DODDLESTON, a parish in the lower division of
the hundred of BROXTON, county palatine of CHESTER,
comprising the townships of Doddleston and Lower
Kinnerton, and containing 351 inhabitants, of which
number, 266are in the township of Doddleston, 5 miles
(S.W.) "from Chester. The living is a rectory, in the
archdeaconry and diocese of Chester, rated in the
king's books at £7. 0. 9>\., and in the patronage of the
Dean and Chapter of Chester. The church, dedicated
:to St. Mary, contains the remains of Thomas Egerton,
Baron Ellesmere, Viscount Brackley, Lord Keeper of
-the Great Seal to James I., and ancestor of the Earls of
-Bridgewater, who occasionally resided here; he died in
London in 1617 A school is supported by charitable
contributions. During the siege of Chester, in 1645,
the old mansion-house was fortified and garrisoned by
the parliamentary general, Sir William Brereton, who
here fixed his head-quarters.