97-453: Mow Cop / ˈ m aʊ ˈ k ɒ p / is a village split between Cheshire and Staffordshire , and therefore divided between the North West and West Midlands regions of England. It is 24 miles (39 km) south of Manchester and 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Stoke-on-Trent, on a steep hill of the same name rising to 335 metres (1,099 ft) above sea level. The village is at the edge of
194-458: A lord mayor from 1928. When the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent initially applied for city status in 1925, citing its importance as the centre of the pottery industry, it was refused by the Home Office as it had fewer than 300,000 inhabitants. The decision was overturned, when a direct approach was made to King George V , who agreed that the borough ought to be a city. The public announcement of
291-559: A temperature inversion to occur. As such, the Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle areas are generally not susceptible to severe frosts. The nearest Met Office weather station is Keele University , about four miles west of the city centre. The absolute high temperature is 36.1 °C (97.0 °F), recorded in July 2022. More typically the average warmest day of the year should be 27.0 °C (80.6 °F). Just under fourteen days per year have
388-461: A crossing point on the Roman road that ran from present-day Derby to Chesterton or the early presence of a church , said to have been founded in 670 AD. Because Stoke was such a common name for a settlement, some kind of distinguishing affix was usually added later, in this case, the name of the river . The motto of Stoke-on-Trent is Vis Unita Fortior which can be translated as: United Strength
485-603: A fare in Hanley Road, Hanley to be dropped off in Packmoor at around 3:30 AM on 22 December. He then drove from Packmoor to Mow Cop. Johnson had been assaulted inside his taxi and his throat was cut, causing his death. It was reported by Staffordshire Police that cash and valuables were not taken from the taxi and the motive for the murder was unknown. The crime was featured in the March 1991 edition of BBC Crimewatch and reconstruction
582-549: A large retailer of mobile phones started by John Caudwell , until it ceased trading in September 2014. Stoke City Football Club has been a major symbol of the city since the early 20th century, having spent most of its history in the highest two divisions of the English league, constantly attracting large crowds and signing or launching the careers of many high-profile players – most notably Stanley Matthews and Gordon Banks . The club
679-406: A magnet for artists and can be seen in everything from local watercolour and oil paintings and postcards to ceramics made in the nearby Potteries. An engraving of it also featured on a Royal Mail stamp book in 1981. Since the late 20th century, Mow Cop has been known for its Killer Mile, a one-mile running race from the railway level crossing on the western side of the hill up to the castle. The race
776-441: A museum two years after its closure in 1976. The museum closed in 1991 and the site became a local nature reserve . It was declared a scheduled monument by English Heritage in 1993. The abandoned subterranean mines are inaccessible, though they still add complications to many building projects and occasionally cause minor tremors, detectable only by specialised equipment. The iron and steel industries occupied important roles in
873-495: A population of 1,095,500 at the 2021 census . After Warrington (211,227), the largest settlements are Chester and Crewe . The south and east of the county are primarily rural, while the north is more densely populated and includes the settlements of Runcorn , Widnes , and Ellesmere Port . For local government purposes Cheshire comprises four unitary authority areas: Cheshire East , Cheshire West and Chester , Halton , and Warrington . The county historically included all of
970-597: A temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above. The absolute minimum temperature stands at −13.3 °C (8.1 °F), recorded in January 1963. In an average year, 48.3 air frosts are registered. Rainfall averages around 806 mm a year. Stoke is at the centre of the Stoke-on-Trent Green Belt, which is an environment and planning policy that regulates the rural space in Staffordshire surrounding
1067-456: Is Trentham Monkey Forest , which houses 140 Barbary macaques in a 60-acre (240,000 m ) enclosure that visitors can walk through. The Alton Towers Resort is 10 miles (16 km) east of Stoke-on-Trent and is one of the United Kingdom's best-known attractions. The Waterworld indoor swimming complex on Festival Park near Hanley is also a significant children's attraction. Each of
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#17328515132581164-575: Is Stronger, or Strength United is the More Powerful, or A United Force is Stronger. An early proposal for a federation took place in 1888 when an amendment was raised to the Local Government Bill which would have made the six towns into districts within a county of "Staffordshire Potteries". On 1 April 1910 the "Six Towns" were brought together. The county borough of Hanley, the municipal boroughs of Burslem, Longton, and Stoke, together with
1261-563: Is a history of interaction between Cheshire and North Wales. The Domesday Book records Cheshire as having two complete Hundreds (Atiscross and Exestan) that later became the principal part of Flintshire . Additionally, another large portion of the Duddestan Hundred later became known as English Maelor (Maelor Saesneg) when it was transferred to North Wales. For this and other reasons, the Welsh language name for Cheshire, Swydd Gaerlleon ,
