TheCheshire Plain is a relatively flat expanse oflowland within the county ofCheshire inNorth West England but extending south into Shropshire. It extends from theMersey Valley in the north to theShropshire Hills in the south, bounded by the hills ofNorth Wales to the west and the foothills of thePennines to the north-east.[1] TheWirral Peninsula lies to the north-west whilst the plain merges with theSouth Lancashire Plain in the embayment occupied byManchester to the north. In detail, the plain comprises two areas with distinct characters, the one to the west of theMid Cheshire Ridge and the other, larger part, to its east.
The plain is the surface expression of theCheshire Basin, a deepsedimentary basin that extends north intoLancashire and south intoShropshire. It assumed its current form as the ice-sheets of thelast glacial period melted away between 20,000 and 15,000 years ago leaving behind a thick cover ofglacial till and extensive tracts of glacio-fluvial sand and gravel.
The primary agricultural use of the Cheshire Plain isdairy farming, creating the general appearance of enclosedhedgerow fields.
Meteorologists use the termCheshire Gap when referring to the lowlands of the Cheshire Plain, providing as they do a passage between theClwydian Hills, in Wales on the one hand and thePeak District andSouth Pennines on the other. Weather systems are often guided down this "gap", penetrating much further inland than elsewhere along the coast of theIrish Sea.[2]
53°12′N2°28′W / 53.200°N 2.467°W /53.200; -2.467
