All students of Cheshire history owe much to Ormerod's great work. But his history is largely genealogical, and personally I wish to acknowledge a greater debt to the labours and transactions of local societies, particularly the Chester Archaeological Society and the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society. Many learned members of these two bodies have made most important contributions to our knowledge of ancient and mediaeval Cheshire within the most recent years. Among other works consulted I may mention the _Palatine Note Book_, _Cheshire Notes and Queries_, and Morris's _Diocesan History of Chester_. I have received kindly assistance from several Cheshire clergymen, and to all who have given me permission to take photographs within their churches I express my thanks. The maps, drawings, and photographs are original, with few exceptions. I am indebted to the Council of the Chester Archaeological Society, and the Grosvenor Museum for the loan of the block of a Roman tombstone from a photograph by Mr. R. Newstead, and to Mr. Alfred Newstead, Curator of the Museum, for photographs of the Runic stone and Roman altar. The Rev. J. F. Tristram, of the Hulme Grammar School, read the two geological chapters and made valuable suggestions. To the Clarendon Press I am grateful for much kind help and criticism. THE HULME GRAMMAR SCHOOL, MANCHESTER, _July, 1911_. CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. POSITION AND NATURAL FEATURES OF CHESHIRE 9 II. THE MAKING OF CHESHIRE (1) 16 III. THE MAKING OF CHESHIRE (_continued_) (2) 21 IV. EARLY INHABITANTS OF CHESHIRE 25 V. THE ROMANS IN CHESHIRE (1) 29 VI. THE ROMANS IN CHESHIRE (2) 36 VII. SAXONS AND ANGLES COME TO CHESHIRE 43 VIII. THE CROSS IN CHESHIRE 47 IX. THE COMING OF THE NORTHMEN 51 X. THE NORMANS COME TO CHESHIRE 58 XI. THE NORMAN ABBEYS AND CHURCHES OF CHESHIRE 64 XII. THE EARLS OF THE COUNTY PALATINE 74 XIII. THE CHURCHES OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY 81 XIV. GROWTH OF TOWNS IN CHESHIRE 87 XV. EDWARD THE FIRST AND CHESHIRE 92 XVI. THE COMING OF THE FRIARS 99 XVII. A DEPOSED KING 107 XVIII. THE RIVAL ROSES 114 XIX. CHURCHES OF THE MIDDLE AGES 118 XX. THE REFORMATION AND THE GREAT AWAKENING 128 XXI. ELIZABETHAN CHESHIRE (1) 134 XXII. ELIZABETHAN CHESHIRE (2) 143 XXIII.