1358-421: Is almost entirely Triassic sandstone , outcrops of which have long been quarried, notably at Runcorn , providing the distinctive red stone for Liverpool Cathedral and Chester Cathedral . The eastern half of the county is Upper Triassic Mercia Mudstone laid down with large salt deposits which were mined for hundreds of years around Winsford . Separating this area from Lower Triassic Sherwood Sandstone to
1455-532: Is also one of four counties or unitary districts that compose the Shropshire and Staffordshire NUTS 2 region. Stoke-on-Trent is often known as "the city of five towns", the name given to it by local novelist Arnold Bennett , and is the only polycentric city in the UK. In his novels, Bennett used mostly recognisable aliases for five of the six towns, although he called Stoke "Knype". Bennett said that he believed "Five Towns"
1552-692: 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 British railway industry , and remains a major railway junction. The Crewe railway works , built in 1840, employed 20,000 people at its peak, although the workforce is now less than 1,000. Crewe is also the home of Bentley cars. Also within Cheshire are manufacturing plants for Jaguar and Vauxhall Motors in Ellesmere Port. The county also has an aircraft industry, with
1649-611: Is common. Cheshire West has a fairly large proportion of residents who work in Liverpool and Manchester, while the town of Northwich and area of Cheshire East falls more within Manchester's sphere of influence. All four local education authorities in Cheshire operate only comprehensive state school systems. When Altrincham , Sale and Bebington were moved from Cheshire to Trafford and Merseyside in 1974, they took some former Cheshire selective schools. There are two universities based in
1746-472: Is famous for the production of Cheshire cheese , salt and silk. The county has seen a number of inventions and firsts in its history. A mainly rural county, Cheshire has a high concentration of villages. Agriculture is generally based on the dairy trade, and cattle are the predominant livestock. Land use given to agriculture has fluctuated somewhat, and in 2005 totalled 1558 km over 4,609 holdings. Based on holdings by EC farm type in 2005, 8.51 km
1843-624: Is part of Liverpool City Region combined authority , which also includes the five metropolitan boroughs of Merseyside . A referendum for a further local government reform connected with an elected regional assembly was planned for 2004, but was abandoned. As part of the local government restructuring in April 2009, Cheshire County Council and the Cheshire districts were abolished and replaced by two new unitary authorities, Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester . The existing unitary authorities of Halton and Warrington were not affected by
1940-663: Is sometimes used. After the Norman conquest of 1066 by William I , dissent and resistance continued for many years after the invasion. In 1069 local resistance in Cheshire was finally put down using draconian measures as part of the Harrying of the North . The ferocity of the campaign against the English populace was enough to end all future resistance. Examples were made of major landowners such as Earl Edwin of Mercia , their properties confiscated and redistributed amongst Norman barons. The earldom
2037-462: Is the largest body of water in Stoke-on-Trent and has a nature reserve. Queens Park or Longton Park in Dresden is one of the city's heritage parks and is famous for its horticulture and lakes. It houses several buildings including a clock tower and three bowling pavilions. Stoke-on-Trent was a world centre for fine ceramics—a skilled design trade has existed in the area since at least the 12th century. In
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#17328515132582134-426: Is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surrounded by the towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme , Alsager , Kidsgrove and Biddulph , which form a conurbation around the city. The city is polycentric , formed from the federation of six towns in 1910. It took its name from the town of Stoke-upon-Trent where the main centre of government and the principal railway station in the district were located. Hanley
2231-538: Is the primary commercial centre. The other four towns which form the city are Burslem , Tunstall , Longton and Fenton . The home of the pottery industry in England, it is known as The Potteries . It is a centre for service industries and distribution centres . It formerly had a primarily heavy industry sector. The name Stoke is taken from the town of Stoke-upon-Trent , the original ancient parish , with other settlements being chapelries . Stoke derives from
2328-560: The 2011 census , the population of the city was 249,008. This was a modest increase from the 240,636 recorded in the 2001 census . 50.2% of the population is female. 91.68% of the population of Stoke-on-Trent were born in the UK. 86.43% of the population identified themselves as White British , 4.19% identified as British Pakistani , and 1.88% identified as Other White . 1.35% identified as Other Asian and 1.36% as Black . Regarding religion, 60.89% described themselves as Christian , 6.02% as Muslim and 25.19% had no religion. 14.28% of
