Earldom . Cheshire held a strategic position on the Welsh border with the
hundreds between the rivers
Mersey and
Ribble (Inter Ripam et Mersam) to the north. ; the only
county palatine on the Welsh Marches. 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 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.
County Palatine 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 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.
Hundreds in Wales. 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 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 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.
Feudal baronies There were 8 feudal baronies in Chester, 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.
North Mersey to Lancashire In 1182, 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.
Principality: Merging of Palatine and Earldom In 1397 the county had lands in the
march of Wales added to its territory, and 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 the distinction on Richard's fall in 1399.
Lieutenancy: North split-off District The
Redcliffe-Maud Report of 1969 suggested that Cheshire be abolished as an administrative county, with its parts subdivided between Merseyside, Stoke-on-Trent and [what was then called] South-East Lancashire & North East Cheshire (SELNEC). A series of compromises between the report and its implementation retained Cheshire as an administrative county. 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 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.
District and Unitary 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 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 following the decisive 'no' vote in
a similar referendum in North East England.
Unitary 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 the change. == Governance ==