a maritime county of England, bounded by Lancashire on the north; Shropshire and part of Flintshire, on the south; Derbyshire and Staffordshire, on the east and south-east; and Denbighshire, and part of Flintshire, on the west and north-west. It extends in length about 44 miles, in breadth 25; and is supposed to contain 125,000 inhabitants. Both the air and soil in general are good. In many places of the country are peat-moors, in which are often found trunks of fir-trees, sometimes several feet underground, that are used by the inhabitants both for fuel and candles. Here also are many lakes and pools well stored with fish; besides the rivers Mersey, Weaver, and Dee, which last falls into a creek of the Irish sea near Chester. This county also abounds with wood; but what it is chiefly remarkable for, is its cheese, which has a peculiar flavour, generally thought not to be inferior to any in Europe; (see CHEESE). The principal towns are, Chester the capital, Cholmondeley, Nantwich, &c.

William the Conqueror erected this county into a palatinate, or county palatine, in favour of his nephew Hugh Lupus, to whom he granted the same sovereignty and jurisdiction in it that he himself had in the rest of the island. By virtue of this grant, the town of Chester enjoyed sovereign jurisdiction within its own precincts; and that in so high a degree, that the earls held parliaments, consisting of their barons and tenants, which were not bound by the acts of the English parliament: but the exorbitant power of the palatinates was at last reduced by Henry VIII.; however, all cases and crimes, except those of error, foreign plea, foreign voucher, and high-treason, are still heard and determined within the shire. The earls were anciently superiors of the whole county, and all the landholders were mediately or immediately their vassals, and under the like sovereign allegiance to them as they were to the kings of England; but the earldom was united to the crown by Edward III. since which time, the eldest sons of kings of England have always been earls of Chester, as well as princes of Wales. Cheshire sends four members to parliament; two for the county, and two for the capital.