Known initially as Daneham and in the Domesday Book, Devenham, meaning a hamlet on the River Dane but known now as the village of Davenham.
It is situated between Northwich and Winsford and was once plagued by very heavy traffic. Still, after a long-fought fight a few years ago, the Davenham by-pass was built, and it has now become a far quieter and homely village with two pubs and St Wilfrid’s church.
The Bulls Head has existed since 1764 and the Oddfellows since 1851, there was a White Lion in the village and in 1865 the landlord was Thomas Cottrell, but it became the house of the St Wilfrid’s verger in around 1876.
There is a school in Charles Avenue, but the original National School is at the junction with London Road and Church Street, and it was once the principal school for Davenham. When the new school was built, the old building was converted into flats.
Davenham School in the 1900s
Church Street in the opposite direction leads from the village centre into the countryside towards Bostock passing the parish church of St Wilfrid. The church register dates from the year 1560 and the church was rebuilt entirely between the years 1850 to 1880.
Davenham Hall is also in London Road, which was built around 1822 and in 1865 the owner was John Harper, it is now an old peoples home.
Davenham School in 2015
Another large Davenham building was the Isolation Hospital; It was opened in 1905, the Northwich Isolation Hospital stood on the high ground north-east of the River Weaver at Davenham.
According to the National Archives, the hospital was established by the Northwich and District Joint Hospital Board.
The Board was founded in 1900 in response to the 1875 Public Health Act. Its purpose was to designate facilities to those with infectious and transferable diseases in and around Northwich.
Davenham Isolation Hospital
After the Second World War, the demand for infectious disease care gradually declined and eventually its use was transferred to that of a maternity hospital. Paula Radcliffe MBE was born in Davenham.
The hospital closed in 1980. Much of the original hospital complex has been demolished, except for some of the ancillary buildings. These went onto become part of a care home for the elderly.
Davenham Church
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