrid usually indicates an early foundation and this church goes back to the Domesday period but the current edifice is the fourth on the site, dating from a major reconstruction between 1844 and 1870 in the Victorian Gothic revival style. The second date relates to the chancel and transepts. The west tower has a recessed spire built in 1850.
Arthur Mee notes that within the church there is a war memorial designed by Sir Robert Lorimer, showing roll of honour in a frame below a gilded medallion of St. George. Also in the church are memorials to the Hayhurst family, one of whom was rector for 45 years in the 19th century. There is a window in his memory.
The Buildings of England, Cheshire, by Nikolaus Pevsner
and Edward Hubbard, Yale University Press, 2003, ISBN 0 300 09588 0
The King's England, Cheshire, by Arthur Mee, 1st edition 1938, fully revised and edited by E. T. Long, Hodder and Stoughton, 1968
Strict 