The village of Wrenbury.

After lunch and a catch up with e-mails etc, we locked the boat up and headed down the towpath towards the lift bridge.

Opposite the bridge is a footpath which takes you across a field to the church of St. Margaret's.

The village is listed in the Domesday book as Wareneberie, and became Wrennebury in 1230. The name is said to mean "old forest inhabited by wrens".

Having walked through the church yard, we were pleasantly surprised to see the church was open, so we went in through the huge oak door to find a beautiful interior. The church is built out of red sandstone and overlooks the village green, it dates from the early 15th century.

In the church is a rare example of a dog whipper's pew which was installed for a church official charged with removing unruly dogs from a church or church grounds during services.  Dog whipper's were usually provided with a whip or a pair of large wooden tongs with which to remove the animals from the church, they could also remove unruly people from the church service as well. They could do with that in towns and cities.

St.Margarets also has a balcony, which gives a wonderful view of the church inside. It is a stunning little church with a lovely atmosphere.

There were two important families in Wrenbury they were the Starkey's and the Combermere's, who both have memorials in the church, but it seems there was many a dispute between these two families over land.

They even had their own sides to sit in the church.

In the church, I could not help but notice Sgt Eley's photograph. This gentleman had an interesting life. READ ON. I have also discovered his nickname was Tiger-Tim READ ON. I have a keen interest of finding out the history of those who gave their lives in the wars.

On leaving the church we walked around the village.

There are some pretty houses to be seen. Stanley House dates from 1859. There are a couple of useful stores in the village, if you get short of supplies.

The village has two pubs The Cotton Arms. The pub got its name from the Cotton family who used to live at the nearby Combermere Abbey.

and The Dusty Miller, which is opposite Wrenbury Mill. The pub used to be a grain mill and was built at the same time as the canal. The mill was powered by a water wheel, which was worked by the River Weaver.

Wrenbury Mill is now a boat yard and craft shops. We then walked back to the boat along the towpath, completing a round trip, which was very enjoyable.