“Tarporley High Street has a conservation area where handsome 18th and 19th century buildings have become home to a wide variety of individual businesses”
There are around eleven clothing shops in Tarporley selling everything from high-end ladieswear to apparel for the huntin’ shootin’ and fishin’ set, some of whom belong to the Tarporley Hunt Club which is the oldest in Britain.
It’s fair to say that this picturesque village has become something of a retail therapy ‘destination’. It provides an alternative to the thronging city high streets and yet offers genuine choice for the cognoscenti.
Most of the shops are to be found around Tarporley High Street, which has a conservation area where handsome 18th and 19th century buildings have become the home to a wide variety of individual businesses, restaurants and cafes, promoting a sense that little has changed in many centuries.
Oozing ‘olde worlde’ charm is the Swan Hotel which started life in 1769 as a coaching inn and an important staging post on the London to Chester route. Now a comfortable 20 bedroom hotel, it is a popular venue for lunch, dinner or just a quick coffee.
Beyond the Swan is the Rising Sun which, in the days before 1939, when Tarporley was famous for holding horse races baked a ‘communal pie with liberal salt to encourage thirst’ and the Foresters pub in the town was the haunt of grooms and stable hands during the race meetings.
The village has a lovely chocolate shop with a friendly cafe attached, while those who want to indulge in a leisurely lunch or dress up for dinner have plenty of choice including British, Thai and even Japanese.
The village certainly has a reputation as a fashion mecca but there are also many other excuses for a spending spree. Its antique curio and craft shops, delis and gift emporiums are just some of the reasons for a leisurely bit of shopping. The wide range of shops includes a butcher and a baker. Many of the shops will be open for late night Christmas shopping until 8pm every Wednesday in December.
If you decide to stay over, as well as The Swan there’s the Macdonald Portal hotel complete with golf course - you may want to indulge in a pre-dinner treat at one of Tarporley’s lovely beauty salons. The Macdonald spa is also an excellent way to relax after a hard day’s shopping at a truly delightful location. Not too far down the road is Nunsmere Hall hotel too.
About Tarporley
On April 1st 2009, Tarporley was included in the new unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. The village has civil parish status and its own parish council, giving it some limited local government autonomy.
Where is Tarporley?
Tarporley is to be found off the A49, six miles south of Sandiway, Northwich (15 miles north of Whitchurch and approximately ten miles from both Chester and Nantwich). The A49 north of Tarporley to Sandiway has been designated ‘“a place of distinction’” and the six miles between the two offer visitors great places to stay, eat and shop. Between the two are hotels, pubs and the oldest polo club in Britain.
