II.

Physical Geography

Geologically, Cheshire comprises mainly sandstones and marl, and the soil and stone used for building has a characteristic red colour. In the east, the land forms part of the Pennine Hills, with some hills reaching a height of approximately 550 m (1,800 ft) above sea level. A small strip of land on the border with Derbyshire is part of the Peak District National Park. Apart from a ridge of higher land roughly in the centre of Cheshire, covered by the Delamere Forest, most of the rest of the county is low-lying, and flat or slightly undulating. Close to Congleton, near to where the plain gives way to the higher land of eastern Cheshire, is the Cloud, a hill which rises sharply to 300 m (1,000 ft).

Cheshire's main rivers are the Mersey, the Dee, the Weaver, and the Dane. The Mersey crosses the northern corner of the county for a distance of about 20 km (12 mi) before reaching the Irish Sea at Liverpool. The Dee, which rises in Snowdonia National Park, to the west of Lake Bala, north Wales, forms most of the border between Cheshire and Flintshire before reaching the Irish Sea. The Weaver, formerly an important transport artery, well supplied with locks, runs through the centre of Cheshire, and is joined by the Dane at Northwich before flowing into the Mersey estuary. The Shropshire Union Canal runs through the county from the south-east, passing through Nantwich, and on to the Dee. Linked to it, and running parallel to the north, is the Trent and Mersey Canal, which passes through Middlewich, before reaching the Mersey. The central and eastern part of Cheshire is dotted with a number of small lakes or meres, formed by glaciation during the last Ice Age.