CHESHIRE, a maritime co. in the w. of England, bounded n. by the river Mersey, and partly also by the Irish sea, in lat. 52° 56' to 53° 54' n., long. 1' 47' to 3°01' west. Its greatest length from n.e. to s.w. is 58 m. ; greatest breadth, 32; area, 1052 sq.m., of which only /la is uncultivated; circuit, 200 m., of which 8 are coast. The surface forms an extensive nearly level plain between the Derbyshire and Welsh mountains, well wooded, and studded with small lakes or mores, and chiefly occupied by grazing and dairy tracts, which are among the most important in England. This plain, comprising four fifths of the surface, rests on new red sandstone, and is crossed, near the middle, by a tract of high ground running s.w. from a promontory overlooking the Mersey, near the mouth of the Weaver, to Beeston castle rock, 366 ft. high. On the e. border of the co. is a line of new red sandstone hills. In the n.e. is part of the Lancashire coal-field. In the e. are large tracts of peat, and much of the co. is wet and rushy. The n.w. part of C. forms a hammer-headed peninsula called Wirral, about 8 m. broad, between the estuaries of the Dee and Mersey. Coat-measures appear on the w. side of this peninsula, as• well as on the w. border of the main part of the county. The chief rivers are the Dec, Mersey. and Weaver, which are navigable. The Dee skirts the co. on the w. 55 m., and the Mersey on the n. for 40 miles. The Weaver rises in the e. part of the co., and runs 40 m. w.n.w. into the Mersey. The co. contains an almost unrivaled system of canals, including the celebrated Bridgewater canal, and is traversed by the main line of the London and Liverpool railway, and the Crewe, Chester, and Holyhead railway. The chief mineral products are rock-salt and coal. The rock-salt, discovered in 1670, and mined by gunpowder, is found near the Weaver and its' branches, especially near Norwich, at the deph of 28 to 48 yards, in two beds, the upper one being 15 to 25 yards, and the lower one above 40 yards thick, under a stratum of hard rock, 25 to 35 yards thick. The mines, one occupying 35 acres, when lighted up, resemble a fairy palace
sparkling with gems and crystal. Much salt is also made from brine-springs 20 to 40 yards deep. Coal is worked in the n.e. part of the county. There are also lead (with cobalt) and copper-mines, and in almost every part of the co. freestone, limestone, millstone, and marl are found. The climate is moist. The soil is mostly a clayey or sandy loam, with marl and peat, and very fertile. The soil and climate are well fitted for pasturing, dairy-farming, and cheese-making, which are the chief agricultural occu pations. Arout 160,000 cows are kept in C., and the quantity of cheese annually pro duced is estimated at from 15,000 to 30,000 tons—the best being made on the strongest lands. The hedgerows abound in oaks. C. is a manufacturing as well as an agricultural county. Pop. in 1871, 561,131. The chief town are Chester (the co. town), Mac clesfield, Stockport, Congleton, Knutsford, and Birkenhead. The co. of C. returns 6 members to parliament. C. has some Roman roads, tumuli, barrows, remains of religious houses, and many old castles and halls. The 12th Homan legion occupied Ches ter till the 3d century. Egbert, in 828, added C. to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia. William the conqueror erected C. into a co. palatine, under Hugh Lupus, with an independent parliament and 8 barons. Henry VIII. subordinated it to the English crown; but C. did not send representatives to the English parliament till 1549, and the separate jurisdiction ceased entirely only in 1831.