Chester Pageant



The Edwardian period (1901-10) is sometimes portrayed as a romantic golden age of long summer afternoons and garden parties, basking in a sun that never sets on the British Empire. Certainly, the era stands out as a time of peace and prosperity on the eve of the carnage of WW1 and the economic downturn which followed. There were no severe depressions, and prosperity was widespread although the city retained many of the slum coursts of Victorian Chester. Britain's growth rate, manufacturing output and GDP (but not GDP per capita) fell behind its rivals, the United States and Germany, but the nation still led the world in trade, finance and shipping, and had strong bases in manufacturing and mining. This view seems to to maintained in much popular fiction which portrays the characters in an age of post-Victorian innocence and liberation then dooms them to either drowning on the Titanic or death in the trenches.

In 1910 entertainment for the masses was quite different to that of modern times. The radio broadcasting of music and talk intended to reach a dispersed audience started experimentally around 1905–1906, but commercially only around 1920 to 1923. In England, the first experimental music broadcasts, from Marconi's factory in Chelmsford, began in 1920. Shortly before, there had been commercial broadcasts in Europe from Germany, where it was still an offence to recieve them under the Treaty of Versailles. The first permanent cinema in Chester, with 400 seats, had opened in 1909 (initially the "Corn Exchange Cinema", then the "Picturedrome") in Eastgate Street. The Royal Agricultural Show had been held in Hoole, from 17 – 23 June 1893 (and would return in 1925).

The late Victorian and Edwardian times saw great change, with new technology, vast new imperial territories, the percieved "democratisation" of the political system and a further dominance of the urban culture over the rural. At the fin de siecle, and later, a vision of a pre-industrial "Merrie England" flourished, finding one expression in Chester in the Vernacular Revival "Black and White" architecture. In Edwardian times, pageants became an important aspect of popular engagement with the past, and often focused heavily on the medieval period. Pageans became so commonplace as to give rise to the phrase "pageant fever" and the term "pageantitis". The pageants featured different episodes and characters both historical and legendary, including Alfred the Great, King John and Robin Hood, who featured at different times and in different ways during the twentieth century. Some modern historians have raged against the innaccuracy of some of the pageant portrayals, but on the other hand perhaps a distorted view of history is better than none.

The Edwardian pageant movement is usually dated to 1905, when the playwright and theatrical impresario Louis Napoleon Parker organised and produced a community celebration in Sherborne, Dorset, to celebrate the 1,200th anniversary of the foundation of the town. As noted in: "History taught in the pageant way"


 * "Insofar as one can describe a typical English pageant from this time, it began with an episode depicting Roman times or the early medieval period, contained plenty of medieval scenes and concluded with something set in the age of the Tudors or Stuarts. Elizabeth I, the most widespread single character in historical pageants, often closed the performance: according to many pageant narratives, it was during her reign that the modern English nation had come into being. Thus many pageants culminated in scenes of Elizabethan merry-making, featuring maypoles and morris dancing."

Many communities saw their origins as being medieval, and almost all found important stories to tell from this period. However, the emphasis shifted over time, with the lessons of the "constitutional Middle Ages" featuring prominently in Edwardian pageants, whereas by the 1950s elements of the romantic and grotesque were increasingly prominent. Throughout the twentieth century, aspects of civic medievalism were an important feature in pageants. This article looks at the Chester Pageant of 1910 which straddles the boundary of fact and fiction and provides an example of how hystory was understood and myths are created.

Described by The Times as "one of the most spirited that pageantry has produced", the Chester Historical Pageant of 1910 took place in Eaton Park, the estate of the Grosvenors, between 18 and 24 July, 1910. A reported 3,000 performers were involved, although some estimates put the number at 3,500, and over 70,000 spectators attended - a considerable achievement for a city of then only 50,000. The choice of year was interesting, because 300 years earlier, in 1610, Chester had seen the performance of "Chester's Triumph in honour of her Prince" as recorded in Chamber's Book of days - a familiar book in Edwardian times. The pageants seem to have been an Edwardian innovation, some 40 major pageants took place in the years 1900-10. In three cases Cheltenham (1908), Cardiff (1909) and Chester the "Master of the Pageant" was George Hawtrey, indicating the degree of infrastructure which had evolved for the organisation of pageants.

