The county historically included all of the Wirral Peninsula and parts of southern Greater Manchester and northern Derbyshire, but excluded Widnes and Warrington.

The culture of Cheshire has affected 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.

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.

[15] 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.

[19][20][21] 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.

[25] Over the years, the ten hundreds consolidated and changed names to leave just seven—Broxton, Bucklow, Eddisbury, Macclesfield, Nantwich, Northwich and Wirral.

[27] 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.

[28] Stockport (previously a county borough), Altrincham, Hyde, Dukinfield and Stalybridge in the north-east became part of Greater Manchester.

[31] 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.

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 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.

A 55-kilometre (34 mi) footpath,[39] the Sandstone Trail, follows this ridge from Frodsham to Whitchurch passing Delamere Forest, Beeston Castle and earlier Iron Age forts.

[40] The western fringes of the Peak District - the southernmost extent of the Pennine range - form the eastern part of the county.

Within the current ceremonial county and 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.

Shutlingsloe lies just to the south of Macclesfield Forest and is sometimes humorously referred to as the "Matterhorn of Cheshire" thanks to its distinctive steep profile.

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 the table.

[57] Cheshire has a diverse economy with significant sectors including agriculture, automotive, bio-technology, chemical, financial services, food and drink, ICT, and tourism.

[77] Actors from Cheshire include Russ Abbot,[78] Warren Brown,[79] Julia Chan,[80] Ray Coulthard,[81] Daniel Craig,[82] Tim Curry,[83] Wendy Hiller,[84] Tom Hughes,[85] Tim McInnerny,[86] Ben Miller,[87] Pete Postlethwaite,[88] Adam Rickitt,[89] John Steiner,[90] and Ann Todd.

[91] The most famous author from the county is Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and named the Cheshire Cat character after it.

Athletes native to Cheshire include sailor Ben Ainslie, cricketer Ian Botham, rock climber Shauna Coxsey, boxer Tyson Fury, oarsman Matt Langridge, mountaineer George Mallory, marathon runner Paula Radcliffe, cyclist Sarah Storey, and hurdler Shirley Strong.

These include Dean Ashton, Seth Johnson, Jesse Lingard and Michael Owen, The "Cheshire Golden Triangle" is the collective name for a group of adjacent Cheshire villages where the number of footballers, actors, and entrepreneurs moving in over the years led to the average house prices becoming some of the most expensive in the UK.

The next highest-placed teams are Chester and Warrington Town, who both compete in the National League North, the sixth tier of English football.

Prehistoric burial grounds have been discovered at The Bridestones near Congleton (Neolithic) and Robin Hood's Tump near Alpraham (Bronze Age).

The Roman fortress and walls of Chester, perhaps the earliest building works in Cheshire remaining above ground, are constructed from purple-grey sandstone.

The distinctive local red sandstone has been used for many monumental and ecclesiastical buildings throughout the county: for example, the medieval Beeston Castle, Chester Cathedral and numerous parish churches.

Notable examples include the moated manor house Little Moreton Hall, dating from around 1450, and many commercial and residential buildings in Chester, Nantwich and surrounding villages.

[113] Thingwall, currently in the county of Merseyside but historically part of Cheshire until 1974, is known for having once been the base of a Viking parliament established by Norse settlers in the area.

However, it remains a disputed piece of folklore that the village of Thelwall (today administratively paired with its neighbour Grappenhall in a civil parish) was at one time considered a city.

The major interchanges are: In the east of Cheshire, Macclesfield station is served by Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry and Northern, on the Manchester–London line.

Wulfric's estates remained grouped together after his death when they were left to his brother Aelfhelm, and indeed there still seems to have been some kind of connexion in 1086, when south Lancashire was surveyed together with Cheshire by the Domesday commissioners.