Timeline of Cheshire history

The timeline of Cheshire history shows significant events in the history of the English county of Cheshire.

1 1–1000 AD
2 11th century
3 12th century
4 13th century
5 14th century
6 15th century
7 16th century
8 17th century
9 18th century
10 19th century
11 20th century
12 21st century
13 See also
14 References

1–1000 AD

70: The Romans found the fortress and town of Deva Victrix, now Chester.^[1]
c. 90: Legio XX Valeria Victrix arrive in Chester.^[2]
410: Romans retreat from Britannia.^[1]
603: Synod of Chester.^[3]
616: Æthelfrith of Northumbria defeats a Welsh army at the Battle of Chester.^[4]
875: St Werburgh's remains brought to Chester for protection.^[5]
894-5: King Alfred drives Danes from Chester.^[6]
907: Church to St Werburgh founded by Æthelfleda.^[5]
907: Chester refounded as a burh.^[7]
914: The Iron Age hill fort at Eddisbury is re-fortified by Æthelfleda.^[8]
915: Æthelfleda builds a burh at Runcorn^[9]
915: King Edward the Elder dies at Farndon.^[10]
919: Æthelfleda builds a fort at Thelwall.^[11]
973: King Edgar of England visits Chester.^[12]
980: Vikings raid Chester.^[13]

11th century

1007: Eadric Streona becomes the King's ealdorman of Cheshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire.^[14]
1016: Edmund Ironside ravages Chester.^[13]
1069–1071: William I leads the Norman Conquest into Cheshire; besieges Chester and kills Edwin, Earl of Mercia
1070: Hugh d'Avranches created as first Earl of Chester.^[15]
1070: Chester Castle built.^[16]
1070: Frodsham Castle built.^[17]
1075: St John the Baptist's Church, Chester becomes a cathedral.^[18]
1092: Monastery founded on site of current Chester Cathedral by Hugh d'Avranches.^[5]

12th century

1115: Norton Priory founded.^[19]
1133: Combermere Abbey founded.^[20]
1140: Serious fire in Chester.^[21]
c. 1150: Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester founds a Benedictine nunnery in Chester.^[22]
1157: Henry II entertained at Chester Castle.^[23]
1165: Henry II entertained at Chester Castle again.^[23]
1180: Serious fire in Chester.^[21]
1182: Cheshire land north of the Mersey becomes part of the new county of Lancashire.
1190: Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester founds Little St John's Hospital in Chester.^[24]

13th century

1211: King John entertained at Chester Castle.^[23]
1215–16: In the Carta Communis Cestriensis, Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester grants limited concessions to his feudal lords.^[25]
1220s: Beeston Castle built.^[26]
1236: Dominican friars arrive in Chester.^[21]
1237: 7th Earl of Chester, John, dies without a male heir. Henry IV passes the title to his son, Prince Edward – later to become King Edward I.
1237–38: Franciscan friars arrive in Chester.^[21]
1237–51: Stone walls replace the wooden palisade around Chester Castle.^[27]
1253: Aldford and Alderley markets created.^[28]
1261: Macclesfield market created.^[28]
1272: Congleton market created.^[28]
1275: Monks of St Werburgh's Abbey build Kaleyard Gate in Chester city walls.^[29]
1277: King Edward I lays foundation stone to Vale Royal Abbey.^[30]
12 May 1278: Serious fire in Chester when nearly the whole of the city is burnt.^[21]
1279–80: Timber superstructure of the Old Dee Bridge swept away.^[31]
1280: Over market created.^[28]
1292–93: Chambers for the king and queen, and a new outer gatehouse built at Chester Castle.^[32]

14th century

1322–25: Chester Water Tower built.^[33]
1349: The black death arrives in Cheshire.^[24]^[34]
1364: Doddington Castle built.^[35]
1387: Major repairs to the Old Dee Bridge.^[31]
1391: Norton Priory becomes a mitred abbey.^[36]
1397: Lands in the march of Wales added to Cheshire, and it is promoted to the rank of principality.^[37]
1399: Henry IV (then still Duke of Lancaster) seizes Chester Castle and causes Richard II to be brought there from Flint Castle, after which Richard abdicates and Henry becomes king.^[38]