2425-650: The A50 road – Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton. Although the city is named after the original town of Stoke, and the City Council offices are located there, the city centre is usually regarded as being in Hanley, which had earlier developed into a major commercial centre. As well as Newcastle-under-Lyme , other nearby towns include Crewe , Nantwich , Congleton , Biddulph , Kidsgrove , Stafford , Uttoxeter , Eccleshall , Cheadle , Stone and Leek . As well as
2522-660: The Anglo-Saxon Mūga-hyll , meaning "heap-hill", with copp = "head" added later, or the Common Celtic ancestor of Welsh moel (= hill), with Anglo-Saxon copp added later. At the village's summit, men once quarried stone to make into querns , used since the Iron Age for milling grain; this trade ended during the Victorian period . The village also has a long history of coal mining. A 65-foot (20 m) rock feature called
2619-736: The BAE Systems facility at Woodford Aerodrome , part of BAE System's Military Air Solutions division. The facility designed and constructed Avro Lancaster and Avro Vulcan bombers and the Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod . On the Cheshire border with Flintshire is the Broughton aircraft factory, more recently associated with Airbus . Tourism in Cheshire from within the UK and overseas continues to perform strongly. Over 8 million nights of accommodation (both UK and overseas) and over 2.8 million visits to Cheshire were recorded during 2003. At
2716-656: The Church of England Diocese of Chester follows most closely the pre-1974 county boundary of Cheshire, so it includes all of Wirral , Stockport , and the Cheshire panhandle that included Tintwistle Rural District council area. In terms of Roman Catholic church administration, most of Cheshire falls into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury . Cheshire has a diverse economy with significant sectors including agriculture, automotive, bio-technology, chemical, financial services, food and drink, ICT, and tourism. The county
2813-501: The Old English stoc , a word that at first meant little more than place , but which subsequently gained more specific – but divergent – connotations. These variant meanings included dairy farm , secondary or dependent place or farm , summer pasture , crossing place , meeting place and place of worship . It is unknown which of these was intended here, and all are plausible. The most frequently suggested interpretations derive from
2910-984: The Peak District . The River Mersey runs through the north of Cheshire before broadening into its wide estuary; the River Dee forms part of the county's border with Wales, then fully enters England and flows through the city of Chester before re-entering Wales upstream of its estuary. Red Triassic sandstone forms the bedrock of much of the county, and was used in the construction of many of its buildings. The culture of Cheshire has impacted global pop culture by producing actors such as Daniel Craig , Tim Curry , and Pete Postlethwaite ; athletes such as Shauna Coxsey , Tyson Fury , and Paula Radcliffe ; authors such as Lewis Carroll ; comedians such as John Bishop and Ben Miller ; and musicians such as Gary Barlow , Ian Curtis , and Harry Styles . Most places are involved in agriculture and chemistry, leading to Cheshire's reputation for
3007-701: The Wirral Peninsula and parts of southern Greater Manchester and northern Derbyshire, but excluded Widnes and Warrington. The landscape of the county is dominated by the Cheshire Plain , an area of relatively flat land divided by the Mid-Cheshire Ridge . To the west, Cheshire contains the south of the Wirral Peninsula, and to the east the landscape rises to the Pennines , where the county contains part of
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3104-644: The repair shops of the North Staffordshire Railway and was the home of independent railway locomotive manufacturers Kerr, Stuart and Company from 1881 to 1930. Shelton Steel Works and the mining operations were heavily involved in the World War II industrial effort. Central to the RAF 's success was the Supermarine Spitfire designed by Reginald Mitchell who, whilst born at 115 Congleton Road in
3201-488: The urban districts of Tunstall and Fenton now formed a single county borough of Stoke-on-Trent. In 1919, the borough proposed to expand further and annex the neighbouring borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Wolstanton United Urban District , both to the west of Stoke. This never took place, due to strong objections from Newcastle Corporation. A further attempt was made in 1930, with the promotion of
3298-679: The " Matterhorn of Cheshire" thanks to its distinctive steep profile. Cheshire contains portions of two green belt areas surrounding the large conurbations of Merseyside and Greater Manchester (North Cheshire Green Belt, part of the North West Green Belt) and Stoke-on-Trent (South Cheshire Green Belt, part of the Stoke-on-Trent Green Belt), these were first drawn up from the 1950s. Contained primarily within Cheshire East and Chester West & Chester, with small portions along
3395-550: The 1980s Florence Colliery in Longton repeatedly set regional and national production records; in 1992 the combined Trentham Superpit (Hem Heath and Florence) was the first mine in Europe to produce 2.5 million saleable tonnes of coal. Today the mines are all closed, though the scars of mining remain on the landscape. Slag heaps are still visible on the skyline, now covered with flora and fauna. The Chatterley Whitfield site reopened as
