Cheshire ::: Project ETERNITY

This article is about the English county. For other uses see Cheshire (disambiguation)

Cheshire (or archaically the County of Chester) is a palatine county in North West England. Its county town is the city of Chester. It borders the ceremonial counties of Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, Staffordshire (with Stoke-on-Trent), and Shropshire and the Welsh preserved county of Clwyd.

Some northern parts of the county are effectively suburbs of Manchester or Liverpool, and many of those who work in these cities commute from other parts of the county.

History

Cheshire in the Domesday Book was recorded as a much larger county than it is today. Its northern border was the River Ribble, and it was recorded with eighteen hundreds, six of which were north of the River Mersey.

In 1182 the land north of the Mersey became administered as part of the new county of Lancashire instead. Later, the hundreds of Atiscross and Exestan became part of Wales. Over the years the ten hundreds consolidated to just seven — Broxton, Bucklow, Eddisbury, Macclesfield, Nantwich, Northwich, and Wirral.

In a local government reform in 1974, some areas near the border with Lancashire became part of the new counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside, notably Stockport, and the Wirral area around Birkenhead. Also at this time, Cheshire regained Warrington and the surrounding district from Lancshire.

Halton and Warrington became unitary authorities independent of Cheshire on April 1, 1998, but remain part of the county for ceremonial purposes, as well as fire and policing. A referendum for a further local government reform connected with a regional assembly was planned for 2004, but was abandoned, see Northern England referendum, 2004.

Geography

Cheshire covers a boulder clay plain separating the Welsh hills of Clwyd and the Peak District of Derbyshire. This was formed following the retreat of ice age glaciers which left the area dotted with kettle holes, locally referred to as meres. The bedrock of this region is almost entirely Triassic sandstone, outcrops of which have long been quarried, notably at Runcorn, providing the distinctive red stone for Liverpool Cathedral and Chester Cathedral.

The eastern half of the county is Upper Triassic Mercia mudstone laid down with large salt deposits which were mined for for hundreds of years around Northwich. Separating this area from Lower Triassic Sherwood sandstone to the west is a prominent Sandstone Ridge. A 51km footpath follows this ridge from Frodsham to Whitchurch passing Delamere Forest, Beeston Castle and earlier iron age forts.

Cheshire is a mainly rural county with a high concentration of villages. Most of the industry is in the North adjacent to the Mersey, notably the center of the British Chemical Industry including ICI at Runcorn (originally sited here because of the proximity of salt mines). Crewe was once the center of the British railway industry and remains a major junction. Towns in the east of Cheshire form Manchester's most affluent commuter belt with some of the UK's highest property prices outside the Home Counties. Cheshire is rich in canals, particularly the east of the county with its strategic importance between Manchester, Stoke and Birmingham. The Rochdale, Ashton, Peak Forest, Macclesfield, Trent and Mersey and Bridgewater canals have been restored for tourism, forming the "Cheshire Ring".

Famous products

Famous people

Settlements

This is a list of the major towns and cities in Cheshire, for a full list of settlements see list of places in Cheshire.

Places of interest

External links

Category:Cheshire

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