A CHESHIRE historian has published his tenth book with a focus on a church in Over in Winsford.

Tony Bostock's latest publication is ‘A Hidden Place of Worship: A History of St Chad’s Church and Parish, Over, Winsford’.

The book was first written in 2007 – to mark the 700th anniversary of the induction of the first known vicar, Thomas Dutton, in April 1307 – but this was only published in a type-script fashion and copies were lodged with the vicar, the library, Cheshire Archives and friends.

Tony said: "The curious title is based on the fact that in Norman and pre-Norman times, the area around the church was Derne hale, a name which means ‘a hidden vale’.

"The second element can be confused with the Anglo Saxon 'alh', a temple or place of worship or even 'hærg', a shrine, both suggestive, along with the original circular churchyard, of a religious site stretching back millennia.

"It was only in later Norman times that the focus of Darnhall moved to the area we know today, leaving the settlement on the higher ground near the church with the name of Over.

"The book charts the history of St Chad’s and the parish it serves from the earliest times through to the mid-twentieth century.

"It is not an architectural history of the church, rather it is an account of the church’s place in the landscape, in the politics of medieval Cheshire, and how it served the needs of the community.

"Many local family names, which still exist in the community today, appear in the text and the appendices which have extracts from the old Church Wardens’ accounts."

The book is available from Amazon from Tony by calling 01606 624175 or emailing tony@tonybostock.com.

Tony's previous books include ‘Owners, Occupiers and Others: Seventeenth Century Northwich’, published in 2004, ‘Winsford: A History of a Cheshire Town and its People’, published in 2016, and Cheshire’s Charms: Ancient Villages and Hamlets’ and ‘A Damnable and Sinister Regime: Vale Royal Abbey 1260-1538’, both published last year.

Tony is working ‘The Norman Earls of Chester and their Barons’ to be published this year.