3492-501: The 2011 Census. The population for 2021 is forecast to be 708,000. In 2001, the population density of Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester was 32 people per km , lower than the North West average of 42 people/km and the England and Wales average of 38 people/km . Ellesmere Port and Neston had a greater urban density than the rest of the county with 92 people/km . In 2001, ethnic white groups accounted for 98% (662,794) of
3589-529: The Bottlemen member Van McCann, Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts , Stephen Hough , John Mayall , The Charlatans member Tim Burgess , and Nigel Stonier . Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke ) is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire , England, with an area of 36 square miles (93 km ). In 2022, the city had an estimated population of 259,965. It
3686-521: The City boundaries as recently as the 1990s. However, 1994 saw the last pit to close as the Trentham Superpit was shut. The Stoke mining industry set several national and international records. Wolstanton Colliery, when modernised, had the deepest mining shafts in Europe at 3,197 ft. In 1933, Chatterley Whitfield Colliery became the first Colliery in the country to mine one million tons of coal. In
3783-462: The Old Man O'Mow in one of the quarried areas is believed to be the site of an ancient cairn. A railway station , opened by the North Staffordshire Railway , served the village from 9 October 1848 to its closure in 1964. The most dominant feature of the village is Mow Cop Castle , a folly of a ruined castle at the summit of the hill, built in 1754. Both Mow Cop Castle and the Old Man O'Mow are under
3880-703: The Six Towns, there are numerous suburbs. These include Abbey Hulton , Stockton Brook , Adderley Green , Ball Green, Baddeley Green , Bentilee , Birches Head , Blurton , Bucknall , Bradeley , Chell , Cliffe Vale , Cobridge , Dresden , Etruria , Fegg Hayes, Florence, Goldenhill , Hartshill , Heron Cross , Meir , Meir Park, Meir Hay, Middleport , Milton ,Newstead,Normacot, Norton le Moors , Oakhill, Packmoor, Penkhull , Sandyford, Shelton , Smallthorne , Sneyd Green , Trentham , Trent Vale and Weston Coyney . Blythe Bridge , Werrington and Endon , although outside
3977-549: The Stoke-on-Trent Extension Bill. Ultimately, Wolstanton was instead added to Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1932. Although attempts to merge Newcastle, Wolstanton and Kidsgrove (north of Tunstall) were never successful, the borough expanded in 1922, taking in Smallthorne Urban District and parts of other parishes from Stoke upon Trent Rural District . The borough was granted city status in 1925, with
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4074-584: The Trentham and Goldenhill golf courses, Hem Heath Wood Nature Reserve, Meir Heath, Barlaston Common, Caverswall Cricket Club, Park Hall Nature Reserve, Chatterley Whitfield Country Park and Enterprise Centre, the villages of Baddeley Edge and Ravenscliffe, Bucknall Reservoir, Caldon Canal, the River Blythe, and the Head of Trent, Wedgwood Museum and estate , Strongford Treatment Works and Trent Vale Pumping Station. In
4171-831: The area come from the 13th century. The Potteries Coalfield (part of the North Staffordshire Coalfield) covers 100 square miles (300 km ). Striking coal miners in the Hanley and Longton area ignited the nationwide 1842 General Strike and its associated Pottery Riots . When coal mining was nationalised in 1947, about 20,000 men worked in the industry in Stoke-on-Trent. Notable Collieries included Hanley Deep Pit, Trentham Superpit (formerly Hem Heath, Stafford and Florence Collieries), Fenton Glebe, Silverdale , Victoria, Mossfield, Parkhall, Norton, Chatterley Whitfield and Wolstanton . The industry developed greatly, and new investments in mining projects were planned within
4268-415: The area has been almost exclusively known for its industrial-scale pottery manufacturing. Companies such as Royal Doulton , Dudson , Spode (founded by Josiah Spode ), Wedgwood (founded by Josiah Wedgwood ), Minton (founded by Thomas Minton ) and Baker & Co. (founded by William Baker) were established and based there. The local abundance of coal and clay suitable for earthenware production led to
4365-517: The barons of Kinderton, Halton, Malbank, Mold, Shipbrook, Dunham-Massey, and the honour of Chester itself. Feudal baronies or baronies by tenure were granted by the Earl as forms of feudal land tenure within the palatinate in a similar way to which the king granted English feudal baronies within England proper. An example is the barony of Halton. One of Hugh d'Avranche's barons has been identified as Robert Nicholls, Baron of Halton and Montebourg. In 1182,
4462-788: The borders of the Halton and Warrington districts, towns and cities such as Chester, Macclesfield, Alsager, Congleton, Northwich, Ellesmere Port, Knutsford, Warrington, Poynton, Disley, Neston, Wilmslow, Runcorn, and Widnes are either surrounded wholly, partially enveloped by, or on the fringes of the belts. The North Cheshire Green Belt is contiguous with the Peak District Park boundary inside Cheshire. The ceremonial county borders Merseyside , Greater Manchester , Derbyshire , Staffordshire and Shropshire in England along with Flintshire and Wrexham in Wales, arranged by compass directions as shown in
