At this time, Willaston was a remote, sparsely populated community with no village centre. Nevertheless, it covered a much larger area than it does today, stretching from Newcastle Road and London Road, Nantwich in the south, along Millstone Lane and as far as the ancient grazing land of Beam Heath in the north. These boundaries did not change until 1936, when local government decided to transfer some of Willaston's land to the expanding communities of Nantwich and Stapeley. In 1553, the manor of Willaston was bought by Richard Sneyd, Recorder of Chester. The Sneyd family lived at Keele Hall in Staffordshire and were the major landowners in Willaston until the middle of the 19th century.