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Germanic speakers, whose dialects would develop into the [[Old English]] language, arrived in Britain from c. 450 AD. Angles arrived in Cheshire by the 6th century. A people of Anglo-Saxon Britain, the Wreocensæte (or Wrekinset), are first identified in the Tribal Hidage (dated 7th century) and their territory is thought to have corresponded approximately to modern-day Cheshire and Shropshire and adjacent parts of Wales. The name is Old English for "Wrekin-dwellers". Whether they were a Germanic or Celtic people, or of mixed background, is uncertain. They may be a continuation of the Roman-era Cornovii people. The Wreocensæte were under control of the Anglian kingdom Mercia from the 7th century. A small folk group within the Wreocensæte were the Meresæte, based near Chester. Christianity became widespread in Mercia in the mid-7th century, following Penda, the Pagan king, being slain in battle by Northumbria. Local legend, now thought pseudohistorical, states that the Sandbach Crosses were erected to commemorate the conversion to Christianity of Peada of Mercia. Towards the end of the 7th century, [[Saint Werburgh]] founded a religious institution on the present site of Chester's St John's Church which later became the first cathedral. In 915 AD, Æthelflæd Lady of the Mercians constructed fortifications at [[Runcorn]], to protect the northern frontier of the kingdom from Scandinavian Viking raids.

Germanic speakers, whose dialects would develop into the [[Old English]] language, arrived in Britain from c. 450 AD. Angles arrived in Cheshire by the 6th century. A people of Anglo-Saxon Britain, the Wreocensæte (or Wrekinset), are first identified in the Tribal Hidage (dated 7th century) and their territory is thought to have corresponded approximately to modern-day Cheshire and Shropshire and adjacent parts of Wales. The name is Old English for "Wrekin-dwellers". Whether they were a Germanic or Celtic people, or of mixed background, is uncertain. They may be a continuation of the Roman-era Cornovii people. The Wreocensæte were under control of the Anglian kingdom Mercia from the 7th century. A small folk group within the Wreocensæte were the Meresæte, based near Chester. Christianity became widespread in Mercia in the mid-7th century, following Penda, the Pagan king, being slain in battle by Northumbria. Local legend, now thought pseudohistorical, states that the Sandbach Crosses were erected to commemorate the conversion to Christianity of Peada of Mercia. Towards the end of the 7th century, [[Saint Werburgh]] founded a religious institution on the present site of Chester's St John's Church which later became the first cathedral. In 915 AD, Æthelflæd Lady of the Mercians constructed fortifications at [[Runcorn]], to protect the northern frontier of the kingdom from Scandinavian Viking raids.

Following the Norman conquest of 1066 by [[William the Conqueror]], dissent and resistance continued for many years after the invasion and Cheshire, being a remote part of the kingdom, far from centres of power in Normandy and the south-east of England, provided persistent resistance to the Normans. In 1069 local resistance in Cheshire was finally put down using harsh, [[genocide]]-like measures, referred to by historians as the [[Harrying of the North]] (1069-1070). The ferocity of the campaign against the English populace was enough to end all future resistance. Major local landowners such as [[Edwin, Earl of Mercia]] (died 1071), had their properties confiscated and redistributed among Norman barons.

Following the Norman conquest of 1066 by [[William the Conqueror]], dissent and resistance continued for many years after the invasion and Cheshire, being a remote part of the kingdom, far from centres of power in Normandy and the south-east of England, provided persistent resistance to the Normans. In 1069 local resistance in Cheshire was finally put down using harsh, [[genocide]]-like measures, referred to by historians as the [[Harrying of the North]] (1069-1070). The ferocity of the campaign against the English populace was enough to end all future resistance. Major local landowners such as [[Edwin, Earl of Mercia]] (died 1071), had their properties confiscated and redistributed among Norman barons.