4559-675: The change. Cheshire has no county-wide elected local council, but it does have a Lord Lieutenant under the Lieutenancies Act 1997 and a High Sheriff under the Sheriffs Act 1887 . Local government functions apart from the Police and Fire/Rescue services are carried out by four smaller unitary authorities: Cheshire East , Cheshire West and Chester , Halton , and Warrington . All four unitary authority areas have borough status . Policing and fire and rescue services are still provided across
4656-414: The city and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and extending into Cheshire. It is in place to prevent urban sprawl and minimise further convergence with outlying settlements such as Kidsgrove and Biddulph . First defined in 1967, the vast majority of area covered is outside the city. There are some landscape features and places of interest that are covered by the designation, mainly along its fringes. These include
4753-417: The city's boundaries, are part of the built-up area. Stoke-on-Trent, as with all of the United Kingdom, experiences a temperate maritime climate , lacking in weather extremes. The local area is a little more elevated than much of Staffordshire and Cheshire, resulting in cooler temperatures year-round compared to the nearby Cheshire Plain. On calm, clear nights this is often reversed as cold air drainage causes
4850-508: The city. Fine china manufacturer Dudson have premises in Hanley and Burslem. Churchill China have their main factory in Tunstall. Hotelware manufacturer Steelite is based in Middleport at the former Dunn Bennett site. About 9,000 firms are based in the city. Amongst the more notable are Bet365 , founded by local businessman and Stoke City chairman Peter Coates , and formerly Phones4U ,
4947-410: The county as a whole. The Cheshire Fire Authority consist of members of the four councils, while governance of Cheshire Constabulary is performed by the elected Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner . Winsford is a major administrative hub for Cheshire with the Police and Fire & Rescue Headquarters based in the town as well as a majority of Cheshire West and Chester Council. It was also home to
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#17328515132585044-536: The county, the University of Chester and the Chester campus of The University of Law . The Crewe campus of Manchester Metropolitan University was scheduled to close in 2019. Cheshire has produced musicians such as Joy Division members Ian Curtis and Stephen Morris , One Direction member Harry Styles , the members of The 1975 , Take That member Gary Barlow , The Cult member Ian Astbury , Catfish and
5141-404: The development of artistic talent throughout the local community and raised the profile of Staffordshire Potteries . This was spearheaded by one man, Josiah Wedgwood , who cut the first sod for the canal in 1766 and erected his Etruria Works that year. Wedgwood built upon the successes of earlier local potters such as his mentor Thomas Whieldon and along with scientists and engineers, raised
5238-463: The development of the city, both before and after the federation. Especially notable were those mills located in the valley at Goldendale and Shelton below the hill towns of Tunstall , Burslem and Hanley. Shelton Steelworks ' production of steel ended in 1978—instead of producing crude steel, they concentrated on rolling steel billet which was transported from Scunthorpe by rail. The rolling plant finally closed in 2002. From 1864 to 1927 Stoke housed
5335-479: The distinction on Richard's fall in 1399. Through the Local Government Act 1972 , which came into effect on 1 April 1974, some areas in the north became part of the metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside . Stockport (previously a county borough), Altrincham , Hyde , Dukinfield and Stalybridge in the north-east became part of Greater Manchester. Much of the Wirral Peninsula in
5432-554: The earldom forfeit and gave the title to Hugh d'Avranches (nicknamed Hugh Lupus, or "wolf"). Because of Cheshire's strategic location on the Welsh Marches , the Earl had complete autonomous powers to rule on behalf of the king in the county palatine. Cheshire in the Domesday Book (1086) is recorded as a much larger county than it is today. It included two hundreds , Atiscross and Exestan, that later became part of North Wales . At
5529-607: The early (initially limited) development of the local pottery industry. The construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal (completed in 1777) enabled the import of china clay from Cornwall together with other materials and facilitated the production of creamware and bone china . Other production centres in Britain, Europe and worldwide had a considerable lead in the production of high-quality wares. Methodical and highly detailed research and experimentation, carried out over many years, nurtured
5626-451: The elevation to city status was made by the king during a visit to Stoke in June 1925. The county borough was abolished in 1974. Stoke became a non-metropolitan district of Staffordshire. Its status as a unitary authority was restored in April 1997. It remains part of the ceremonial county of Staffordshire. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region (code UKG23). Since the 17th century,
5723-432: 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 sectors. Cheshire is considered to be an affluent county. However, towns such as Crewe and Winsford have significant deprivation. The county's proximity to the cities of Manchester and Liverpool means counter urbanisation
