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This article is about Crewe in England. There is another Crewe in Virginia, USA.

Crewe
Coordinates: 53.0998° N 2.44° W
Population	67,683 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	SJ705557
District	Crewe and Nantwich
Shire county	Cheshire
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CREWE
Postcode district	CW1
Dial code	01270
Police	Cheshire
Fire	Cheshire
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Crewe and Nantwich
European Parliament	North West England
List of places: UK • England • Cheshire

Crewe is a town in south Cheshire, England. It is the major town in the Borough and Parliamentary Constituency of Crewe and Nantwich, where it is the only unparished area of the borough. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683. It is twinned with Mâcon in France and Bischofsheim, near Mainz, Germany.

Crewe is perhaps best known for its association with the railway industry, being a major junction and once home to a bustling railway works. From 1946 to 2002 it was the home of Rolls-Royce motor car production. From the end of 2002 Rolls-Royce production ceased at Crewe while the Pyms Lane factory on the west of the town now produces Bentley motor cars exclusively.

Crewe did not come to prominence until the late 1830s, when the Grand Junction Railway (GJR) company chose it as the site for its locomotive works (known in the surrounding area simply as Crewe Works) and Crewe railway station. The town of Winsford, situated seven miles north of Crewe, rejected an earlier original building plan. Subsequently local landowners from neighbouring Nantwich (located four miles away) prevented the second choice plan to locate the building in their town. When the GJR opened its station in fields near Crewe Hall in 1837, the population of Crewe (c. 1831), the nearest Cheshire village, was just 70.

A new town grew up, in the parishes of Monks Coppenhall and Church Coppenhall, alongside the increasingly busy station, with the population expanding to reach 40,000 by 1871. GJR chief engineer Joseph Locke helped lay out the town.

Crewe War Memorial in the site where it was relocated in 2006 after a local political crisis. It is one of only two war memorials in Britain which features Britannia.

The town has a large park, Queen's Park (laid out by engineer Francis Webb), the land for which was was donated by the London and North Western Railway (successor to the GJR). (Rumour has it that they did this to prevent the Great Western Railway from building a railway line through it but there is no evidence for this).^[1]

The railway provided an endowment towards the building and upkeep of Christ Church. Until 1897 its vicar, non-conformist ministers and schoolteachers received concessionary passes, the school having been established in 1842. The company provided a doctor's surgery with a scheme of health insurance. A gasworks was built and the works water supply was adapted to provide drinking water and a public baths. The railway also opened a cheese market in 1854 and a clothing factory for John Compton who provided the company uniforms, while McCorquodale of Liverpool set up a printing works. Nevertheless, the dominance of the railway industry was such that times of recession were keenly felt.

Crewe railway station is less than a mile from Crewe town centre, although politically it was not incorporated into the then-Borough of Crewe until 1937. It is one of the largest stations in north-west England and a major interchange station on the West Coast Main Line, and has 12 platforms in use and has a direct service to London (Euston) (2/hour, about 2 hours), Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff, Stoke-on-Trent and many other cities.

It is on the A530 and A534 and less than 10 miles from the M6 motorway.

First PMT operates bus service 20 from Hanley to Leighton Hospital every twenty minutes.

South Cheshire College is located on Danebank Avenue. Crewe, together with Alsager, also houses Manchester Metropolitan University's Cheshire campus, where 5000 students study on Crewe Green Road (A534), to the east of the town near the railway station. Edleston Primary School is on Edleston Road. Gainsborough Junior School is on Belgrave Road. Vine Tree Primary School is on Dane Bank Avenue. Wistaston Green Junior School is on Moreton Road. Kingsgrove School is on Buchan Grove in The Valley. The Ruskin Sports College is on Ruskin Road near the town centre. Coppenhall High School is on Coronation Street in Coppenhall in the north of the town. St Thomas More Catholic High School is on Dane Bank Avenue towards Wistaston. Victoria Community Technology School is on West Street in the town centre near the bus station. None of these schools have sixth-forms. Of the secondary schools, although Kings Grove School performed badly it was recently described as one of the most impoved schools in the country [1]. St Thomas More Catholic High School performed relatively well, but in general, Crewe Schools are low performing^{[citation needed]}.

Ryman, the national stationers have their headquarters on Savoy Road (A532), on south of the town. There is a Morrisons on Dunwoody Way, a Tesco on Vernon Way, and an ASDA in the Victoria Centre; all in the town centre.

Crewe's sporting claim to fame is that it is home to Crewe Alexandra F.C., for a long time one of English football's perpetual under-achievers, though during the late 20th century the club enjoyed something of a renaissance under the management of Dario Gradi, reaching the First Division (ie: the second tier of the professional pyramid) for five seasons from 1997-2002, being relegated to the Second Division in the 2002-03 season but being promoted back to the First Division after only one season. At the end of the 2005-06 season, Crewe were relegated to the third tier (renamed to League One) again.

The renovated Lyceum Theatre is a fine example of Edwardian theatre design.

• Crewe crater on Mars is named after the town of Crewe.
• The Limelight, Crewe is a live music venue, established in the mid 1990s. With three floors, the Annex Bar and Music Cafe, the Club has a capacity of over 900. From humble beginnings (with mainly tribute bands) the club is now one of the North's top venues.
• Crewe has a fast growing population of workers from Poland who, with their families, have migrated to south Cheshire after Poland's accession to the European Community. Polish immigrants have also had a strong presence in Crewe since the days of World War 2, hence the long-established Polish Working Men's Club on West Street, Crewe.
• Crewe was described by author Alan Garner in his book Red Shift as 'the ultimate reality'.
• Generations of British children learned the distribution of positive trigonometric values around a circle using the mnemonic All Stations Through Crewe: all of them in quadrant 1, sine in quadrant 2, tan in quadrant 3, and cosine in quadrant 4.
• In The Railway Series, Henry the Green Engine was sent here for major repairs of changing firebox sizes and different boiler shapes.

• Guardian newspaper article, The beauty of Crewe (6 December 2005)

1. ^ Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council web page on Queen's Park states: "This can now be totally dispelled as records show the LNWR Co. originally thought their line to Chester would run alongside the river. However, it was discovered the ground was not firm enough and a more northerly route was decided upon. Had the original thought gone ahead it would have taken the land that was eventually used for Queens Park? It's obvious that a rumour became mixed with a proposal to open a station on the present Chester line called Queens Park Halt. To further clarify the situation an entry on the 18th December 1886, in the Minute Book of the Board of Directors of the LNWR, refers to the area being given for a public park."

• Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council
• Crewe Alexandra
• Crewe Guardian newspaper
• The Railway Age museum
• Lyceum Theatre
• Crewe and Nantwich RUFC
• Golf Club
• South Cheshire College
• United Co-op Band
• Latest departures from Crewe railway station
• Bentley Motors
• Knowhere Guide

v • d • e

Ceremonial county of Cheshire

Cheshire Portal
Unitary authorities:	Halton • Warrington
Boroughs/Districts:	Chester City • Congleton • Crewe and Nantwich • Ellesmere Port and Neston • Macclesfield • Vale Royal
Cities/Towns:	Alsager • Bollington • Chester • Congleton • Crewe • Ellesmere Port • Frodsham • Knutsford • Macclesfield • Middlewich • Nantwich • Neston • Northwich • Runcorn • Sandbach • Warrington • Widnes • Wilmslow • Winsford See also: List of civil parishes in Cheshire