1. Chirotherium  240million years ago

Not many places can trace their earliest inhabitants back 240 million years. The Chirotherium footprints found at a Lymm quarry date to a time when what is now Cheshire was desert. 

2. Early Settlers 600-1085

The Romans passed this way. A likely Roman road and coins have been found locally. Anglo-Saxons came from the south-east. Danes came up the Mersey to Statham - original meaning “landing place”.

3. Domesday Book 1086

Lymm’s entry in the Domesday Book of 1086 reports  two manors that shared a single church. Much of the land was described as laid waste - the result of a northern tour of  devastation by Norman soldiers.

4. Worship 1000 onward

St Mary’s church was largely  rebuilt in 1850-1851 with a new tower completed around 1891 but there may well  have been a place of worship here for over 1,000 years.

5. Agriculture 1086 to present day

Until the late 19th century almost the whole village made its living through farming. There were hay meadows in the Mersey flood plain while more arable soil provided potatoes and other produce for fast-growing Manchester.

 6. Lymm Hall 11th /12th century onwards

An earlier Lymm Hall, probably on a different site, was the manor house of the de Limmes and, from  the 14th century, the Domvilles. The current building has Elizabethan elements but with many later, Victorian additions.

7. Lymm Cross 17th century

Standing at the centre of the village it is Lymm’s “emblem”. Yet its origins are shrouded in mystery. The Cross we know today was built in the 17th century. But was it a market cross or was it for preachers?   

8. Lymm Grammar School 1592?  -

Lymm High School can possibly trace its roots back as far as 1592 though it would be another 100 years before the small building beneath St Mary’s would be on a firm footing as Lymm Grammar School.

9. Bridgewater Canal 1767 -

The Duke of Bridgewater’s Canal carved its way through the heart of the village in 1767 en route from Manchester to Runcorn. It opened up vital trading links to booming Cottonopolis.

10. Slitting Mill 18th/19th century

 A very early industrial site. In the 18th century the mill used water power to flatten iron bars for the production of barrel hoops and nails. Traces of the mill can still be seen today in Slitten Gorge.

11. Turnpike Road 1822

The building of the turnpike road in 1822 bypassed the village centre and created the beauty spot that we know today as Lymm Dam.  Daily stagecoaches used the route.

12. Fustian Cutting 1820-1920

The canal brought uncut fustian cloth to Lymm workshops for a trade that transformed village life. Thousands were employed in appalling conditions throughout the Victorian era.

13. The Railway 1853-1962

When the railway boom reached Lymm and Heatley in 1853 it opened up the village to a new class of residents; well to do merchants and businessmen from Manchester who built fine houses in easy reach of the station.

14. New Gentry 1850s

A few families became enormously wealthy as a result of the cotton industry. One such was the Dewhursts who settled in Lymm in the 1850s, gradually becoming in many ways the last “lords of the manor”.

15. Rushbearing Early 1800s - to present day

Dating back over two hundred years, Rushbearing, the practice of carrying rushes to line the church floor became, at its height, a four day festival featuring Morris Dancing, horse racing and a host of other activities.

16. Manchester Ship Canal 1887 -

The building of the Manchester Ship Canal from 1887 brought many navvies to live in the village and nearby temporary shanty settlements. Some stayed and made their lives in Lymm.

17. May Queen Festival 1889 onwards

The Bands of Hope Festival was created by local churches in 1889 as a distraction from alcohol for the young. It has remained an important annual village celebration ever since. It was interrupted only by war.

18. Lymm UDC  1894 –1974

For eighty years from 1894 Lymm Urban District Council  managed village affairs from its purpose built offices. The council boasted its own gasworks, waterworks, fire service and even had an Inspector of Public Nuisances.

19. Goldbeating. 1903 – 2003

When Wrights came to Lymm in the first years of the  20th century they prospered and went on to become a  leading producer of gold leaf. It can be seen today on Buckingham Palace Gates and The Royal Barge.

20. Salt  1903-1959

Following exploratory drilling, salt works started to open in 1903. Some feared it would turn Lymm into another  industrial town but by 1959 the last works had closed.  

21. Thelwall Viaduct 1963

The viaduct, which is actually in Lymm, carries the M6 over four west to east transport arteries. When it opened in 1963 it was the biggest road bridge ever built in Britain.

22. Modern Traditions 1990s –

Lymm has built on its strong community spirit in recent years to create Dickensian Day, Duck Race Day,  Lymm Festival and Historic Transport Day among other events, all drawing huge crowds to this much loved village

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