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
Dated 1562, Handforth Hall is one of many black-and-white, half-timbered former manor houses in the county. It was once the home of Sir William Brereton (1604–61), a Parliamentary commander in the Civil War. Credit: Mike in Macc (29 September 2013) In this month
1 August 1984: Lindow Man bog body discovered. 2 August 1957: Lovell Telescope took its first image. 3 August 1952: Pianist Martin Roscoe born in Halton. 4 August 1643: Attack on Nantwich by Royalists led by Lord Capell during the Civil War. 4–6 August 1896: Princess Louise visited Crewe Hall and opened bazaar in aid of Crewe Memorial Hospital. 6 August 2012: Astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell died in Swettenham. 8 August 1953: First (private) motor race at Oulton Park. 9 August 1886: Grosvenor Museum officially opened by the First Duke of Westminster. 10 August 1933: Acton swing bridge over the Weaver opened. 11 August 1642: Confrontation between Sir William Brereton and Royalist forces near Ravensmoor during the Civil War. 13 August 1277: Foundation stones of Vale Royal Abbey laid by Edward I (pictured) and Eleanor of Castile. 15 August 1538: Dissolution of Chester's three friaries. 23–26 August 1617: James I visited Chester, Nantwich and Utkinton Hall, and hunted in Delamere Forest. 24 August 1538: Warrant issued for the dissolution of Vale Royal Abbey. 27 August 1781: First recorded game of cricket in the county. 29 August 1940: An air raid destroyed around fifty houses in Crewe. Selected list
Of the over 200 Scheduled Monuments in Cheshire, at least 84 date from before 1066, the start of the Medieval period. Monuments are defined as sites deliberately constructed by human activity; some sites not visible above ground. Scheduled archaeological sites range from prehistoric standing stones and burial sites, through Roman remains, to the Saxon period. The oldest Scheduled Monument is believed to be The Bridestones, a Neolithic long cairn. The monument at Somerford is also thought to have been a long cairn and there is evidence of a Neolithic settlement at Tatton. The Bronze Age is the period most strongly represented during this timeframe with 44 monuments, predominantly round barrows. Eleven Iron Age hillforts or promontory forts are scheduled. The Roman occupation left parts of Chester city walls, the remains of settlements at Heronbridge and Wilderspool, several definite or possible Roman military camps, and Minerva's Shrine (pictured). The Dark Age and Saxon monuments consist mainly of portions of crosses, including the Sandbach Crosses. There is also evidence of Saxon occupation of villages, now deserted, at Tatton and Baddiley. 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
Edmund Sharpe (31 October 1809 – 8 May 1877) was an architect, architectural historian, railway engineer and sanitary reformer, who was born in Knutsford. As an architect, he predominantly designed churches, of which around forty survive; Cheshire examples include St Wilfrid's, Davenham, and Holy Trinity, Northwich. He pioneered the structural use of terracotta in the so-called "pot" churches, such as St Stephen and All Martyrs', Lever Bridge. He also developed railways in the north-west of England, and championed the construction of new sanitary works in Lancaster, where he practised in 1835–1851. Sharpe achieved his greatest recognition as an architectural historian, publishing many articles, books and detailed architectural drawings. He criticised the widespread practice of restoring medieval churches, and devised a scheme for the classification of English Gothic architectural styles. In 1875, he was awarded the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Did you know...
Selected town or village
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) 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. QuotationOn Saturday the[y] came to Bartomley, (giving an alarm to the garrison of Crewe Hall,) as they marched they set upon the church, which had in it about twenty neighbours, that had gone in for safety; but the Lord Byron's troop, and Connought, a Major to Colonel Sneyd, set upon them, and won the church; the men fled into the steeple, but the enemy burning the forms, rushes, mats, &c. made such a smoke, that being almost stiffled, they called for quarter, which was granted by Connought; but when they had them in their power, they stripped them all naked, and most cruelly murdered twelve of them, contrary to the laws of arms, nature, and nations. From Providence Improved by Edward Burghall (1778)
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