There was a clear commercial aspect to these pageants. Chester Archives hold a copy of the contract drawn up between the Pageant and Edward Baring, which appointed Baring as 'Director of the Pageant and Business Manager'. Baring was paid:


 * "ten per cent of the gross receipts (other than from subscriptions and guarantees)... from all sources whether from the production of the said Pageant and from any Entertainments and other Functions held in connection therewith... also from the sale of effects after the Pageant when those sales have been made through the agency of the said Edward Baring".

In addition he received 'out-of-pocket expenses' and his staff were housed for all 'office-work' at 'Pageant-House' in the city. Baring had become involved with pageants in Cheltenham where he suggested a children's pageant which grew into the Gloucestershire Historical Pageant performed ten times to large audiences in July 1908. Over 2500 local amateur performers took part. It was, in all ways, a classic Edwardian pageant, drawing on the style and content of the original pageant-master, Louis Napoleon Parker. Baring went on to be an important producer of pageants in his own right in the inter-war period. Louis Napoleon Parker, in his 1928 autobiography, complained that a whole host of unworthy imitators had sprung up and commercialised his invention. The Pageant Committee also hired the Master of Properties, Master of Music and the Pageant Master. The Master of Properties was paid £50 in three instalments. Dr Bridge who was in charge of the music received £100 in two instalments plus out-of-pocket expenses and "five per cent on the first thousand pounds net profits... if such profit shall not exceed the sum of one thousand pounds".

Public Performance at Chester
The study of public performance contributes to many areas of Historiography. The best known "public theatre" at Chester is the Chester Mystery Plays, which are covered elsewhere on this site and have a vast literature associated with them. Once it was considered that the medieval mystery plays were "the popish progeny of ancient heathen theatre and full of ungodly errors and superstition" - "a Bastard of Babylon" - buffoonery far inferior to the Elizabethan theatre of Shakespeare. Later it was realised that pre-Reformation early English theatre needed to be re-interpreted as sometimes self-disparaging art which sought to disguise itself for the sake of its own preservation and that there was not a major gulf between the Medieval and the Renaisance. With renewed interest in the plays in the late 19th and 20th Centuries, and especially performance of the plays themselves, scholarship in the area blossomed. The Mystery Plays were effectively banned in 1575, but revived in the 20th Century. A new interest in the performance of medieval plays was stimulated by William Poel's production of Everyman at the Charterhouse in London in 1901; it was paired with a production of Chester's Sacrifice of Isaac, the first performance of a Chester play in modern times. One of Poel's company, Walter Nugent Monck, formed his own company and staged versions of Chester's Nativity, Shepherds, and Magi plays in Bloomsbury Hall, London, in 1906. Monck wrote to the Chester Archaeological Society offering to produce the whole cycle in the traditional manner over three days at Whitsun 1907. The proposal, which must be seen against the background of Chester's music festivals and the city's growing concern with its past, would have resulted in the first complete revival of any English play-cycle. The Society organized a public meeting chaired by the bishop to discuss it. Although the dean of Chester opposed the production, the cathedral organist, Joseph Cox Bridge, supported it, and a number of Cestrians who had seen Everyman in London or on tour reported favourably on the production. Following the meeting, the three 'Nativity' plays were performed at the Chester Music Hall on 29th November 1906 to test local reactions. An edition of the performance-text by Bridge was published to accompany the production. The production was enthusiastically received by most (as reported in the The Chester Courant and Advertiser for North Wales), although there were some objections - notably by the Dean John Lionel Darby. But the society then decided that the cost of staging the full cycle was too high and the scheme fell-though.



Chambers' coverage of the Chester Mystery Plays is quite interesting, if not always accurate. He touches briefly on the well-known plays but then turns to discuss in detail the much lesser known "Chester's Triumph in Honour of her Prince", which is possibly best described as a "unique work", beginning with an actor climbing the spire of St Peter and doing a handstand at the summit. This was played in 1610, in honour of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales who was the eldest son of James VI and I, King of England and Scotland, and his wife Anne of Denmark. Henry was not present for the performance - he was at his residence at Richmond on St Georges Day (23rd April) 1610 when the triumph was performed. On the 4th June 1610 Henry took part in a lavish ceremony which celebrated his coming of age and creation as Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.

