Cheshire

Cheshire (or, archaically, the County of Chester) is a in. The, and the location of the , is the of  , although Cheshire's largest town in terms of size and population is. Other major towns include, , , , , , and. The county is bordered by and  to the north,  to the east,  and  to the south,  and  in  to the west.

The has an overall area of 2,343 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 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, salt, bulk chemicals and the weaving of silk.

History
Cheshire in the was recorded as a larger county than it is today. It included two s which later became part of :  and. The area in between the and  (referred to in the Domesday Book as "Inter Ripam et Mersham") formed part of the returns for Cheshire. Although some have taken this to mean that, at this 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. With minor variations in spelling across sources, the complete list of at this time are:, , , , , , , , ,  , , and.

In 1182 the land north of the Mersey became administered as part of the new county of, 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 &mdash;, , , , , , and.

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 and. (previously a county borough),, and  in the north-east became part of Greater Manchester. Much of the in the north-west, including the county boroughs of Birkenhead and Wallasey, joined Merseyside. At the same time the was transferred to Derbyshire. The area of Lancashire south of the Merseyside/Greater Manchester area, including and the county borough of  was added to the new non-metropolitan county of Cheshire.

and became unitary authorities independent of Cheshire County Council on , 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 was planned for 2004, but was abandoned - ).

As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity chose the  as the.

Buildings and structures
Prehistoric burial grounds can be found at, near  and Robin Hood's Tump, near. The remains of Iron Age s are found on sandstone ridges at several locations in Cheshire. Examples include Maiden Castle on, Hillfort and Woodhouse Hillfort at. The Roman fortress and walls of, 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, and numerous parish churches. Occasional residential and industrial buildings, such as Helsby Station, (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, dating from around 1450, and many commercial and residential buildings in Chester, and surrounding villages.

Early brick buildings include Peover Hall, near (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, near ,  , near Chester (both by Nantwich architect ) 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 and the  of. This was formed following the retreat of glaciers which left the area dotted with s, locally referred to as "meres". The bedrock of this region is almost entirely, outcrops of which have long been quarried, notably at , providing the distinctive red stone for  and.

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

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 3.2 people per hectare, lower than the North West average of 4.2 and the England and Wales average of 3.8. Ellesmere Port and Neston has a greater urban density than the rest of the county with 9.2 people per hectare.

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% not 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, is divided into a number of local government districts. They are, , , , and.

The have decided to reorganise Cheshire's administrative structure. Two proposals were being looked at - one to abolish all of the districts to create a Cheshire ; and one to create two separate unitary authorities,, and. On, the decision was made to create two unitary authorities. The City of Chester and West Cheshire unitary authority would cover the area currently occupied by the boroughs of Ellesmere Port and Neston, Vale Royal and the City of Chester. The Cheshire East unitary authority would 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.

(which includes the towns of and ) and  are  which form part of the county for various functions such as  and, but do not come under county council control.

The, which includes the unitary authorities, borders , , , and  in England along with  and  in , arranged by compass directions as shown in the table. below. Cheshire also forms part of the.

Religion
In the 2001 Census, 81% of the population (542,413) identified themselves as Christian; 124,677 (19%) did not identify with any religion or did not answer the question; 5,665 (1%) as belonging to other major world religions; and 1,033 belonging to other religions.

The boundary of the  follows most closely the pre-1974 county boundary of Cheshire, so it includes all of, , and the Cheshire panhandle, that included  council area. In terms of church administration, the majority of Cheshire falls into the Roman Catholic.

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, and.

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 155,800 s over 4,609 holdings. Based on holdings by EC farm type in 2005, 851 hectares were allocated to diary farming, with another 1,178 hectares allocated to cattle and sheep.

The chemical industry in Cheshire was founded in the times with the  in Middlewich and Northwich. Salt is still mined in this area by. The salt mining has led to a continued chemical industry around Northwich, with based in the town. More chemical companies, including (formerly ) have plants at. The  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, and remains a major railway junction. The, built in 1840, employed 20000 people at its peak, though this is now less than 1000. Crewe is also the home of cars. Also within Cheshire are manufacturing plants for and  in Ellesmere Port. The county also has an aircraft industry, with the facility at, part of BAE System's Military Air Solutions division. The facility designed and constructed and  bombers and the. On the Cheshire border with, Wales is the aircraft factory, more recently associated with.

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, increased by 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%). The county saw the largest proportional reduction between 2001 and 2002 in employment in the 'Energy and Water' sector and there was also a significant reduction in the Manufacturing sector. The largest growth during this period was in the 'Other Services' and 'Distribution, Hotels and Retail' sector.