15th century

16th century

1510: St Ursula's Hospital founded in Chester.^[24]
1536: Dissolution of Norton Priory.^[39]
1538: Dissolution of Vale Royal Abbey by Sir Thomas Holcroft.^[30]
July 1538: Dissolution of Combermere Abbey.^[20]
15 August 1538: Dissolution of Chester's three friaries.^[40]
20 January 1540: Dissolution of St Werburgh's Abbey.^[40]
1541: St Werburgh's abbey becomes a cathedral of the Church of England known as Chester Cathedral by order of King Henry VIII.
1543: Cheshire sends its first members to sit in Parliament.^[41]
1577: Christopher Saxton publishes his map of Cheshire.^[42]
1578: Sandbach market opens.^[43]
December 1583: Fire destroys much of Nantwich.^[44]
1584: Elizabeth I contributes to a national fund for the rebuilding of Nantwich.^[45]^[46]
1591: Stanley Palace built in Chester on the site of the former Dominican friary.^[47]

17th century

1604: Outbreak of the plague kills around 500 people in Nantwich.^[48]
1636: Completion of Crewe Hall.^[49]
1637: First known stagecoach runs between Birmingham and Holywell via Nantwich and Chester.^[50]
1642: Failure of the Bunbury Agreement, an attempt by local gentry to keep Cheshire neutral in the English Civil War.^[51]
23–28 September 1642: Charles I in Chester.^[52]
13 March 1643: First Battle of Middlewich in English Civil War.^[53]
24 January 1644: Battle of Nantwich in the English Civil War.^[54]
November 1644–February 1645: Siege of Chester.^[55]
24 September 1645: Battle of Rowton Heath in the English Civil War.^[56]
3 February 1646: Chester surrenders to the Parliamentary forces.^[57]
1655: Cheshire under military rule, governed by Charles Worsley.^[58]
1657: Stagecoach service begins between London and Chester.^[50]
1670: Smith-Barry family re-discovers salt in Northwich and mining re-starts.^[59]
1674: John Ray's Collection of English Words includes written record of the Cheshire dialect.^[60]
1687: James II visits Chester.^[61]
6 June 1690: William III stays at Combermere Abbey on his way to the Battle of the Boyne.^[20]

18th century

1700: Brine springs are discovered at Winsford.^[62]
1735–36: The New Cut dug along the River Dee from Chester to Connah's Quay because of silting of the river.^[63]
1744: Charles Roe builds a watermill in Macclesfield and triggers start of the silk industry.
1763: Cheshire Hunt founded.^[64]
March 1776: Bridgewater Canal complete throughout its length from Manchester to Runcorn.^[65]
1777: Completion of the Trent and Mersey Canal.^[66]
1779: The Chester Canal opens between Chester and Nantwich.^[67]
1780: Chester Eastgate rebuilt.^[68]
1780: Marston salt mine opens.^[69]
1781: Chester Northgate rebuilt.^[68]
1784: First mail coach runs through Cheshire, between London and Holyhead.^[50]
1788: Chester Watergate rebuilt.^[68]
1788–1815: Major rebuilding of Chester Castle by Thomas Harrison^[70]
1795: The Chester Canal extended to Ellesmere Port.^[71]