Another noted "pageant" at Chester was the 1536 "Triumph" of "Queen Dido" as performed in the mayorality of Sir Lawrence Smith. It is one of several public performances noted by Hemingway:


 * "There were besides these scripture dramas, others of a profane character which were acted occasionally on special occasions. The Shepherd's Play was acted in St John's church yard in 1515; in 1529 the play of Robert Cicell was performed at the High Cross; on the Sunday after Midsummer day 1563, the "History of Eneas and queen Dido" was played on the Rood eye, set out by one William Crofton, gentleman, and one Mr Mann, Master of Arts. In l577, the "Shepherd's Play" was performed before the Earl of Derby at the High cross, and other triumphs on the Rood eye. And in 1589, a play was performed at the High cross, called the story of "Kinge Ebranke with all his sonnes."

Hemmingway's seemingly amusing reference to Robert Cecil is actually probably intended to refer to "Robert of Sicily". Ormerod contains essentially the same information, which he lifts directly from Magna Brittanica by Daniel and Samuel Lysons.

"Triumphs", such as the "History of Eneas and queen Dido" were large, spectacular events in which the visual impact was more important than the text. Triumphs on the Roodee were among the entertainments seen by Henry Stanley, earl of Derby, in 1577. There is little surviving information on the 1563 Triumph, but it appears to have been as spectacular as would be expected. As, with one exception, no payments for it are recorded in the Chester corporation or guild records, mayor's book, etc. it may be assumed that it was privately funded. The exception is in the City Treasurers accounts for 1563/4 (ZTAR 1/11) where there is an "item paid master mayre at midsomer for the trivmthe: 26s and 8p". There is an associated note of 14s being spent on gunpowder.

In Medieval and Tudor times, Chester’s magnificent Midsummer Watch Parade was renowned throughout the country. First held during the mayoralty of Richard Goodman in 1498, it was organised by the City Guilds and took place in the years when the famous Chester Mystery Plays were not performed. The outstanding features of the show were the Giants – enormous structures made of buckram and pasteboard and carried by two or more men. Giants were a common feature of Tudor pageantry in England and Europe, but Chester was unique in that the city paraded a whole family of Giants – the Father, the Mother and two Daughters. There were also fantastic giant Beasts including the Unicorn, the Elephant, the Camel and the Dragon. Originally the Dragon was beaten by six naked boys, but this practice was banned in the late 16th century. The Midsummer show seems to have originated 1498-9 when Chester was visited by Prince Arthur visited the city with his page Thomas Cowper, although the visit was apparently from August 1498 until September of the same year. Thomas Cowper was Page of Honour to Prince Arthur (19/20 September 1486 – 2 April 1502), Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester and Duke of Cornwall. As the eldest son and heir apparent of Henry VII of England, Arthur was viewed by contemporaries as the great hope of the newly established House of Tudor. His mother, Elizabeth of York, was the daughter of Edward IV, and his birth cemented the union between the House of Tudor and the House of York. The Midsummer Watch Parade survived much longer than the now world-famous Mystery Plays, which were banned in 1575 and not revived until recent times. In 1599, Mayor Henry Hardware prohibited the Parade and ordered the Giants to be broken up. However, so popular was the show that it was revived the next year and continued until the 1670s. The Midsummer Watch Parade was revived in the 1990's, with the first new giant was taken for a walk through the streets of Chester at midsummer 1989. A second giant was made at Lache Junior School, a unicorn at Lache Adventure Playground and a Dragon at NACRO New Careers Training in 1990. The parade at midsummer that year was the first for over 300 years. The Winter Watch Parade was re-created by the Council in the 1990’s.

The "Book of Music" from the Pageant features the Chester Waits with recorders on its cover. Town waits or city waits were in former times in England and Scotland the watchmen who patrolled during the night, using a musical instrument to show they were on duty and to mark the hours. The instrument also probably ensured that anyone they might come across would not be surprised and assault them. This simple task later developed as the waits added more instruments and became more proficient at playing them.The usual instrument of the waits was the shawm; its loud and piercing sound suiting it to outdoor playing. They also in some cases played string instruments, and were also sometimes noted for their singing, as at Norwich. Their instruments also varied, but were for the main part loud and penetrating wind instruments such as the shawm, which was so closely associated with them that it was also known as the "wait-pipe". The "Book of Music" shows recorders which are very similar to those in the Grosvenor Museum. These were made by the French recorder maker Peter Bressan (c. 1650-1731), who moved to London at the end of the 17th century and probably made these recorders not long after. Their importance lies in their fine workmanship and the fact that four of the six comprise a complete set. The set belonged to the Cholmondeley family of Cheshire and was found in an attic around 1845. It was given to the Chester and North Wales Archaeological Society whose collections later passed into the ownership of the Grosvenor Museum.

