Clutton is a village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies nine miles from Wrexham and 11 miles from Chester. It had a population of 371 according to the 2011 census. It has a Church of England primary school. In the 1870s, Clutton was described as "a township in Farndon parish, Cheshire; 5½ miles N of Malpas. Acres, 609. Real property, £947. Pop., 74. Houses, 12. Williamson, the antiquary, was a native."
History
The meaning of the name "Clutton" comes from the Old English terms "clūd" and "tūn". "Clūd" meaning a rocky hill and "tūn" meaning farm, together gives Clutton a meaning of rocky-hill farm Clutton is also where the surname of Clutton originated from. Clutton was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 but was recorded under the spelling of "Clutone". It was recorded to have to 4 households, 3 were villagers and 1 was a Frenchman. It was recorded to have 2 ploughlands. William fitz Nigel was recorded as the landowner of Clutton in the Domesday book. The land owners before William fitz Nigel was Edward of Grappenhall and Wulfwin Chit, recorded in 1066. The value of the land in Clutton in 1066 was £1, in 1086 this was £0.4. Approximately 1.1 km north east of Clutton is a spring named Holy Well, situated at the settlement Holywell. It is said that the spring arose after the body of Saint Winifred was laid there on the way to Shrewsbury Abbey. This spring today now provides the drinking water for two houses. Although the village itself does not have a church, the church that has traditionally served the village is St Chad's Church in Farndon, approximately 5 km to the west of Clutton. Although first recorded in the Doomsday Book in 1086, it is likely that there were buildings as far back as Celtic times.
Clutton sits on sandstone formed approximately 206 to 248 million years ago during the Triassic period. The bed rock also contains sand and gravel formed by river channels. During the Triassic period the sea level was higher than current levels and parts of Cheshire were submerged by seawater. This left salt deposits across Cheshire. The geology was more recently by glacial deposition up to 2 million years ago. These glacial deposits were made up of sand and gravel.
Climate
Clutton's location means that it has a temperate climate. Average temperatures range from an average maximum of 21 °C to an average minimum of 2 °C.
Demographics
Population
Up until the 1950s, the population of Clutton remained under 100 people. In the past 50 years the population has grown to 371 according to the 2011 Census. By looking at the population graph we can see that the population of Clutton has expanded the most in the past few decades which coincided with the counterurbanisation movement of the population in the UK. As there is no census data for these years it is not possible to see in what years the population changed the most.
Occupation history
The main industry in Clutton was Agriculture until recent years. In the 2011 census the main occupation of Clutton is listed as Professional Occupations. As parts of Cheshire were submerged by seawater during the triassic period, it is likely that the workers classified as "Workers in various mineral substances" were employed to work in salt mines.
