Daresbury is a small rural
villageA village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a town or city. Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in...
,
civil parishIn England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and in some places the lowest tier of local government, below districts and counties. A civil parish can alternatively be known as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council; and in a limited number of...
and ward in the unitary authority of
HaltonHalton is a local government district in North West England, with borough status and administered by a unitary authority. It was created in 1974 as a district of Cheshire, and became a unitary authority area on 1 April 1998...
and part of the ceremonial county of
CheshireCheshire ; also known, archaically, as the County of Chester) is a ceremonial county in North West England. The traditional county town is the city of Chester, although Cheshire's largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Widnes, Runcorn, Macclesfield,...
, England. It is covered by the
Weaver ValeWeaver Vale is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
constituency. At the
2001 CensusA nationwide census, commonly known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census....
, the population of the parish was 216,
with a total ward population of 3,906.
The most notable attributes of Daresbury are that it was the birthplace (some 1.5 miles south of the village) of
Alice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in Wonderland is a novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar and anthropomorphic creatures. The tale is filled with...
author
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer...
(real name Charles Dodgson), and that the
Science and Technology Facilities CouncilThe Science and Technology Facilities Council is a UK government body that carries out civil research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astronomy .-History:It was formed in 2007 from the merger of the Particle...
Daresbury LaboratoryDaresbury Laboratory or Daresbury Nuclear Physics Laboratory is a scientific research laboratory near Daresbury in Cheshire, England, which began operations in 1962 and was officially opened on 16 June 1967 as the Daresbury Nuclear Physics Laboratory by the then Prime Minister of United Kingdom,...
had a
synchrotronA synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator in which the magnetic field and the electric field are carefully synchronized with the travelling particle beam. The proton synchrotron was originally conceived by Sir Marcus Oliphant...
research facility called the
Synchrotron Radiation SourceThe Synchrotron Radiation Source at the Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire, England was the first second-generation synchrotron radiation source to produce X-rays...
, closed in August 2008.
Controversy arose in the late 1990s when
DiamondDiamond Light Source is a synchrotron research facility in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It produced its first user beam towards the end of January 2007...
, a new
synchrotron lightA synchrotron light source is a source of electromagnetic radiation produced by synchrotron radiation, which is artificially produced for scientific and technical purposes by specialized particle accelerators, typically accelerating electrons....
source planned to be built at the Laboratory, went instead to the
Rutherford Appleton LaboratoryThe Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council . It is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom...
, near
DidcotDidcot is a town in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. It was transferred from Berkshire to Oxfordshire in 1974.-History and economy:Didcot dates back to the Iron Age The settlement was situated on the ridge in the town, and the remainder of the surrounding area was marshland.The Romans attempted...
in
OxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East England region, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire....
.
Daresbury has become a place of pilgrimage because of the Lewis Carroll association.
Daresbury is a small rural
villageA village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a town or city. Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in...
,
civil parishIn England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and in some places the lowest tier of local government, below districts and counties. A civil parish can alternatively be known as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council; and in a limited number of...
and ward in the unitary authority of
HaltonHalton is a local government district in North West England, with borough status and administered by a unitary authority. It was created in 1974 as a district of Cheshire, and became a unitary authority area on 1 April 1998...
and part of the ceremonial county of
CheshireCheshire ; also known, archaically, as the County of Chester) is a ceremonial county in North West England. The traditional county town is the city of Chester, although Cheshire's largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Widnes, Runcorn, Macclesfield,...
, England. It is covered by the
Weaver ValeWeaver Vale is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
constituency. At the
2001 CensusA nationwide census, commonly known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census....
, the population of the parish was 216,
with a total ward population of 3,906.
The most notable attributes of Daresbury are that it was the birthplace (some 1.5 miles south of the village) of
Alice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in Wonderland is a novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar and anthropomorphic creatures. The tale is filled with...
author
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer...
(real name Charles Dodgson), and that the
Science and Technology Facilities CouncilThe Science and Technology Facilities Council is a UK government body that carries out civil research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astronomy .-History:It was formed in 2007 from the merger of the Particle...
