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| The County of Cheshire | |
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Cheshire History
- Roman Cheshire
- Mercian Saxon Cheshire
- Scandinavian Cheshire
- Norman Cheshire
- Cheshire during the Civil Wars
- 19th Century Victorian Cheshire
- Contemporary Cheshire
- Cheshire Information
- Places to Visit in Cheshire.
- Cheshire Townships
- Cheshire & Lancashire Regional Dishes & Specialities
- Cheshire Hotels
Norman Cheshire
Resistance to the Norman Conquest of 1066 by William I and confiscation of lands by the conquerors led to ongoing dissent and resistance for many years after the invasion. Cheshire, as a remote northern and independent kingdom offered stiff resistance. William therefore forcibly imposed his will with a degree of severity and brutality that made earlier Norse incursions pale into insignificance by comparison. His treatment of Cheshire was particularly severe, whole swathes of land being destroyed, villages razed, crops burnt, livestock slaughtered and people rendered landless, homeless and dispossessed. In particular, in 1069 a last ditch attempt at local resistance was bitterly put down and draconian measures taken to impress native Saxons with the futility of future resistance. Earl Edwin of Mercia along with other major landowners were made examples of, their properties confiscated in reprisal and lands redistributed amongst Norman barons.
So complete was the devastation of Cheshire that in William's own Domesday Survey of 1086 most of the lands in Cheshire were recorded as 'wasta', or wasteland, as "abandoned or useless lands" where they had hitherto been fertile and prosperous before the Conquest. Macclesfield, in particular, seems to have been especially targeted for destruction by Norman forces, as was the city of Chester, which was besieged in 1070 and eventually sacked, largely demolished and devastated. All this plunged the county into a state of utter poverty, starvation and deprivation, from which it took many decades to recover.
At Chester, William built a castle in a defensive location overlooking the River Dee from where it could dominate and control the city and from whence the county would be administered. Gaps in the old Roman wall were repaired, 10 additional guard towers built, so that the inner city had a 2 mile defensible wall and walkway - making Chester probably one of the most heavily defended cities in Britain at that time.
The New Administration Having dispossessed Edwin and usurped his governorship, King William then created one of his faithful baron supporters, Hugh d'Avranches (nicknamed Hugh Lupus, or 'wolf) as Earl of Chester, ruling virtually autonomously in his name and with his full authority, and Cheshire was thereby declared a County Palatine, a title it still holds today. The county continued to be ruled and administered by Norman earls and their issue, with their own courts of law, a structured civil service and independent powers, until the last died without male heir in 1237. At that time the King, Henry IIIl, declared the female line of inheritance to be invalid and took back the title, bestowing it on his son, Prince Edward. Ever since that time the eldest son of all English monarchs has held the title of Earl of Chester. By the 13th century, so important were the city and castle at Chester regarded, that extensions were built to include a royal apartment for King Edward I and his queen, where they stayed during the various wars with the neighbouring Welsh.
Many other Norman castles were subsequently constructed throughout the county of Cheshire in order to maintain the peace and to exert control over the disenchanted population of the region who bitterly hated their Norman overseers for many generations.
Norman Castles in Cheshire. © John Moss 2003.
A concentrated line of castles protected the border on the western side of the county from the Welsh; additionally to that at Chester, these included motte and bailey castles at Shotwick, Dodleston, Aldford, Pilford, Shocklach, Oldcastle and Malpas. Earlier or derelict forts at Frodsham, Runcorn, Hale and Halton were reinforced or replaced with stone to protect the Mersey Estuary. The central Cheshire Plain was dominated by a new castle at Beeston, which still overlooks it today; the southern and eastern borders were protected at Stockport, Macclesfield and Nantwich. But in another sense the castles which the Nomans built across England had less to do with the defence of the kingdom than with the demonstration of clear visible evidence that Saxon rule and culture had ceased and that a new and permanent power now existed in the land.
Medieval Market Towns & Fairs in Cheshire
It would take the best part of two centuries for the racial and cultural divisions that still existed between Saxons and Normans to be reconciled and for a clear English culture to emerge. This is evidenced by the improvements in trade and commerce, particularly during the two or three centuries following the Conquest when many markets were established by Royal Charter throughout the region. These were made possible partly by new rights and freedoms which had been established by Magna Carta, which laid the basis of English Common Law and went a considerable way towards removing the injustices which 'Norman' overlords still wrought upon common Saxon peasantry. These commercial advancements are shown in the growth of these market towns - Cheshire had finally recovered from the destruction of the Norman Conquerors and deep wounds had begun to heal.