5820-653: The firm's Indonesian factory. Portmeirion is based in Stoke town, and now owns the Spode and Royal Worcester ceramics brands. Ceramics firm Emma Bridgewater is based in Hanley. Burleigh Pottery is in Middleport. Wade Ceramics is in Etruria. Moorcroft and Royal Stafford are based in Burslem. Aynsley China is in Longton, and is one of the last remaining manufacturers of bone china in
5917-411: The former Vale Royal Borough Council and Cheshire County Council. Devolution talks for the county are scheduled for Autumn 2024. From 1 April 1974 the area under the control of the county council was divided into eight local government districts; Chester , Congleton , Crewe and Nantwich , Ellesmere Port and Neston , Halton , Macclesfield , Vale Royal and Warrington . Halton (which includes
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#17328515132586014-704: The founding of the Primitive Methodist Church in 1810. These camp meetings became a regular feature at Mow Cop, being held to celebrate the 100th, 150th, and 200th anniversaries of the first camp. The village and castle are featured prominently in the 1973 novel Red Shift , by Alan Garner . This novel was filmed by the BBC in the 1970s, and later released on a restored HD DVD in 2014. Mow Cop and its castle also feature in Alan Garner's 1966 photo-story book for children, The Old Man of Mow . The castle has also been
6111-407: The historic county of Cheshire was Black Hill (582 m (1,909 ft)) near Crowden in the Cheshire Panhandle, a long eastern projection of the county which formerly stretched along the northern side of Longdendale and on the border with the West Riding of Yorkshire . Black Hill is now the highest point in the ceremonial county of West Yorkshire . Within the current ceremonial county and
6208-400: The huge Chatterley Whitfield Colliery as a mining museum since it has been given scheduled monument status. The Elizabethan Ford Green Hall is a 17th-century farmhouse which is now a historic house museum in Smallthorne . Although Trentham Gardens is in the Borough of Stafford , it is just south of the city and is considered by many locals to be part of Stoke-on-Trent. Next door
6305-468: The judicial review it lost in October 2007. The appeal was dismissed on 4 March 2008. A plain of glacial till and other glacio-fluvial sediments extends across much of Cheshire, separating the hills of North Wales and the Pennines . Known as the Cheshire Plain , it was formed following the retreat of a Quaternary ice sheet which left the area dotted with kettle holes , those which hold water being referred to as meres . The bedrock of this region
6402-425: The land north of the Mersey became administered as part of the new county of Lancashire , resolving any uncertainty about the county in which the land "Inter Ripam et Mersam" was. Over the years, the ten hundreds consolidated and changed names to leave just seven—Broxton, Bucklow, Eddisbury, Macclesfield, Nantwich, Northwich and Wirral. In 1397 the county had lands in the march of Wales added to its territory, and
6499-469: The late 1980s and 1990s Stoke-on-Trent was hit hard by the general decline in the British manufacturing sector. Numerous factories, steelworks , collieries , and potteries were closed, including the renowned Shelton Bar steelworks. This resulted in a sharp rise in unemployment in the 'high-skilled but low-paid' workforce. The pottery firm Wedgwood and its subsidiary Royal Doulton are based nearby Barlaston , although much production now takes place in
6596-603: The major pottery companies based in Stoke-on-Trent have factory shops and visitor centres. The £10 million Wedgwood Museum visitor centre opened in the firm's factory in Barlaston in October 2008. The Dudson Centre in Hanley is a museum of the family ceramics business, which is partly housed in a Grade II listed bottle kiln. It is a volunteer centre. Burleigh in Middleport is the world's oldest working Victorian pottery. There are smaller factory shops, such as Royal Stafford in Burslem, Moorcroft in Cobridge and Emma Bridgewater in Hanley. There are ambitious plans to open
6693-402: The management of the National Trust and on the route of the Cheshire Gritstone Trail , a long-distance walking route. Mow Cop is noteworthy as the birthplace of the Primitive Methodist movement. Starting in 1800, Hugh Bourne from Stoke-on-Trent and William Clowes from Burslem began holding open-air prayer meetings . On 31 May 1807, a large 14-hour camp meeting was held, leading to
6790-464: The nearby village of Butt Lane , had his apprenticeship at Kerr, Stuart and Company's railway works. The Michelin tyre company has a presence in Stoke-on-Trent, and in the 1920s built their first UK plant in the city. In the 1980s nearly 9,000 workers were employed at the plant. In 2006 about 1,200 worked there. RAF Meir was located on the outskirts of the city. Stoke-on-Trent is between Manchester , Wolverhampton and Birmingham and adjoins
6887-433: The north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shropshire to the south; to the west it is bordered by the Welsh counties of Flintshire and Wrexham , and has a short coastline on the Dee Estuary . Warrington is the largest settlement, and the city of Chester is the county town . The county has an area of 905 square miles (2,344 km ) and had
