Tarvin Local History group

Tarvin Local History group and friends visited All Saints Church at Daresbury which is associated with the writer Lewis Carroll whose real name was Charles Dodgson.

The current church was largely rebuilt between 1870 and 1872 after the Dodgsons had left. Families who have been involved with the church include Greenall, Rylands, Chadwick, Heron, Milner, Houghton and Okell.

Lewis Carroll was born in Daresbury in 1832 the third child of the perpetual curate of the church Rev'd Charles Dodgson and his wife Frances. The family lived at the vicarage until 1843 when they moved to North Yorkshire by which time there were 11 Dodgson children. The original vicarage no longer stands but there is a interpretive panel in the field where it stood and Lewis Carroll did return to the village later in his life and took a photograph of the building and villagers who still remembered the Dodgson family.
All Saints church has several wonderful stain glass windows and one celebrates its association with Lewis Carroll which was commissioned and paid for by public subscription to celebrate the centenary anniversary of Carroll's birth in 1932. Within the window panels show aspects of Lewis Carroll's life together with some of the characters from Alice in Wonderland.

In 2012 the Lewis Carroll Centre was opened it was built as an extension of the church and has wall panels giving information about the Rev'd Charles Dodgson and other members of the family where you can get a cup of tea.
The church and Lewis Carroll Centre is open daily with volunteers available to answer questions or guide visitors through the history of the building and Lewis Carroll. There is no admission charge but there is a small charge for a guide.