local history
About the village & the pub
Sir William Brereton and his followers made Astbury their headquarters during the siege of Biddulph Hall. They are accused of stabling their horses in the pews and damaging the windows and screens.
It has also been said that they objected to the organ which they removed and buried in a field afterwards called "Organ Close". The Church and Churchyard contain many memorials connected with various well-known Cheshire families.
Amongst them the Moretons, the Davenports, the Venables, the Mainwarings, the Shakerleys, the Breretons and the Wilbrahams. The Venables were the propertiers of Astbury 500 years ago and when it was afterwards bestowed on the Abbey of St. Werburgh they tried to regain it by every means in their power.
The Egerton Arms is owned by Frederic Robinson Stockport (The Robinson's Brewery Group).
The name "Egerton" was taken from a famous family who once resided in the village, they were the owners of the manors of Newbold and Astbury. The pub dates back to the early 1700s. The Egerton Arms is one of the few pubs in the area that is reputed to have it's own resident ghost. Some of it's staff over the years have had some interesting accounts or so the story goes.
History of the Licensees:-
1848 - Charles Wilson
1860 - Thomas Green
1871 - Thomas Hocknell
1881 - Elizah Hocknell
1907 Herbert Hocknell
1918 - Annie Hocknell
1923 - Arthur Cresswell
1946 - Clifford Cresswell
1977 - Barry Manifold
1980 - Kenneth Moulton
1983 - Ronald Lightfoot
1996 to the present date - Allen and Grace Smith