19th century

July 1804: Runcorn to Latchford Canal opens.^[72]
1806: The Middlewich Branch opens, linking the Shropshire Union and the Trent and Mersey Canals.^[71]
1808–10: Chester Northgate rebuilt.^[68]
8 May 1817: Early paper on Cheshire dialect read at Society of Antiquaries by Roger Wilbraham.^[73]
1832: The future Queen Victoria opens the Grosvenor Bridge in Chester.^[74]
1837: Crewe railway station is built in fields near to Crewe Hall.^[75]
1840: Crewe-Chester-Birkenhead railway line opens.^[76]
1843: Crewe Railway Works opens.^[77]
1845: Crewe Railway Works completes its first locomotive, Columbine.^[77]
24 May 1847: Five people are killed in the Dee bridge disaster when a girder of the railway bridge crossing the River Dee fractures.^[78]
1848: Chester railway station opens.^[79]
1855–76: George Gilbert Scott works on restoring Chester Cathedral.^[80]
1857: Cheshire Constabulary founded.^[81]
1862: Chester Exchange is gutted by fire.^[79]
1867: Grosvenor Park opens in Chester.^[82]
21 May 1868: The first train crosses Runcorn Railway Bridge.^[83]
1869: Railway line opens between Weaver Junction and Liverpool via Runcorn.^[84]
15 October 1869: Chester Town Hall opened by Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII.^[85]
1874: John Brunner and Ludwig Mond found Brunner Mond in Winnington near Northwich and start manufacturing soda ash.^[86]
1874: Cheshire Lines Committee opens railway line between Manchester and Chester via Altrincham.^[84]
1875: Anderton Boat Lift opens.^[87]
1877: Glossary of Cheshire dialect published by Egerton Leigh.^[60]
1881: The west tower of St John the Baptist's Church, Chester collapses.^[18]
1886: The Grosvenor Museum opens in Chester.^[88]
1886: Rail tunnel under the River Mersey opens between Liverpool and Birkenhead.^[84]
1889: Cheshire County Council founded.
21 May 1894: Manchester Ship Canal officially opened by Queen Victoria.^[89]
27 May 1899: Official opening of Eastgate Clock in Chester on Queen Victoria's 80th birthday.^[90]

20th century

29 May 1905: Widnes-Runcorn Transporter Bridge officially opened by Sir John Brunner.^[91]
1921: Cheshire School of Agriculture opens at Worleston.^[92]
1926: Imperial Chemical Industries is created.^[93]
1931: Chester Zoo opens.^[94]
1938: Newgate opens in Chester.^[95]
21 July 1961: Runcorn-Widnes road bridge (later named the Silver Jubilee Bridge) is opened by Princess Alexandra.^[96]
1964: Runcorn New Town is designated.^[96]
1969: First conservation areas designated, including Chester and Nantwich.^[97]
1 April 1974: Cheshire boundaries changed by Local Government Act 1972.^[98] Runcorn and Widnes merge to form the Borough of Halton.^[96]
1982: Norton Priory Museum opens.^[99]
1983: Anderton Boat Lift closes.^[87]
26 February 1993: IRA explosive devices go off at Warrington gasworks.^[100]
20 March 1993:: IRA explosive devices kill two children and injure 54 people in Warrington.^[101]
1 April 1998: Halton and Warrington become unitary authorities.

21st century

2002: Anderton Boat Lift reopens.^[87]
1 September 2007: The Cheshire Regiment merges into the Mercian Regiment.^[102]
1 April 2009: Two unitary authorities of Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East replace Cheshire County Council and its districts.^[103]

References

^ ^a ^b Mason, David J.P. (2001). Roman Chester: City of the Eagles. Stroud: Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-1922-6.
^ Ward 2009, p. 11.
^ Ward 2009, p. 23.
^ Higham, N. J. (1992). "King Cearl, the Battle of Chester and the Origins of the Mercian 'Overkingship'". Midland History: 1–15. http://www.midlandhistory.bham.ac.uk/issues/1992/highamnj.pdf.
^ ^a ^b ^c "History of Chester Cathedral". Chester Cathedral. http://www.chestercathedral.com/chester-cathedral-home-history.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
^ "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (894AD)". http://omacl.org/Anglo/part2.html. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
^ Ward 2009, p. 31.
^ "Burh at Castle Ditch, Eddisbury". Cheshire.gov.uk. http://rcp.cheshire.gov.uk/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MCH8444. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
^ Starkey 1990, p. 5.
^ Ward 2009, p. 27.
^ Sylvester 1980, p. 37.
^ "Edgar the Peaceful". English Monarchs website. http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/saxon_12.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
^ ^a ^b Ward 2009, p. 30.
^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1007:

