Sir William's troops were routed at the "Battle of Stockton Heath". Unverified local legend has it that many of the parliamentarian soldiers were buried at Hill Cliffe and Budworth. The battle is referred to in the 1859 novel Hollywood Hall by James Grant:  "A priory, situated in a wooded hollow, ruined and battered as the Royalists had left it in 1643, next caught my eye, when, riding rapidly on, I approached a wide waste common called Stockton Heath, past which the Mersey rolled amid swamps and morasses filled with rushes and willows." The same novel frequently refers to Stockton Heath as a "waste" and makes numerous references to swamps nearby. This description contrasts sharply with the variants of "fashionable shopping village" frequently encountered in the literature of estate agents today. Early maps refer to a hamlet by the name of Stoken (or Stocken) where the present village of Stockton Heath now stands. However, more detailed old maps of the area of Acton Grange show a sparsely populated hamlet and refers only to the old buildings and bridges recognisable today in street names in the area, such as Whitefield Cottage. The Bridgewater Canal, one of two canals that pass through the village, reached Stockton Heath in 1772, the year of the death of its designer, James Brindley  In the 1900s George Formby Senior moved his young family to Stockton Heath and it was from here that George Formby Junior began his entertainment career. Their house, Hillcrest, is a listed building. George Formby Senior died in Stockton Heath in 1921. In 1974, Stockton Heath, historically part of Cheshire, became incorporated into the borough of Warrington under the Local Government Act 1972. Warrington, historically part of Lancashire, became a Cheshire borough under the act.  2008 saw the first ever Stockton Heath Festival, which is now going into its twelfth year. It is situated on Mill Lane Field in Stockton Heath, although it takes place over many venues throughout Grappenhall, Appleton and Stockton Heath. In 2011, the Stockton Heath Festival attracted 12,000 visitors. The original LEA primary school of 1910 was demolished in October 2008, despite a strong campaign to retain it, after a new school had been built adjacent. There is also St Thomas C of E Primary School now located next to Alexandra Park. This was opened in 1974 and moved from its original site opposite St Thomas' Church.