Portal:Cheshire
|
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
Lyme Park is a large estate located south of Disley. The Grade I listed mansion house, now the largest in Cheshire, is surrounded by formal gardens and set in a 14th-century deer park within the Peak District National Park. The estate was granted to Sir Thomas Danyers in 1346 and passed to the Leghs of Lyme by marriage in 1388, remaining in this family until 1946. The present house dates from the late 16th century. It was modified in the 1720s by Venetian architect Giacomo Leoni, using elements of both Palladian and Baroque styles. Further modifications were made by Lewis Wyatt in the 19th century, especially to the interior. Formal gardens were laid out in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and include a sunken Dutch Garden. The grounds contain an orangery, stables, kennels, a tower known as "the Cage", and a belvedere known as "the Lantern". Lyme Hall stood in for Pemberley in a BBC television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and the park has also appeared in the science fiction series Red Dwarf. The house, gardens and park are now owned by the National Trust, and are open to the public. Selected image
The chimney-piece from Tabley Old Hall, now ruinous, is displayed at nearby Tabley House. It dates from 1619, and is in painted and gilded wood, with carvings including statues of Lucretia, Cleopatra and a female nude reclining on a skull. Credit: Peter I. Vardy (April 2010) In this month
3 May 1938: Cheshire County Council granted a banner of arms, now the county flag. 8 May 1817: Early paper on Cheshire dialect read at Society of Antiquaries by Roger Wilbraham. 12 May 1278: Fire destroyed much of Chester. 13 May 1983: Lindow Woman bog body discovered. 14 May 1853: Novelist and playwright Hall Caine (pictured) born in Runcorn. 18 May 1980: Musician Ian Curtis committed suicide at Macclesfield. 21 May 1868: First train crossed Runcorn Railway Bridge. 21 May 1894: Manchester Ship Canal officially opened by Queen Victoria. 23 May 1911: Architect John Douglas died in Chester. 24 May 1847: Five people killed in the Dee bridge disaster. 27 May 1899: Eastgate Clock unveiled, marking the 80th birthday of Queen Victoria. 29 May 1905: Widnes–Runcorn Transporter Bridge officially opened by Sir John Brunner. 31 May 1807: Primitive Methodism originated in a prayer meeting at Mow Cop. 31 May 1939: Humanitarian Terry Waite born in Styal. Selected list
The 55 listed buildings in Lymm include one at Grade I, one at Grade II* and the remainder at Grade II. Lymm's oldest listed building is the late-16th-century Lymm Hall, on the site of the medieval manorial seat. Industries developed from the 16th century, and workers' cottages from the fustian-cutting industry have survived. The Bridgewater Canal, completed in 1776, runs through the town, and many of the listed structures are associated with it, including three aqueducts, two bridges and a dock. The damming of Bradley Brook with Lymm Dam in 1821–24 to enhance the water supply created a lake to the south of the town; two associated bridges are listed. After the arrival of the railway in 1853, substantial mid-Victorian houses were built in Gothic and Italianate styles. Lymm stands on the Mid Cheshire Ridge and many of the listed buildings are sandstone. Surface outcrops occur, for example, under the Grade-I-listed Lymm Cross (pictured). There are also a few listed timber-framed buildings, which are relatively rare in the borough of Warrington. Unusual listed structures include an octagonal water tower with battlements, icehouse, pigeon house, mounting block, milepost, stone-lined well, war memorial, water-point case and the village stocks. 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
Ranulf le Meschin (died 1129) (coat of arms pictured) was a late 11th- and early 12th-century Norman magnate based in northern and central England, who is also known as Ranulf de Briquessart and Ranulf I. Originating in Bessin in Normandy, Ranulf made his career in England thanks to his kinship with Hugh d'Avranches, first earl of Chester, the patronage of kings William II and Henry I, and his marriage to Lucy, heiress of the Bolingbroke–Spalding estates in Lincolnshire. Ranulf fought in Normandy on behalf of Henry I, and served the English king as a semi-independent governor in the far north-west, in Cumberland and Westmorland, founding Wetheral Priory. After the death of his cousin Richard d'Avranches in the White Ship Disaster of November 1120, Ranulf became the third earl of the county of Chester. He held this position for the remainder of his life, and passed the title on to his son, Ranulf de Gernon. He was buried in Chester Abbey. Did you know...
Selected town or village
Middlewich is one of the four Cheshire wich towns. Founded by the Romans under the name Salinae, it was a major Roman site of salt production, and salt manufacture remains an important local industry. Middlewich has also been known historically for silk and agriculture. The town lies on the confluence of a number of natural and man-made features: the Rivers Dane, Croco and Wheelock; the Shropshire Union and Trent and Mersey Canals; and the A533, A54 and A530 roads. The parish church, St. Michael and All Angels, dates back to the 12th century. In common with other towns within mid-Cheshire, the good motorway and road links have seen a large influx of people since 1970, doubling the population of Middlewich to around 14,000. Events such as the annual folk and boat festival, and the Roman and Norman festivals have helped to boost tourism in the town. 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. QuotationThe tortuous wall—girdle, long since snapped, of the little swollen city, half held in place by careful civic hands—wanders in narrow file between parapets smoothed by peaceful generations, pausing here and there for a dismantled gate or a bridged gap, with rises and drops, steps up and steps down, queer twists, queer contacts, peeps into homely streets and under the brows of gables, views of cathedral tower and waterside fields, of huddled English town and ordered English country. Subcategories
TopicsRecommended articles.svg) Things you can do
WikiProject Related portalsAssociated WikimediaThe following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
Discover Wikipedia using portals | ||||||