"In this year also was Edric appointed alderman over all the kingdom of the Mercians."
^ C. P. Lewis (2004). Avranches, Hugh d', first earl of Chester (d. 1101)’. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/14056. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
^ "Chester Castle". Pastscape.org.uk. http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=69135. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
^ Latham, Frank A. (1987). Frodsham: The History of a Cheshire Town. Local Historians. ISBN 0-9019-9306-9.
^ ^a ^b Ward 2009, p. 43.
^ Starkey 1990, p. 9.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Combermere Abbey timeline". Combermere Abbey. http://www.combermereabbey.co.uk/the-abbey/history/timeline. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Ward 2009, p. 51.
^ Ward 2009, p. 46.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ward 2009, p. 47.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ward 2009, p. 55.
^ Sylvester 1980, p. 54.
^ Fry, Plantagenet Somerset (1980). The David & Charles Book of Castles. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3.
^ Ward 2009, p. 37.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Cheshire History and the County Palatine of Cheshire, UK". Manchester UK. http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/cheshire.html. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
^ Ward 2009, p. 40.
^ ^a ^b Elrington, C.R.; Harris, B. E.; Baggs, A. P.; Kettle, Ann J.; Lander, S. J.; Thacker, A. T.; Wardle, David (1980). Houses of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Vale Royal', A History of the County of Chester. III. Oxford University Press History. ISBN 0-1972-2754-6.
^ ^a ^b Ward 2009, p. 56.
^ Ward 2009, p. 41.
^ Ward 2009, p. 38.
^ Sylvester 1980, p. 56.
^ "Delves Hall". Pastscape.org.uk. http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=74464. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
^ Greene 1989, p. 65
^ Davies, R. R. (1971). Richard II and the Principality of Chester in The Reign of Richard II: Essays in Honour of May McKisack, ed. F. R. H. Du Boulay and Caroline Baron.
^ Ward 2009, p. 42.
^ Starkey 1990, pp. 38–39.
^ ^a ^b Ward 2009, p. 58.
^ Sylvester 1980, p. 15.
^ Sylvester 1980, p. 60.
^ Sylvester 1980, p. 52.
^ Lake 1983, p. 67.
^ Beck 1969, p. 75–76.
^ Lake 1983, pp. 71–90.
^ Stanley Palace. Chester City Council. http://www.virtualchester.org/view/view_location.php?id=31. Retrieved 18 June 2010
^ Beck 1969, p. 33.
^ "Crewe Hall". English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=56661. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
^ ^a ^b ^c Sylvester 1980, p. 83.
^ "Civil War". National Archives. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/civilwar/g4/cs1/s3/. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
^ Ward 2009, p. 64.
^ J. R. Phillips (1874). Battle of Middlewich, March 13, 1643 – Sir William Brereton's Account. Document XVI in Memoirs of The Civil Wars in Wales and the Marches, Vol 2. London. pp. 54–55.
^ "Battle of Nantwich". Nantwich Museum. http://freespace.virgin.net/nantwich.museum/battle_of_nantwich.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
^ Ward 2009, pp. 67–68.
^ Ward 2009, p. 69.
^ Sylvester 1980, p. 69.
^ "Charles Worsley, Major-General, 1622–56". British Civil Wars & Commonwealth website. http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/biog/worsley.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
^ "Northwich History". Chester Chronicle. February 2009. http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/chester-information/chester-history/2009/02/28/northwich-history-59067-24808202/. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
^ ^a ^b Leigh E. Introduction in: A Glossary of Words Used in the Dialect of Cheshire (Hamilton, Adams, and Co./Minshull and Hughes; 1877) (accessed 14 July 2010)
^ Ward 2009, p. 73.
^ Sylvester 1980, p. 95.
^ Ward 2009, p. 82.
^ "The Cheshire Hunt". The Cheshire Hunt website. http://www.thecheshirehunt.co.uk/. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
^ Starkey 1990, p. 126.
^ "Trent and Mersey Canal". Cannock Chase District Council. http://www.cannockchasedc.gov.uk/site/HeritageTrail/trent.html. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
^ Ward 2009, p. 88.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Ward 2009, p. 79.
^ Sylvester 1980, p. 96.
^ Ward 2009, pp. 80–81.
^ ^a ^b Ward 2009, p. 89.
^ Starkey 1990, p. 130.
^ Wilbraham R. An Attempt at a Glossary of Some Words Used in Cheshire, 2nd edn (T. Rood; 1826)
^ Ward 2009, p. 86.
^ Glancey, Jonathan (6 December 2005). "The beauty of Crewe". Guardian newspaper article (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1658974,00.html. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
^ Sylvester 1980, p. 90.
^ ^a ^b Sylvester 1980, p. 91.
^ Ward 2009, pp. 90–91.
^ ^a ^b Ward 2009, p. 91.
^ Ward 2009, p. 92.
^ "Cheshire Constabulary History". Cheshire Police website. March 2010. http://www.cheshire.police.uk/showcontent.php?pageid=2476. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
^ Ward 2009, p. 95.
^ Starkey 1990, p. 170.
^ ^a ^b ^c Sylvester 1980, p. 93.
^ "Chester Town Hall". Cheshire West and Chester Council. http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/visiting/heritage/chester_town_hall.aspx. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
^ "History of Brunner Mond". Brunner Mond website. http://www.brunnermond.com/about_history.aspx. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Anderton Boat Lift". The Heritage Trail website. http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/industrial/anderton_lift.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
^ Ward 2009, p. 99.
^ "Lancashire Records Office". The National Archives. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=055-ddx101&cid=1-3-20#1-3-20.
^ Information Sheet: Eastgate Clock. Cheshire West and Chester. http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/visiting/museums/grosvenor_museum/information_sheets/eastgate_clock.aspx. Retrieved 18 June 2010
^ Starkey 1990, p. 214.
^ Tigwell 1985, pp. 41–42.
^ Starkey 1990, p. 218.
^ "Chester Zoo". The Good Zoo Guide Online. http://www.goodzoos.com/UK%20Zoos/chester.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
^ Ward 2009, p. 111.
^ ^a ^b ^c Starkey 1990, p. 222.
^ "Conservation Area Appraisals". Cheshire East. http://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/environment_and_planning/planning/conservation/conservation_areas/conservation_areas_appraisals.aspx. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
^ Jones, B. et al. (2004). Politics UK. ISBN 0719034086.
^ Brown, Fraser; Howard-Davis, Christine (2008). Norton Priory: Monastery to Museum. Excavations 1970–87. Lancaster: Oxford Archaeology North. pp. 2–4. ISBN 987-0-904220-52-0
^ "Bound Volume Hansard - Written Answers". Hansard. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199596/cmhansrd/vo960304/text/60304w13.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
^ "Child killed in Warrington bomb attack". BBC website. 20 March 1993. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/20/newsid_2544000/2544121.stm. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
^ "Three infantry regiments merged (1 September 2007)". BBC. 1 September 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6973692.stm. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
^ About Cheshire East. Cheshire East. http://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/about_cheshire_east.aspx. Retrieved 7 July 2010