6984-820: The north-west, including the county boroughs of Birkenhead and Wallasey, joined Merseyside as the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral . At the same time the Tintwistle Rural District was transferred to Derbyshire . The area of south Lancashire not included within either the Merseyside or Greater Manchester counties, including Widnes and the county borough of Warrington , was added to the new non-metropolitan county of Cheshire. Halton and Warrington became unitary authorities independent of Cheshire County Council on 1 April 1998, but remain part of Cheshire for ceremonial purposes and also for fire and policing. Halton
7081-621: The population was retired and 5.61% were students. The city's ceramics collection is housed in the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Hanley. Etruria Industrial Museum on the Caldon Canal , and Gladstone Pottery Museum in a former potbank in Longton are dedicated to the city's industrial heritage. There is Stoke Minster which is located in the Stoke-upon-Trent area and is the only official church with Minster status . Most of
7178-413: The population, and 10,994 (2%) in ethnic groups other than white. Of the 2% in non-white ethnic groups: 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%) identified themselves as belonging to other major world religions; and 1,033 belonged to other religions. The boundary of
7275-410: The pottery business to a new level. Josiah Spode introduced bone china at Trent in 1796, and Thomas Minton opened his manufactory. With the industry came a large number of notable 20th-century ceramic artists including Clarice Cliff , Susie Cooper , Charlotte Rhead , Frederick Hurten Rhead and Jabez Vodrey . North Staffordshire was a centre for coal mining. The first reports of coal mining in
7372-520: The production of chemicals, Cheshire cheese , salt, and silk. Cheshire's name was originally derived from an early name for Chester, and was first recorded as Legeceasterscir in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , meaning "the shire of the city of legions". Although the name first appears in 980, it is thought that the county was created by Edward the Elder around 920. In the Domesday Book , Chester
7469-413: The proposal to split two-tier Cheshire into two would proceed. Cheshire County Council leader Paul Findlow, who attempted High Court legal action against the proposal, claimed that splitting Cheshire would only disrupt excellent services while increasing living costs for all. On 31 January 2008 The Standard , Cheshire and district's newspaper, announced that the legal action had been dropped. Members against
7566-523: The proposal were advised that they may be unable to persuade the court that the decision of Hazel Blears was "manifestly absurd". The Cheshire West and Chester unitary authority covers the area formerly occupied by the City of Chester and the boroughs of Ellesmere Port and Neston and Vale Royal; Cheshire East now covers the area formerly occupied by the boroughs of Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich, and Macclesfield. The changes were implemented on 1 April 2009. Congleton Borough Council pursued an appeal against
7663-564: The six towns in Stoke-on-Trent has at least one park. At nine hectares, Burslem Park is one of the largest registered Victorian parks in the UK. Park Hall Country Park in Weston Coyney is a national nature reserve , and its sandstone canyons are a Site of Special Scientific Interest . Hartshill Park in Stoke is a nature reserve. Bucknall Park is home to the City Farm. Westport Lake in Longport
7760-457: The southern Pennines , with the Cheshire Plain directly to the west. For population details taken at the 2011 census , see Kidsgrove . The Cheshire section is the highest settlement within the county of Cheshire. The 335-metre (1,099 ft) hill on which the village lies is a moorland ridge composed of sandstone and Millstone Grit rising eastwards above the Cheshire Plain. It is at
7857-472: The start of 2003, there were 22,020 VAT-registered enterprises in Cheshire, an increase of 7% since 1998, many in the business services (31.9%) and wholesale/retail (21.7%) sectors. Between 2002 and 2003 the number of businesses grew in four sectors: public administration and other services (6.0%), hotels and 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
7954-654: The table. below. Cheshire also forms part of the North West England region. In July 2022, beavers bred in Cheshire for the first time in 400 years, following a reintroduction scheme. Based on the Census of 2001, the overall population of Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester 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. This increased to 699,735 at
8051-517: The time of the Domesday Book, it also included as part of Duddestan Hundred the area of land later known as English Maelor (which used to be a detached part of Flintshire ) in Wales. The area between the Mersey and Ribble (referred to in the Domesday Book as "Inter Ripam et Mersam") formed part of the returns for Cheshire. Although this has been interpreted to mean that at that time south Lancashire
8148-530: The town of Newcastle-under-Lyme to the west. It lies on the upper valley of the River Trent at the south-west foothills of the Pennines , near the uplands of the Peak District to the north-east and the lowlands of the Midlands and Cheshire Plain to the south and west. The city ranges from 96 to 250 metres (315 to 820 ft) above sea level. For Eurostat purposes, it is a NUTS 3 region (code UKG23); it
