Everything about Cheshire totally explained
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Cheshire (or, archaically, the
County of Chester) is a
county in
North West England. The
county town, and the location of the
county council, is the
city of
Chester, although Cheshire's largest town in terms of area and population is
Warrington. Other major towns include
Congleton,
Crewe,
Ellesmere Port,
Widnes,
Runcorn,
Macclesfield,
Northwich, and
Wilmslow. The county is bordered by
Merseyside and
Greater Manchester to the north,
Derbyshire to the east,
Staffordshire and
Shropshire to the south,
Flintshire and
Wrexham in
Wales to the west.
The
ceremonial county has an overall area of and has a population of about 993,200.
The county is mostly rural with a number of small towns and villages that support an agricultural industry. It is historically famous for the production of
Cheshire cheese, salt, bulk chemicals and the weaving of silk.
History
Toponymy
Cheshire's name was originally derived from an early name for Chester and first occurred as
Legeceasterscir in the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. Its name meant
the shire of the city of legions. It was first recorded in 980CE, but it's thought that the county was created by
Edward the Elder around 920CE. For this and other reasons, the
Welsh name for Cheshire (
Swydd Gaerlleon) is sometimes used within Wales and by Welsh speakers.
Administrative history
Cheshire in the Domesday Book was recorded as a larger county than it's today. It included two
hundreds which later became part of
Wales: Atiscross and Exestan. At the time of the
Domesday book, it also included as part of Duddestan Hundred the area of land later known as
Maelor Saesneg (which used to be a detached part of
Flintshire) in
Wales. The area in between the
Mersey and
Ribble (referred to in the Domesday Book as "Inter Ripam et Mersham") formed part of the returns for Cheshire. Although this has been interpreted to mean that at that time south Lancashire was part of Cheshire, more exhaustive research indicates that the boundary between Cheshire and what was to become Lancashire remained the
River Mersey. With minor variations in spelling across sources, the complete list of
hundreds of Cheshire at this time are: Atiscross, Bochelau, Chester, Dudestan, Exestan, Hamestan, Middlewich, Riseton, Roelau, Tunendune, Warmundestrou. and Wilaveston.
In 1182 the land north of the Mersey became administered as part of the new county of
Lancashire, thus resolving any uncertainty about the county in which the land "Inter Ripam et Mersham" was. Over the years, the ten hundreds consolidated and changed names to leave just seven—Broxton, Bucklow, Eddisbury, Macclesfield, Nantwich, Northwich, and Wirral]].
Through the Local Government Act 1972 which came into effect in 1974, some areas in the north west became part of the metropolitan counties of
Greater Manchester and
Merseyside.
Stockport (previously a county borough),
Hyde,
Dukinfield and
Stalybridge in the north-east became part of Greater Manchester. Much of the
Wirral Peninsula in the north-west, including the county boroughs of Birkenhead and Wallasey, joined Merseyside. At the same time the
Tintwistle Rural District was transferred to Derbyshire. The area of Lancashire south of the Merseyside/Greater Manchester area, including
Widnes and the county borough of
Warrington was added to the new non-metropolitan county of Cheshire.
Halton and
Warrington became unitary authorities independent of Cheshire County Council on
1 April 1998, but remain part of Cheshire for ceremonial purposes, as well as fire and policing.
A referendum for a further local government reform connected with an elected
regional assembly was planned for 2004, but was abandoned - ).
As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity
Plantlife chose the
cuckooflower as the
county flower.
Buildings and structures
Prehistoric burial grounds can be found at
The Bridestones, near
Congleton (
Neolithic) and Robin Hood's Tump, near
Alpraham (
Bronze Age). The remains of Iron Age
hill forts are found on sandstone ridges at several locations in Cheshire. Examples include Maiden Castle on
Bickerton Hill,
Helsby Hillfort and Woodhouse Hillfort at
Frodsham. The Roman fortress and walls of
Chester, perhaps the earliest building works in Cheshire remaining above ground, are constructed from purple-grey sandstone.
The distinctive local red sandstone has been used for many monumental and ecclesiastical buildings throughout the county, for example, the medieval
Beeston Castle,
Chester Cathedral and numerous parish churches. Occasional residential and industrial buildings, such as
Helsby Station
,
Helsby (1849) are also in this sandstone.
Many surviving buildings from the 15th to 17th centuries are timbered, particularly in the southern part of the county. Notable examples include the moated manor house
Little Moreton Hall, dating from around 1450, and many commercial and residential buildings in Chester,
Nantwich and surrounding villages.
