n.
Administrative (pop., 2001: 673,777), geographic, and historic county, western England .
Established in 1974, it includes most of the former county that was Cheshire except for parts now in Merseyside and Greater Manchester ; the county seat is Chester . Cheshire borders Wales , fronts the Dee and Mersey estuaries to the north, and lies partly within Peak District National Park. Evidence of hill forts from the Bronze and Iron ages have been found, as well as ruins of structures from the Roman occupation. The county is largely agricultural, with dairy farming predominant.