Daresbury LaboratoryDaresbury Laboratory or Daresbury Nuclear Physics Laboratory is a scientific research laboratory near Daresbury in Cheshire, England, which began operations in 1962 and was officially opened on 16 June 1967 as the Daresbury Nuclear Physics Laboratory by the then Prime Minister of United Kingdom,...
had a
synchrotronA synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator in which the magnetic field and the electric field are carefully synchronized with the travelling particle beam. The proton synchrotron was originally conceived by Sir Marcus Oliphant...
research facility called the
Synchrotron Radiation SourceThe Synchrotron Radiation Source at the Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire, England was the first second-generation synchrotron radiation source to produce X-rays...
, closed in August 2008.
Controversy arose in the late 1990s when
DiamondDiamond Light Source is a synchrotron research facility in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It produced its first user beam towards the end of January 2007...
, a new
synchrotron lightA synchrotron light source is a source of electromagnetic radiation produced by synchrotron radiation, which is artificially produced for scientific and technical purposes by specialized particle accelerators, typically accelerating electrons....
source planned to be built at the Laboratory, went instead to the
Rutherford Appleton LaboratoryThe Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council . It is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom...
, near
DidcotDidcot is a town in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. It was transferred from Berkshire to Oxfordshire in 1974.-History and economy:Didcot dates back to the Iron Age The settlement was situated on the ridge in the town, and the remainder of the surrounding area was marshland.The Romans attempted...
in
OxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East England region, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire....
.
Daresbury has become a place of pilgrimage because of the Lewis Carroll association. The parish church has a Lewis Carroll window.
In 2006, the annual
CreamfieldsCreamfields is a large dance music festival featuring DJs and live acts. It is held annually on the UK's August Bank Holiday weekend in Daresbury, Cheshire, England, near to Runcorn, Liverpool, by the people behind the Cream clubbing brand...
dance festival was held in Daresbury after relocating from the disused Liverpool airport site it had occupied for the 6 previous years. This saw 40,000 revellers partying from 3pm-6am to a line-up that included live performances from
The ProdigyThe Prodigy are an English electronic music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex, England. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers and The Crystal Method, as well as other acts they are pioneers of the big beat electronic dance genre which achieved mainstream popularity in...
and Zutons, as well as DJ sets from the likes of
SashaSasha , is a Welsh DJ and record producer. Sasha began his career playing acid house dance music in the late 1980s, and became a central figure in the development and popularisation of electronic dance music...
,
Paul OakenfoldPaul Oakenfold is an English record producer and a trance DJ.-Early career :Paul Oakenfold's career was set to be a chef, after having hopes of becoming part of a band. He describes his early life as a "bedroom deejay" in a podcasted interview with Vancouver's 24 Hours, stating he grew up...
, 2 Many DJ's, Green Velvet and
DJ ShadowDJ Shadow is an American music producer, DJ and songwriter. He is considered a prominent figure in the development of instrumental hip hop and first gained notice with the release of his highly acclaimed debut album Endtroducing....., which was constructed entirely from samples...
. The festival was repeated in 2007 and 2008, and it is anticipated that it will be an annual occurrence in the village.
Daresbury is also an electoral ward. However, the boundary of the ward is different from (and larger than) the parish boundary, and includes the parishes of
MooreMoore is a village and a civil parish in the borough of Halton, Cheshire, England.Moore is the site of a disused railway station named Daresbury. The station was opened in 1850 and was located on the south side of Runcorn Road. The station was closed to passengers in 1952 and closed completely in...
,
HaltonHalton, formerly a separate village, is now part of the town of Runcorn, Cheshire, England. The name Halton has been assumed by the borough of Halton, which includes Runcorn, Widnes and some outlying parishes.-Geography:...
and
Preston BrookPreston Brook is a civil parish in the borough of Halton, a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is located to the south-east of Runcorn and is adjacent to the M56 motorway. It contains the villages of Preston Brook and Preston on the Hill.In the 2001 Census, the...
.
External links