Bibliography

Beck, J. (1969), Tudor Cheshire. A History of Cheshire, Vol. 7 (Series Editor: JJ Bagley), Cheshire Community Council, ISBN 0 90311902 1
Lake, J. (1983). The Great Fire of Nantwich. Shiva Publishing. ISBN 0 906812 57 7
Greene, J. Patrick (1989). Norton Priory: The archaeology of a medieval religious house. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-33054-8.
Starkey, H. F. (1990). Old Runcorn. Halton: Halton Borough Council
Sylvester, Dorothy (1980). A History of Cheshire (2nd ed.). London and Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN 0 85033 384 9
Tigwell, RE. (1985), Cheshire in the Twentieth Century. A History of Cheshire, Vol. 12 (Series Editor: JJ Bagley), Cheshire Community Council, ISBN 0 903119 15 3
Ward, Simon (2009). Chester: A History. Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN 978 1 86077 499 7

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Major settlements	Alsager Birchwood Bollington Chester Congleton Crewe Ellesmere Port Frodsham Knutsford Macclesfield Middlewich Nantwich Neston Northwich Poynton Runcorn Sandbach Warrington Widnes Wilmslow Winsford See also: List of civil parishes in Cheshire

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Timeline of Cheshire history

Contents

1–1000 AD

11th century

12th century

13th century

14th century

15th century

16th century

17th century

18th century

19th century

20th century

21st century

See also

References