I.

Introduction

Cheshire, county, north-western England, bounded on the north by the estuary of the River Mersey, and the unitary authorities of Merseyside and Greater Manchester metropolitan councils; on the east by Derbyshire; on the south by Staffordshire and Shropshire; and on the west by the estuary of the River Dee, by the Welsh county of Flintshire, and by the Welsh county borough of Wrexham. On April 1, 1998, Cheshire lost two of its districts, Halton and Warrington, which became unitary authorities and are therefore separately administered. For ceremonial purposes the two unitary authorities are deemed part of Cheshire. The county's present borders were established in 1974, when the districts of Halton and Warrington, previously part of Lancashire, were added to Cheshire. At the same time, the county lost most of the Wirral (the peninsula between the estuaries of the rivers Mersey and Dee), and thus its Irish Sea coastline, to Merseyside. Altrincham, Sale, Gatley, Cheadle, and Stockport, and their surrounds, went to Greater Manchester.

Highly industrialized in the north, the rest of Cheshire is mainly agricultural with much pleasant countryside and some notable historic sites. It has an area of 2,328 sq km (899 sq mi). Chester is the county town.