Cheshire is a county of sandstone ridges, flat farmland, and market towns spaced out across the plain. Much of its character comes from what survives: timber-framed halls, medieval churches, and stretches of countryside that have changed relatively little in outward appearance over several centuries. Administratively it has been carved up and reorganised more than once, but the historic county remains a recognisable entity in its landscape and its buildings.

Its ghost lore is similarly well-preserved. Cheshire has produced haunting accounts across a wide range of building types and periods, many of them tied to specific named individuals and verifiable local histories rather than to general atmosphere. The tradition tends toward the persistent and the quietly documented rather than the sensational, which makes it, on the whole, more interesting.