Early brick buildings include
Peover Hall, near
Macclesfield (1585),
Tattenhall Hall (pre-1622) and
Pied Bull Hotel in Chester (17th C). From the 18th century, orange, red or brown brick became the predominant building material used in Cheshire, although earlier buildings are often faced or dressed with stone. Examples from the Victorian period onwards often employ distinctive brick detailing, such as brick patterning and ornate chimney stacks and gables. Notable examples include
Arley Hall, near
Northwich,
Willington Hall (External Link), near Chester (both by Nantwich architect
George Latham) and
Overleigh Lodge, Chester. From the Victorian era, brick buildings often incorporate timberwork in a mock Tudor style, and this hybrid style has been used in some modern residential developments in the county. Industrial buildings, such as the Macclesfield silk mills (for example,
Waters Green New Mill), are also usually in brick.
Physical geography
Cheshire covers a boulder clay plain separating the hills of
North Wales 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 hundreds of years around
Northwich. Separating this area from Lower Triassic Sherwood sandstone to the west is a prominent Sandstone Ridge. A footpath, the
Sandstone Trail, follows this ridge from
Frodsham to
Whitchurch passing
Delamere Forest,
Beeston Castle and earlier
Iron Age forts.
Demographics
Population
Based on the Census of 2001, the overall population of Cheshire is 673,781, of which 51.3% of the population were male and 48.7% were female. Of those aged between 0-14 years, 51.5% were male and 48.4% were female; and of those aged over 75 years, 62.9% were female and 37.1% were male.
The population density of Cheshire is 32 people per km², lower than the North West average of 42 people/km² and the England and Wales average of 38 people/km². Ellesmere Port and Neston has a greater urban density than the rest of the county with 92 people/km².
The population for 2021 is forecast to be 708,000.
Ethnicity
Ethnic white groups accounted for 98% (662,794) of the population with 10,994 (2%) in ethnic groups other than white. Of the 2% in non-white ethnic groups:
3,717 (34%) belonged to mixed ethnic groups
3,336 (30%) were Asian or Asian British
1,076 (10%) were Black or Black British
1,826 (17%) were of Chinese ethnic groups
1,039 (9%) were of other ethnic groups.
Politics and administration
The area under the control of the county council, or shire county, is divided into a number of local government districts. They are Ellesmere Port and Neston, Chester, Crewe and Nantwich, Congleton, Macclesfield and Vale Royal.
On 25 July2007, the Secretary of State Hazel Blears announced she was 'minded' to split Cheshire into two new unitary authorities, Cheshire West and Chester, and Cheshire East. She confirmed she hadn't changed her mind on 19 December 2007 and therefore the proposal to split two-tier Cheshire into two would proceed.
Cheshire County Council leader Paul Findlow, who attempted High Court legal action against the proposal, claimed that splitting Cheshire would only disrupt excellent services while increasing living costs for all. A widespread sentiment that this decision was taken by the European Union long ago has often been portrayed via angered letters from Cheshire residents to local papers. On January 31st 2008 the standard, Cheshire & district newspaper announced that the legal action had been dropped. Members against the proposal were advised that they may be unable to persuade the court that the decision of Hazel Blears was "manifestly absurd". The Cheshire West and Chester unitary authority will cover the area currently occupied by the boroughs of Ellesmere Port and Neston, Vale Royal and the City of Chester; Cheshire East will cover the area currently occupied by the boroughs of Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich, and Macclesfield. The changes are planned to be implemented no later than 1 April 2009, subject to a financial assessment of the proposal.
Congleton Borough Council are currently waiting to hear the result of their appeal against the Judicial Review they lost in October 2007. A decision either for or against the appeal should be announced before Easter 2008.
Halton (which includes the towns of Runcorn and Widnes) and Warrington are unitary authorities which form part of the county for various functions such as Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff, but don't come under county council control.
The ceremonial county, which includes the unitary authorities, borders Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire in England along with Flintshire and Wrexham in Wales, arranged by compass directions as shown in the table. below. Cheshire also forms part of the North West England region.
Neighbouring Authorities to the Ceremonial County>
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Religion
In the 2001 Census, 81% of the population (542,413) identified themselves as Christian; 124,677 (19%) didn't identify with any religion or didn't answer the question; 5,665 (1%) as belonging to other major world religions; and 1,033 belonging to other religions. In terms of Roman Catholic church administration, the majority of Cheshire falls into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury.
Economy and industry
Cheshire has a diverse economy with significant sectors including agriculture, automotive, bio-technology, chemical, financial services, food and drink, ICT, and tourism. The county is famous for the production of Cheshire cheese, salt and silk.
Cheshire is a mainly rural county with a high concentration of villages. Agriculture is generally based around the dairy trade and cattle are the predominant livestock. Land use given to agriculture has fluctuated somewhat, and in 2005 totalled 1558 km² over 4,609 holdings. Based on holdings by EC farm type in 2005, 8.51 km² was allocated to diary farming, with another 11.78 km² allocated to cattle and sheep.
The chemical industry in Cheshire was founded in the Roman times with the mining of salt in Middlewich and Northwich. Salt is still mined in this area by British Salt. The salt mining has led to a continued chemical industry around Northwich, with Brunner Mond based in the town. More chemical companies, including Ineos (formerly ICI) have plants at Runcorn. The Shell Stanlow Refinery is at Ellesmere Port. The oil refinery has operated since 1924 and has a capacity of 12 million tonnes per year.
