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The name of Warrington has created a division of opinion among etymologists who are unable to state the exact definition of its meaning. There seems little doubt however that the name is Old English, and the difference of opinion lies in the interpretation of the first element "Waer". Some people argue that this could be a personal name, so that Warrington could mean "The tun of Waerâs people", or "The tun of the followers of Waer". Others believe that the first element derives from "waering" meaning weir or dam.
There is a third possibility however, advanced by those etymologists who have studied the Roman name of Warrington, and believe that the Roman name of Veratinum belongs to Warrington. They also believe that the ancient British word variously spelt as "Gweryt", "weryt" or "werid", and meaning "ford" is involved.
Warrington is the largest town and borough in the county of Cheshire, in the North-West of England. The former Warrington county borough was situated in Lancashire, but it combined with the Cheshire townships of Stockton Heath and Lymm in 1974 and the new entity became part of the reorganised Cheshire County Council. Since April 1, 1998 it has been an independent unitary authority, within the geographical and ceremonial county of Cheshire. It is served by Cheshire Police and Cheshire Fire Service.
At the 2001 census the population of the entire borough, including its 18 civil parishes, was 191,084. 158,195 of these live in the Warrington Urban Area, defined by the ONS, and of these, 80,661 live in the core area.
Warrington has grown rapidly in modern times, having been designated a New Town in 1968. It is seeking city status, and to that end it has developed a cultural quarter centred on Palmyra Square. It also has one of Britain's lowest unemployment rates, with many new jobs at the hi-tech end of the market replacing traditional industries.
A brand new urban village is to be built in West Warrington, called ChapelfordUrbanVillage, on part of the site of World War Two's largest air base, Burtonwood. It is the largest Brownfield Land redevelopment in North-West England.
Omega is also set to be built in Warrington, near to where ChapelfordUrbanVillage is being developed. Omega is a £1 Billion redevelopment which will take between 25 and 30 years to complete. It is intended to attract world-class businesses, and also to incorporate social living as well as high quality employment.
People from Warrington are known as "Warringtonians."
History
In Roman times, Warrington was a centre of industry and was founded as a crossing place of the River Mersey for Roman soldiers to go north from their base at Deva (modern Chester). Some Roman remains have been found at Wilderspool.
In medieval times Warrington's importance was as a bridging point on the River Mersey, and it was a fulcrum in the English Civil War. The armies of Oliver Cromwell and the Earl of Derby both stayed near the old town centre (the parish church area). Popular legend has it that Cromwell lodged in the building which survives on Church Street as The Cottage Restaurant, though it is likely that the actual place was nearby, possibly next door. The Marquis of Granby public house bears a plaque stating that the Earl of Derby 'had his quarters near this site'. Dents in the walls of the Parish church are rumored to be have been caused by the cannons used in the Civil War.
The bridging point at Warrington was vital to the town's future growth. The Red Lion Inn on Bridge Street is an example of a building built exclusively for people using the bridge.
Warrington was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1847 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835.
By the 1890s, when Warrington acquired county borough status on reaching a population of 75,000, it was a centre of steel (particularly wire), textiles, brewing, tanning and chemical industries.
Heavy industry declined in the 1970s and 1980s but the growth of the new town around Warrington led to a great increase in employment in light industry, distribution, and technology. Travel-to-work patterns are unusual, with many residents working outside the borough and many employees living elsewhere.
The town was historically in Lancashire, and when local government was reformed in the 1970s, it was originally proposed to attach it to either Merseyside or Greater Manchester. Lobbying by the borough council prevented this, but since it would have been left with no geographic connection to Lancashire, it was made into a district of Cheshire instead. Due to a change in composition, the council changed its mind at the last minute, but to no avail.
The current borders of Warrington were thus set in 1974, covering the former county borough of Warrington, Lymm Urban District, Warrington Rural District and part of Golborne urban district, part of Runcorn Rural District and part of Whiston Rural District. In another local government reform in the 1990s, Warrington became a unitary authority.
On the 20th March 1993, the IRA exploded two bombs in Warrington town centre. The blasts killed two children: three year old Jonathan Ball died instantly, and twelve year old Tim Parry died five days later in hospital. Their deaths provoked widespread condemnation of the Irish terrorist organisation responsible. The blast followed a bomb attack a few weeks earlier on a gas storage plant in Warrington.
Tim Parry's father founded The Peace Centre (formerly the Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Peace Centre) as part of a campaign to reconcile communities in conflict. The Centre opened on the seventh anniversary of the bombing in 2000.
Warrington is notable in political history for being the first place to field a candidate for the newly-formed SDP-Liberal Alliance. Former Home Secretary Roy Jenkins stood for MP in 1981 but lost to Labour candidate Doug Hoyle by a small number of votes.
However, many people, particularly Americans, will remember Warrington best as the location of Burtonwood RAF base, one of (if not the) largest RAF bases in England and the largest US Air Force base outside the United States. During the war, Burtonwood was visited by major celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and Bob Hope who arrived to entertain troops. The base was closed in 1993.
There was a further RAF base at Padgate, a Royal Naval air base at Stretton and an army base at the Peninsula Barracks in O'Leary Street, now used by the Territorial Army.
Warrington still remains a major transport centre, sitting at the intersection of three of Britain’s biggest motorways, the M56, the M6 and the M62. It also sits on the West Coast Main Line, one of Britain's busiest railway lines.
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