Markets had existed in Chester, Middlewich and Nantwich well before 1066. The Angle-Saxon suffix "-port" (meaning "market"), illustrates the likelihood towns like Stockport had early pre-Norman markets already in place. However, most known markets seem to have come into being in the 12th and 13th centuries - Aldford and Alderley were granted market rights in 1253, Macclesfield in 1261, Congleton in 1272 and Over in 1280. Many others soon followed, though many failed through the fierce competition that one market town held over its neighbours. Markets at Aldford, Coddington, Brereton and Burton had all failed and disappeared before the start of the 14th century. There were also many other informal or unofficial markets in many Cheshire townships, including Sandbach and Tintwistle (then included in the county). Twenty-three official markets were known to exist in medieval Cheshire, but there were probably twice that number if we include unofficial markets.
Medieval Cheshire Markets. © John Moss 2003.Apart from market days, several times a year townships of any size held fairs - predominantly cattle fairs, horse fairs or agricultural fairs. Often these were held outside towns at important cross-roads where they could attract passing trade, as that held south of Tarporley, which was the site of one of the biggest cattle fairs in medieval Cheshire.
Cheshire during the Civil Wars
Even though traditional Norman and Saxon divisions had been largely forgotten, by the early 17th century Cheshire had established its own gentry, with leading and land-owning families still largely descended from Norman stock. Families like the Venables, the Mainwarings, the Davenports and the Masseys monopolised most of the land ownership and traced their lineages directly back to the Conquest of 1066. They also dominated trade, legal and community affairs, and tended to marry only amongst each other.
However, the outbreak of the English Civil Wars in 1642 was to change all that, and divided loyalties tore apart an otherwise well established and cohesive social fabric. Peasant and aristocrat allied with either Royalist or Parliamentarian causes according to conscience and irrespective of social status. The county, like many others, saw vicious battles fought on its lands - notably, the sieges of Nantwich and Chester caused extensive devastation and bloody battles at townships like Middlewich wrought havoc in the surrounding countryside of central Cheshire.
About two-thirds of the county gentry remained fervently Royalist in their allegiances, while the remainder were Parliamentarians. Chester was a Royalist stronghold, while the market towns of Stockport, Knutsford, Nantwich, Congleton, Middlewich and Northwich remained in Parliamentarian hands.
In 1654, England was placed under military rule and Cheshire, Lancashire and North Staffordshire were governed by the infamous Charles Worsley. His ruthless treatment of Royalist supporters made his name feared and despised throughout the northwest of England. Riots were planned, even by Parliamentarians, notably Sir George Booth of Dunham Massey near Altrincham, in the face of Worsley's barbarism, though these were summarily quashed and the leaders executed.
Nineteenth Century Victorian Cheshire
Late in the 18th century, land enclosure and district reorganisations took place, many large estates being reorganised and boundaries redrawn. Industrialisation of the many mill towns in Lancashire and Manchester saw many Cheshire farmsteads abandoned as workers sought "a better living" in the industrial towns. Abandoned lands were absorbed into bigger estates so that by 98% of the land in Cheshire belonged to only 26% of its population. By 1870, enormous estates grew up, including John Tollemache's estate at Peckforton with over 25,000 acres, the Marquess of Cholmondeley's lands of nearly 17,000 acres and those of the Duke of Westminster at just over 15,000 acres.
Cheshire was a wealthy county in the 19th century. It is estimated that there are more more fine 18th and 19th century country houses in Cheshire than any other English county. Tatton Hall and Dunham Massey are examples. The wealthy land-owning Egerton Family built their impressive country seat at Tatton between 1760 and 1820, set in its own magnificent parkland and exotic gardens, and the 17th century house at Dunham Massey saw significant 19th century development and expansion into its present imposing state.
Cheshire Cheese also came into the national consciousness at this time, with some 10,000 tons being sent per year to London alone, thanks to the completion of the Trent & Mersey Canal which connected rural Cheshire directly to the industrial Midlands and beyond
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