Crewe was once the centre of the British railway industry, and remains a major railway junction. The Crewe railway works, built in 1840, employed 20,000 people at its peak, though this is now less than 1,000. Crewe is also the home of Bentley cars. Also within Cheshire are manufacturing plants for Jaguar and Vauxhall Motors in Ellesmere Port. The county also has an aircraft industry, with the BAE Systems facility at Woodford Aerodrome, part of BAE System's Military Air Solutions division. The facility designed and constructed Avro Lancaster and Avro Vulcan bombers and the Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod. On the Cheshire border with Flintshire, Wales is the Broughton aircraft factory, more recently associated with Airbus.
Tourism in Cheshire from both within the UK and overseas continues to perform strongly. Over 8 million nights of accommodation (both UK & overseas) and over 2.8 million visits to Cheshire were recorded during 2003.
At the start of 2003, there were 22,020 VAT registered enterprises in Cheshire, an increase of 7% since 1998, many in the Business Services (31.9%) and Wholesale/ Retail (21.7%) sectors. Between 2002 and 2003 the number businesses grew in four sectors: Public Administration and Other Services (6.0%), Hotels & Restaurants (5.1%), Construction (1.7%) and Business Services (1.0%). Ian Astbury (The Cult), Tim Burgess (Charlatans), Ian Curtis (Joy Division) and Kerry Katona (Atomic Kitten). Concert pianist Stephen Hough, singer Thea Gilmore and her producer husband Nigel Stonier also reside in Cheshire. The county has also been home to several writers, including Hall Caine (1853-1931), popular romantic novelist and playwright; Alan Garner; Victorian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, whose novel Cranford features her home town of Knutsford; and most famously Lewis Carroll, born and raised in Daresbury, hence the Cheshire cat. Artists from the county include ceramic artist Emma Bossons and sculptor and photographer Andy Goldsworthy. Actors from Cheshire include Daniel Craig, the 6th James Bond; Dame Wendy Hiller; and Lewis McGibbon, best known for his role in Millions.
Warrington Wolves are the premier Rugby League team in Cheshire and play in the Super League. Widnes Vikings are currently in National League One.
Local radio stations in the county include Dee 106.3, Marcher Sound and Classic Gold Marcher for Chester and West Cheshire, Silk FM for the east of the county, Signal 1 for the south, Wire FM for Warrington, Wish FM which covers Widnes, and community station Cheshire FM which covers central Cheshire. The BBC covers the west with BBC Radio Merseyside, the north and east with BBC Radio Manchester and the south with BBC Radio Stoke. There were plans to launch BBC Radio Cheshire, but those were shelved in 2007 after a lower than expected BBC license fee settlement.
Notable residents
Gary Barlow (born 1971), solo artist, songwriter and frontman for Take That was born at Frodsham and formerly lived in Cheshire.
Chris Braide (born 1973), songwriter and lead singer with The Producers, was born in the county.
Thomas Brassey (1805–1870), civil engineering contractor, was born in Buerton.
Sir John Brunner (1842–1919) co-founded the chemical works of Brunner Mond & Company at Northwich and was MP for the Northwich constituency.
Sir John Chesshyre (1662–1738), lawyer, was born near Runcorn and is buried in Runcorn parish church.
Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley is buried at Dodleston, Cheshire.
Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, lives at Eaton Hall near Chester.
Emma Hamilton (Lady Hamilton) was born in the county.
Thomas Hazlehurst (1779–1842) established the soap and alkali manufacturing business of Hazlehurst & Sons in Runcorn.
Thomas Hazlehurst (1816–1876), son of the above, paid for the building of twelve Methodist chapels and three schools in the Runcorn area.
Noddy Holder (born 1946), singer and frontman of Slade lives in Prestbury, Cheshire.
Robert Spear Hudson (1812–1884), manufacturer of soap powder, lived in Bache Hall, Chester.
George Mallory (1886–1924), British mountaineer who died attempting to climb Mount Everest.
George Ormerod (1785–1873), historian, lived in Chorlton House near Chester while he wrote his History of Cheshire.
Wayne Rooney (born 1985), Manchester United and England footballer.
The cities and towns in Cheshire are:
Some settlements which were historically part of the county now fall under the counties of Derbyshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester:
Waterways
The Cheshire canal system includes several canals originally used to transport the county's industrial products (mostly chemicals). Nowadays they're mainly used for tourist traffic. The Cheshire Ring is formed from The Rochdale, Ashton, Peak Forest, Macclesfield, Trent and Mersey and Bridgewater canals. The Manchester Ship Canal is a wide, stretch of water opened in 1894. It consists of the rivers Irwell and Mersey made navigable to Manchester for sea-going ships leaving the Mersey Estuary. The canal passes through the north of the county via Runcorn and Warrington.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cheshire'.
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