As I travel around Cheshire I come across many places like Winwick with great stories to tell about their rich historical past.

On my latest venture I’ve uncovered an amazing place that has seen activity from the Saxons and the Normans as well as being the place of a decisive battle fought here during the second English Civil War in 1648 and known by locals as the battle of Red Bank.

Winwick in Warrington has a rich and varied history and legend has it that King Oswald of Northumbria had a palace at Woodhead in Winwick. King Oswald became Monarch in 633 AD but eight years later he was killed in battle and pieces of his body were distributed to various parts of his kingdom.
In 1830 whilst digging new graves in the churchyard of St Oswald’s church at Winwick, dedicated to Oswald himself, workers unearthed a large Anglo-Saxon cross-head dated to 950 AD carved with stunning designs. This is one of the largest such cross-heads to be found in England. Unusually this had been used as a grave marker in 1721 and again in 1793 before being buried once again. Today the cross-head stands inside the church.
The earliest parts of the church that remain today date back to 1330 and the Legh chapel dated from the same year is the final resting place for fourteen members of the Legh family who lived at Lyme Hall in Cheshire now owned by the National Trust. Within the chapel remain stunning marble carvings and monuments to the Legh family detailing the lives and sad passing of loved ones.

But it was the second English Civil War that was to have a devastating impact on St Oswald’s and the area surrounding the church, for it was here that the battle of Winwick hill also referred to as the battle of Red Bank took place on land close to the church on 19th August 1648 and being historically significant as the very last battle of the English civil war. The Parliamentarian troops were successful in defeating the Royalist troops and many were held as prisoners inside the church before being taken away.
But Winwick and St Oswald’s church was to play host to one more historical event in the late 19th century that became famous because of its link to one of the biggest maritime disasters ever to happen in British history. On the 13th of January 1887 a wedding was to take place here between Sarah Eleanor Pennington from Winwick and Captain Edward John Smith who was a British Naval Officer for the White Star Line. In 1912 Edward aged sixty-two was given the privilege of being handed the captaincy of the brand new White Star vessel Titanic. On the 10th April 1912 Edward set sail on the maiden voyage of Titanic, however in the early hours of the 12th April Titanic was to founder after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic, the captain was to perish along with fifteen hundred poor souls.
Today the marriage certificate of Sarah and Edward can still be seen within St Oswald’s church.

My film, A Rich History of St Oswald’s Church shot at St Oswald’s church in Winwick can be viewed for free with many other local history films by visiting my channel, youtube.com/Tvpresenter4history

Warrington Worldwide 05/04/2025