Chester Rows are a set of covered walkways at the first-floor level found in each of the four main streets of Chester, which give access to shops, offices, cafés and other premises. At street level is another set of premises, many of which are entered by going down a few steps. With no counterpart anywhere else in the world, the Rows are unique, and they form one of the city's main tourist attractions.

Dating from the medieval era, the Rows may have been built on top of rubble remaining from the ruins of Roman buildings, but their origin is still uncertain. Undercrofts or "crypts" were constructed beneath the buildings in the Rows in stone, while most of the buildings in the Rows were in timber. About 20 of the stone undercrofts survive, but at the level of the Rows very little medieval fabric remains. In some places the continuity of the Rows has been blocked by enclosure or by new buildings, but in others modern buildings have retained the Rows in their designs.

Three Shires' Head on Axe Edge Moor is the point at which Cheshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire meet. The old packhorse bridge over the River Dane suggests that silk was carried from Hollinsclough in Staffordshire to the mills in Macclesfield via this spot.

Credit: Rob Bendall (3 June 2009)

1 February 1863: Artist and printmaker John Romney died in Chester.

1 February 1869: The first goods train crossed Runcorn Railway Bridge.

3 February 1646: Chester surrendered during the Civil War.

3 February 1857: First meeting of Cheshire Police committee.

3 February 1885: Foundation stone of Grosvenor Museum laid by the Duke of Westminster.

4 February 1253–4: Lordship of Chester gifted to Edward, heir of Henry III.

5 February 1977: Olympic gold medallist sailor Ben Ainslie born in Macclesfield.

6 February 1987: Lindow III discovered at Lindow Moss.

9 February 1539: First recorded race at Chester Racecourse.

13 February 1839: Riot at Chester Castle in support of poachers awaiting trial.

14 February 1926: Fire partially destroyed Oulton Hall.

15 February 1918: Physicist John Holt born in Runcorn.

19 February 1943: Nobel prize winning biochemist Tim Hunt born in Neston.

20 February 1643: Beeston Castle seized from the Royalists by Parliamentary forces commanded by Sir William Brereton (pictured).

20 February 1907: Radar pioneer Skip Wilkins born in Chorlton.

21 February 2008: Sunny Lowry, first woman to swim the Channel, died in Warrington.

26 February 1993: IRA explosive devices went off at Warrington gasworks.

Chester city walls surround the medieval extent of Chester. The circuit of the walls extends for 2 miles (3 km), rises to a height of 40 feet (12.2 m), and "is the most complete circuit of Roman and medieval defensive town wall in Britain." The walls and associated structures are a scheduled monument, and almost all parts are listed, mainly at grade I.

The walls originated between 70 and 90 AD as defences for the Roman fortress of Deva Victrix. The earliest walls were earth ramparts surmounted by wooden palisades, with wooden gates and towers. Rebuilding in sandstone started at the end of the 1st century and took over 100 years. The existing circuit was completed by the end of the 12th century. The four main gates were replaced during the 18th and early 19th centuries.

By the 18th century the walls were becoming popular as a promenade, and £1,000 (equivalent to £210,000 in 2023) was spent in 1707 on repairs and paving the footway. Distinguished visitors who walked the walls at that time included John Wesley and Samuel Johnson. They remain a significant tourist attraction.

Warrington

Chester

Crewe

Runcorn

Widnes

Ellesmere Port

Macclesfield

Winsford

Wilmslow

Congleton

Northwich

Sandbach

Nantwich

Poynton

Neston

Middlewich

Alsager

Knutsford

Lymm

MERSEYSIDE

GREATER MANCHESTER

DERBYSHIRE

STAFFORD-SHIRE

SHROPSHIRE

WALES

Alderley Edge

Bickerton Hill

Bosley
Minn

The Cloud

Croker Hill

Old Pale

Helsby Hill

Peckforton Hills

Shining Tor

Shutlingsloe

Tegg's Nose

Windgather

Kerridge

Top: Map of modern Cheshire showing urban areas (grey) and the major road network. Chester (red) is the county town, and Warrington has the greatest population. Towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants in 2011 are highlighted; the size of dot gives a rough indication of the relative population. Wales and the adjacent English counties are shown in capitals.

Bottom: Relief map showing the major hills. The Mid Cheshire Ridge is a discontinuous ridge of low hills running north–south from Beacon Hill (north of Helsby Hill) to Bickerton Hill. Most other high ground falls within the Peak District in the east of the county. Shining Tor (559 metres), on the boundary with Derbyshire, forms the county's high point.

The ceremonial county of Cheshire is administered by four unitary authorities (click on the map for details):

1 – Cheshire West and Chester

2 – Cheshire East

3 – Warrington

4 – Halton

In the local government reorganisation of 1974, Cheshire gained an area formerly in Lancashire including Widnes and Warrington. The county lost Tintwistle to Derbyshire, part of the Wirral Peninsula to Merseyside, and a northern area including Stockport, Altrincham, Sale, Hyde, Dukinfield and Stalybridge to Greater Manchester.

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