8245-602: The towns of Runcorn and Widnes ) and Warrington became unitary authorities in 1998. The remaining districts and the county were abolished as part of local government restructuring on 1 April 2009. The Halton and Warrington boroughs were not affected by the 2009 restructuring. On 25 July 2007, the Secretary of State Hazel Blears announced she was 'minded' to split Cheshire into two new unitary authorities, Cheshire West and Chester , and Cheshire East . She confirmed she had not changed her mind on 19 December 2007 and therefore
8342-479: The unitary authority of Cheshire East the highest point is Shining Tor on the Derbyshire/Cheshire border between Macclesfield and Buxton , at 559 metres (1,834 ft) above sea level. After Shining Tor, the next highest point in Cheshire is Shutlingsloe , at 506 metres (1,660 ft) above sea level. Shutlingsloe lies just to the south of Macclesfield Forest and is sometimes humorously referred to as
8439-594: The west is a prominent sandstone ridge known as the Mid Cheshire Ridge . A 55-kilometre (34 mi) footpath, the Sandstone Trail , follows this ridge from Frodsham to Whitchurch passing Delamere Forest , Beeston Castle and earlier Iron Age forts. The western fringes of the Peak District - the southernmost extent of the Pennine range - form the eastern part of the county. The highest point (county top) in
8536-616: The western edge of the Staffordshire Moorlands , forming the upland fringe of the southern Pennines, most of which are in the Peak District National Park to the east. On a clear day, the hill offers views extending to the West Pennine Moors , Welsh mountains (including Snowdonia ), Shropshire Hills and Cannock Chase . The name is first recorded as Mowel around 1270 AD, and is believed to derive from either
8633-582: Was allocated to dairy farming, with another 11.78 km allocated to cattle and sheep. The chemical industry in Cheshire was founded in Roman times, with the mining of salt in Winsford, Middlewich and Northwich. Salt is still mined in the area by British Salt . The salt mining has led to a continued chemical industry around Northwich, with Brunner Mond based in the town. Other chemical companies, including Ineos (formerly ICI ), have plants at Runcorn . The Essar Refinery (formerly Shell Stanlow Refinery )
8730-697: Was based at the Victoria Ground in Stoke-upon-Trent from 1878 until 1997 when it moved to the Britannia Stadium (now the Bet365 Stadium ) at Trentham Lakes. This was one of the early stages of regeneration in the Trentham area of the city, which included the regeneration of Trentham Gardens several years later when retail and food outlets were added to the visitor attraction. Trentham Monkey Forest opened nearby in 2005. The Michelin tyre company has
8827-426: Was filmed. One male suspect was arrested in 2014 and released on bail for five months, but no further action followed. The murder remains unsolved as of November 2020. The following references are listed in the two books by Philip R. Leese: Cheshire Cheshire ( / ˈ tʃ ɛ ʃ ər , - ɪər / CHESH -ər, -eer ) is a ceremonial county in North West England . It is bordered by Merseyside to
8924-495: Was first organized in the early 1980s by John Britton. The climb is also well known among local cyclists and features in the 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs in Britain . On 22 December 1990, the body of Stoke-on-Trent taxi driver Steven Johnson, a 25-year-old married father of two children, was discovered by a dog-walker on a farm track near Castle Road in Mow Cop. His body was found close to his taxi. Johnson had last been seen picking up
9021-404: Was more euphonious than "Six Towns", so he omitted Fenton, now sometimes referred to as "the forgotten town". As it is a city made up of multiple towns, the city forms a conurbation . In this case, the conurbation is bigger than Stoke itself, because the urban area of Stoke is contiguous with that of administratively separate Newcastle. The six towns run in a rough line from north to south along
9118-498: Was part of Cheshire, more exhaustive research indicates that the boundary between Cheshire and what was to become Lancashire remained the River Mersey . With minor variations in spelling across sources, the complete list of hundreds of Cheshire at this time are: Atiscross, Bochelau, Chester, Dudestan, Exestan, Hamestan, Middlewich, Riseton, Roelau, Tunendune, Warmundestrou and Wilaveston. There were 8 feudal baronies in Chester,
9215-447: Was promoted to the rank of principality. This was because of the support the men of the county had given to King Richard II, in particular by his standing armed force of about 500 men called the "Cheshire Guard". As a result, the King's title was changed to "King of England and France, Lord of Ireland, and Prince of Chester". No other English county has been honoured in this way, although it lost
9312-413: Was recorded as having the name Cestrescir (Chestershire), derived from the name for Chester at the time. Through the next few centuries a series of changes that occurred in the English language, which have included simplifications and elision , has resulted in the name Cheshire. Because of the historically close links with the land bordering Cheshire to the west, which became modern Wales , there
9409-463: Was sufficiently independent from the kingdom of England that the 13th-century Magna Carta did not apply to the shire of Chester , so the earl wrote up his own Chester Charter at the petition of his barons. William I made Cheshire a county palatine and gave Gerbod the Fleming the new title of Earl of Chester . When Gerbod returned to Normandy in about 1070, the king used his absence to declare
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