Portal:Cheshire
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The Cheshire Portal
Welcome Cheshire Plain from the Mid Cheshire Ridge
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in the North West of England. Chester is the county town, and formerly gave its name to the county. The largest town is Warrington, and other major towns include Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Macclesfield, Nantwich, Northwich, Runcorn, Sandbach, Widnes, Wilmslow and Winsford. The county is administered as four unitary authorities. Cheshire occupies a boulder clay plain (pictured) which separates the hills of North Wales from the Peak District of Derbyshire. The county covers an area of 2,343 km2 (905 sq mi), with a high point of 559 m (1,834 ft) elevation. The estimated population is a little over one million, 19th highest in England, with a population density of around 450 people per km2. The county was created in around 920, but the area has a long history of human occupation dating back to before the last Ice Age. Deva was a major Roman fort, and Cheshire played an important part in the Civil War. Predominantly rural, the county is historically famous for the production of Cheshire cheese, salt and silk. During the 19th century, towns in the north of the county were pioneers of the chemical industry, while Crewe became a major railway junction and engineering facility. Selected article
Peckforton Castle is a grade-I-listed Victorian country house built in the style of a medieval castle. Faced in red sandstone, it features a gatehouse, portcullis, dry moat, two large towers and external windows that are little more than arrow slots. It stands in woodland at the north end of the Peckforton Hills, near the villages of Peckforton and Beeston. The ruins of the genuinely medieval Beeston Castle are about ¾ mile to the north. The castle was built in 1844–50 as a family home for John Tollemache, a wealthy landowner, estate manager and Member of Parliament, and his family continued to live in the house until 1939. It was designed by Anthony Salvin in the Gothic style. George Gilbert Scott described the building in 1858 as "the largest and most carefully and learnedly executed Gothic mansion of the present" and "the very height of masquerading". The chapel and entrance lodge, also by Salvin, are listed at grade II*, and part of the surrounding woodland is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The castle has been used as a filming location, including for the Doctor Who serial The Time Warrior and a 1991 film of Robin Hood. Selected image
The Cheshire Regiment was formed in 1881 from the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment of Foot, created in 1689 by the Duke of Norfolk. It suffered 8,420 casualties during the First World War; this picture is from the Battle of the Somme of 1916. Credit: Lt. J. W. Brooke (July 1916) In this month
1 April 1974: Widnes and Warrington gained from Lancashire; Hyde, Dukinfield and Stalybridge lost to Greater Manchester; parts of the Wirral lost to Merseyside; and Tintwistle lost to Derbyshire in local government reorganisation. 1 April 1998: Halton and Warrington became unitary authorities. 1 April 2009: Unitary authorities of Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East took control. 5 April 1847: The Port of Runcorn became an independent customs port. 5 April 1847: Birkenhead Park, the UK's first publicly funded civic park, opened. 8 April 1889: Conductor Adrian Boult born in Chester. 10 April 1964: Runcorn designated a new town. 10 April 1998: Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker (pictured) opened as a museum. 11 April 1830: Architect John Douglas born in Sandiway. 17 April 1948: Train crash near Winsford killed 24 people and injured 10. 17 April 1951: Peak District became the UK's first national park. 20 April 1857: Cheshire Constabulary formed. 21 April 1913: George V and Queen Mary visited Crewe Railway Works and Worleston Dairy Institute. 23 April 1610: First St George's Day race held at Chester Racecourse. 24 April 1643: Royalist forces plundered Acton, Dorfold, Ravensmoor and Sound during the Civil War. 25 April 1956: Construction of Silver Jubilee Bridge began. 26 April 1761: Emma, Lady Hamilton, mistress of Lord Nelson, born in Ness. 30 April 1851: Accident in Sutton Railway Tunnel killed nine people and injured at least 30. Selected list
Around 300 buildings in Chester centre are listed at Grade II, the lowest grade. The oldest Grade-II-listed buildings in central Chester date from the medieval era and retain some of their medieval fabric, for example, St Nicholas Chapel (1300). Early buildings are often timber framed, with some later encased in brick. Examples include the Old Custom House Inn, Nine Houses, Ye Olde Edgar and Stanley Palace. Many Georgian houses, in local sandstone or brick, are listed at this grade, including Park House and 10–28 Nicholas Street, as well as some Neoclassical buildings, such as Chester City Club. From the mid-19th century, Chester was at the forefront of the Black-and-white Revival (example pictured), reintroducing timber-framed buildings into the city. Grade-II-listed examples include The Chester Grosvenor Hotel, St Werburgh's Mount, St Oswald's Chambers, 30 and 38 Bridge Street, and several houses on Northgate Street. A few modern structures have been listed, including Newgate (1937–38), and Modernist buildings such as the former Odeon Cinema (1936) and Addleshaw Tower (1973–75), a free-standing bell-tower. Unusual listed structures include a scale model of Grosvenor Bridge, the War Memorial, a Cenotaph to Matthew Henry, a tombstone commemorating a soldier, a sundial, a birdbath and two telephone kiosks. GeographyTop: Map of modern Cheshire showing urban areas (grey) and the major road network. Chester (red) is the county town, and Warrington has the greatest population. Towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants in 2011 are highlighted; the size of dot gives a rough indication of the relative population. Wales and the adjacent English counties are shown in capitals. Bottom: Relief map showing the major hills. The Mid Cheshire Ridge is a discontinuous ridge of low hills running north–south from Beacon Hill (north of Helsby Hill) to Bickerton Hill. Most other high ground falls within the Peak District in the east of the county. Shining Tor (559 metres), on the boundary with Derbyshire, forms the county's high point.