Education
Cheshire has a completely comprehensive state school system (as does Halton and Warrington) with 42 state schools, not including s, and 15 independent schools. When, and Wirral left Cheshire in 1974, they took some former Cheshire selective schools but kept them. Trafford now produces the best GCSE and A level results in. In England, 45.8% of pupils attain five good GCSEs including English and Maths; for Cheshire's 8200 pupils taking GCSE at 16, it 50.6%. Halton LEA gets very low results at GCSE (but less lower at A level). In general at GCSE, Cheshire schools perform very well. In the districts of Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston, and Crewe and Nantwich, the schools either do reasonably well or badly - a distinct dichotomy. No schools in Winsford do well, where as the rest of Vale Royal has good schools. There are no bad schools in the district of Congleton. At GCSE, the best state schools (for 2006) are in Macclesfield and the  in, followed by  and. The two worst are the Blacon High School in near Chester, and the Kings Grove School in central Crewe. Year sizes are generally around 200, with the largest school by population being the in Ellesmere Port. At A level, Cheshire performs strongly even beating Wirral and its grammar schools overall (although Birkenhead schools lower Wirral's average) and has results above the England average. As at GCSE, Warrington performs much better than Halton, although under the England average. All except one school in Crewe and Nantwich do not have a sixth-form, as do four in Vale Royal, and one in Congleton and Chester districts. The best state school at A level is in Northwich, a former grammar school. The best school overall is, an independent school.

GCSE results by district council
2006 GCSE results showing % of pupils gaining 5 grades A-C including English and Maths; compare this table to average house price by district.
 * Congleton 61.4
 * Macclesfield 54.4
 * Chester 52.0
 * Vale Royal 51.1
 * (Warrington Unitary Authority 48.6)
 * Crewe and Nantwich 45.9
 * Ellesmere Port and Neston 42.4
 * (Halton Unitary Authority 33.3)

Culture, media and sport
Cheshire has several league teams, notably League One  and League Two  and. is one of the minor clubs. The county has also been home to many notable sportsmen and athletes, including footballers,  ( and ),  ( and ),    (England and ) and  (England and ). Other local athletes include cricketer ; marathon runner ; Great Britain Olympic oarsman ; ; and mountaineer, who died in 1924 on.

The county has produced several notable musicians, including popular artists,  ,   and. Concert pianist, singer and her producer husband  also reside in Cheshire. The county has also been home to several writers, including (1853-1931), popular romantic novelist and playwright; ; Victorian novelist, whose novel  features her home town of ; and most famously , born and raised in , hence the. Artists from the county include ceramic artist and sculptor and photographer. Actors from Cheshire include, the 6th ; ; and , best known for his role in.

are the premier team in  and play in the. are currently in.

Notable Residents

 * (1805-1870), civil engineering contractor, was born in.
 * (1842-1919) co-founded the chemical works of at Northwich and was MP for the Northwich constituency.
 * (1662-1738), lawyer, was born near Runcorn and was buried in Runcorn parish church.
 * is buried at Dodleston, Cheshire.
 * , lives at near.
 * (Lady Hamilton) was born in the county.
 * (1779-1842) established the soap and alkali manufacturing business of in Runcorn.


 * (1816-1876), son of the above, paid for the building of 12 Methodist chapels and 3 schools in the Runcorn area.
 * (1812-1884), manufacturer of soap powder, lived in Bache Hall, Chester.
 * (1785-1873), historian, lived in Chorlton House near Chester while he wrote his History of Cheshire.
 * (1876-1961), political activist and patron of, was born in Frodsham.
 * (1971-2005), solo artist, songwriter and frontman for.
 * (2005- ), and  footballer.
 * (1973- ), Multi platinum selling songwriter and lead singer with Trevor Horn's supergroup  (2006 band).

Settlements
Some northern parts of the county are effectively s of or, and many of those who work in these cities commute from other parts of the county. The county is home to some of the most affluent areas of, including , , , and. was named in 2006 as the most expensive place to buy a house in the north of England. The former Cheshire town of was in second place. The area is sometimes referred to as on account of the area in and around the above mentioned towns and villages.

The cities and towns in Cheshire are:

Some settlements which were historically part of the county now fall under the counties of, and :

Transport


The runs from south to north through the centre of the county, connecting,  and  railway stations with ,  and. The connects Chester to Stockport, crossing from south west to north east across the county. straddles the boundary between Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

The Cheshire road system is made up of 3417 miles (5500 km) of highway. This includes 214 miles (344 km) of the, , and  motorways with 23 interchanges and four service areas. The M6 motorway in the across the carries some 140,000 vehicles per 24 hours. .

includes several originally used to transport the county's industrial products (mostly chemicals). Nowadays they are mainly used for traffic. The Cheshire Ring is formed from The Rochdale,, , , and  canals. The is a wide, 36-mile-long river opened in 1894. It consists of the and  made navigable to Manchester for seagoing ships leaving the Mersey Estuary. The canal passes through the north of the county via Runcorn and Warrington.