Threapwood is a small village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , 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...

 and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester

Cheshire West and Chester

Cheshire West and Chester is a unitary authority area with borough status, in the ceremonial county of Cheshire. It was established in April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, by virtue of an order under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health...

 and the ceremonial county of Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is close to the villages of Shocklach

Shocklach

Shocklach is a village in the civil parishes of Church Shocklach and Shocklach Oviatt, Cheshire, England.St Edith's Church, Shocklach is a Grade I listed building.-External links:...

, Worthenbury and Malpas

Malpas, Cheshire

Malpas is a large village which used to be a market town, and it is also a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The parish lies on the border with Shropshire and Wales...

. The name is reputed to have derived from the Old English 'Threap' meaning to beat, thrash or cheat.

Up until Victorian times the village of Threapwood was partly in Cheshire, England and partly in Flintshire

Flintshire

Flintshire is a county in north-east Wales. It borders Denbighshire, Wrexham and the English county of Cheshire. It is named after the historic county of Flintshire, which had notably different borders...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. But in 1896, under the "County of Chester (Threapwood) Order", the county and national boundary, which passed through the village, was adjusted slightly in favour of Cheshire.

Threapwood fell between, but outside of the control of, three parishes and as such was the home to brigands, ruffians, illegitimate children and women of loose repute.
In 1834, S Lewis in "A Topographical Dictionary of Wales" describes Threapwood as "long the resort of abandoned characters of every description, and especially of women of loose or blemished morals, who made a transient abode here, to be freed clandestinely from the consequences of illicit amours. ..... The inhabitants, considering themselves beyond the reach of all legal authority, opposed, even with force, the execution of the assize and other laws within their precinct. This tradition of being one step outside of the law continues to this day. As an example there is an exception to England's liquor licensing laws permitting the sale and consumption of liquor at any time of the day or night totally free of any tax or excise duty at any site within one hundred yards of the Church of St John. This right was granted by Edward 2nd after his life was saved by a Threapwood Innekeeper following a hunting accident. Whilst there has been no licensed establishment within the permitted area for over one hundred years, those fortunate enough to own property within the designated area can obtain a refund of the tax or excise paid on alcoholic liquor bought outside of the area. To obtain their refund residents must present empty bottles or containers to the High Sherrif of Cheshire at Chester Castle within a week of Michelmas. For many years there was a colourful tradition, where those who enjoyed this special exception would set out with their carts laden with empties shortly after sunrise on Michelmas Day. It always used to be said that the families who enjoyed this privilege could be easily identified by their corpulent shape and florid appearance, a tradition still maintained by some who live there."

"

Churches

• St. John (C of E)
  St John's Church, Threapwood
  St John's Church, Threapwood, is in the village of Threapwood, Cheshire, England. The authors of the Buildings of England series state that it is entirely Georgian in style. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Malpas. ...
  
  . Founded 1817 as a chapel to Malpas (formerly extra-parochial), becoming the parish church for Threapwood in 1968.
• United Reformed Church (Independent/Congregational). Built 1850.

Other

• War Memorial
• A derelict brick tower windmill
  Windmill
  A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
  
  to the southeast of the village still contains much of the internal mechanism, though in a ruinous state of repair.

Sources

• Vision of Britain website