Administration The ceremonial county of Cheshire is administered by four unitary authorities (click on the map for details): 2 – Cheshire East 3 – Warrington 4 – Halton In the local government reorganisation of 1974, Cheshire gained an area formerly in Lancashire including Widnes and Warrington. The county lost Tintwistle to Derbyshire, part of the Wirral Peninsula to Merseyside, and a northern area including Stockport, Altrincham, Sale, Hyde, Dukinfield and Stalybridge to Greater Manchester. Selected biography
Lindow Man, sometimes called Pete Marsh, is a naturally preserved bog body of an Iron Age man, discovered in a peat bog at Lindow Moss near Mobberley in 1984. The body has been preserved by freeze drying and is usually on display at the British Museum. Lindow Man was a healthy male in his mid-20s, perhaps someone of high status, such as a druid, as his body has manicured fingernails and shows little evidence of heavy or rough work. He would have stood around 5'7" (1.7 m) tall and have weighed about 132 pounds (60 kg). He had healthy teeth but was suffering from slight osteoarthritis and an infestation of whipworm and maw worm. The body retains a trimmed beard, moustache and sideburns of brown hair, and was naked apart from a fox-fur armband. The nature of his death was violent, possibly ritualistic. After a last, charred meal, he was strangled, hit on the head, and his throat was cut. His body was deposited into Lindow Moss, face down, in around March or April some time between 2 BC to 119 AD. Did you know...
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Sound is a small settlement and civil parish near Nantwich. The parish covers 1,089 acres (441 ha) and also includes Newtown and Sound Heath, with a total population of around 240 in 2011. The name is of Saxon origin and means "a sandy place". The first record of the township is in 1310. It was raided by Royalist forces in 1643, during the Civil War. The Methodist chapel was built in 1838, and a primary school on the boundary with Broomhall opened in 1876. Other historic buildings include a rare example of a malt kiln. The area is mainly agricultural, with dairy farming predominating. The flat terrain has an average elevation of around 60 metres. The River Weaver runs along the southern boundary and the Welsh Marches railway line crosses the parish. Sound Heath, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Local Nature Reserve, is an important habitat for freshwater invertebrates and breeding birds. Nationally scarce species observed here include the mud snail, great raft spider, a species of water scavenger beetle and the beautiful snout moth. In the news.JPG?lang=en) Crewe Market Hall 29 October, 1 November: Warrington council and the mayor of Crewe each announce plans to bid for city status in 2022. 13–14 October: Prince Edward visits Chester and opens a Fire Service training centre in Winsford. 8 October: Castle Street shopping area in Macclesfield reopens after refurbishment. 4 October: Restoration of the grade-I-listed Bridgegate, part of Chester city walls, is completed. 25 September: A bronze frieze by the sculptor Tom Murphy is unveiled in Warrington, as a memorial to the band Viola Beach. 9 September: The fifth stage of the Tour of Britain cycle race takes place in Cheshire, starting at Alderley Park and finishing in Warrington. 24 July: The grade-II-listed Crewe Market Hall (pictured) formally reopens after refurbishment. 15 July: Crewe, Runcorn and Warrington are awarded potential funding under the "Town Deal" government scheme. QuotationThe province of Chester is, by a certain distinction of privilege, free from all other Englishmen. By the indulgence of kings and the eminence of earls, it gives heed in the assemblies of its provincials more to the sword of its prince than to the crown of the king. Within their jurisdiction, they treat matters of great importance with the utmost freedom. From De laude Cestrie by Lucian of Chester (~1195)
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