Portal:Cheshire/Selected list/7

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Minerva's Shrine, Handbridge, near Chester

Of the over 200 Scheduled Monuments in Cheshire, at least 84 date from before 1066, the start of the Medieval period. Monuments are defined as sites deliberately constructed by human activity; some sites not visible above ground. Scheduled archaeological sites range from prehistoric standing stones and burial sites, through Roman remains, to the Saxon period.

The oldest Scheduled Monument is believed to be The Bridestones, a Neolithic long cairn. The monument at Somerford is also thought to have been a long cairn and there is evidence of a Neolithic settlement at Tatton. The Bronze Age is the period most strongly represented during this timeframe with 44 monuments, predominantly round barrows. Eleven Iron Age hillforts or promontory forts are scheduled. The Roman occupation left parts of Chester city walls, the remains of settlements at Heronbridge and Wilderspool, several definite or possible Roman military camps, and Minerva's Shrine (pictured). The Dark Age and Saxon monuments consist mainly of portions of crosses, including the Sandbach Crosses. There is also evidence of Saxon occupation of villages, now deserted, at Tatton and Baddiley.