Back in 1910 the city had resisted holding a pageant for several years. In 1907, Chester’s Mayor had declared that he thought 'pageants were overdone at the present time'. Yet, only two years later, the Council changed its mind.

The "Episodes"
The pageant illustrated the history of Chester with a series of eight historical "re-enactments" of events concerning the city. All of these have a "proessional character" with characters making an entrance. In some cases this required a little re-writing of history to provide elements of drama. Pageants were usually one-off events: they may have been staged several times over the course of their run, but it was rare for them to become annual, or even regular, events. However, their legacies were significant, both for communities and individuals. As in other cases the Chester Pageant brought the community together behind performed fabrications of the local past and its folk traditions, linked to wider national narratives. The choice of which elements of history are selected for portrayal, as in the case of the sculptures at the Town Hall in Chester, says much about how a community perceives itself. The perception of "Whig History" at the time presented history as a journey from a dark and terrible past to a "glorious present" with modern forms of liberal democracy and constitutional monarchy. Thus the depictions play up some elements (including some fictions) and downplay others.

The Prologue


The pageant opened with the entrance of "Chester", in an allegorical sense. The character was played by Cecil T. Parker, the Duke of Westminster's agent (and his nephew). Parker had a prominent role in the Agricultural Show held at Chester and history provides a mixed picture of him. He seems a tireless worker, but managed to get on the wrong side of John Douglas with whom her diagreed with over the construction of "Parker's Buildings" on Foregate Street. Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster supported the pageant, although it was not a happy time for him: his only son, Edward, died aged 4 in 1909. There was another notable death just before the pageant - that of king Edward VII on the 6th May 1910. As Barbara Tuchman noted of King Edward in "The Guns of August", his funeral, held on 20 May 1910, marked "the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank ever gathered in one place and, of its kind, the last."

The pageant begins with the entrance of the Band, followed by the Chorus: all take their places on the 'Stand'. The National Anthem is then played at the conclusion of which "Chester", followed by "his party", ride in from "the further end of the ground". Telephones were used to communicate instructions to performers and synchronise events. Behind him "in three rows" come the Gates, the Walls, and the Pinnacles, then all of the attendants. The Gates included the Hon. Sir Savage Lloyd Mostyn and three others), The Walls were 4 men, The Pinnacles played by 10 women and the Attendants of Chester included 6 men and 7 women. The character of Chester introduces the pageant in spoken verse with the Gates, Pinnacles and Walls acting as a rhetorical chorus. They then notice the absence of the River Dee and disperse across the ground to look for her while the choir sings. The Dee is important for a forthcoming scene with king Edgar and as the performance does not take part on the banks of the river this needs to be dealt with in a clever way, added to the semi-comic "where is she" hunt.

Deva - the personification of the River Dee, would have been familiar to the audience. In the 16th Century Willam Camden wrote:


 * The river Dee, called in Latin Dava, in British Dyfyr-dwy , that is, the water of Dwy , breeding very great plenty of Salmons, ariseth out of two fountaines in Wales, and thereof men thinke it tooke the name. For dwy in their tongue signifieth two. Yet others, observing also the signification of the word, interpret it Blac-water , others againe Gods water or divine water. But although Ausonius noteth that a Spring hallowed to the Gods was named Diuvona in the ancient Gaules tongue (which was all one with the British), and in old time all rivers were reputed Διοπετεῖς, that is, Descended from Heaven , yea and our Britans yeelded divine honour unto rivers, as Gildas writeth, yet I see not why they should attribute Divinitie to this river Dwy above all others.

The name of the river was recorded in the 13th century (in mainstream Middle English orthography, lacking the letters v and w) as flumen Dubr Duiu; many sources state that the name appears to derive from the Brythonic dēvā: "River of the Goddess" or "Holy River". The river is personified as the war and fate goddess Aerfen. It is generally accepted that the river name inspired the name of fortress at Roman Chester - Deva Victrix. The word Diva entered the English language in the late 19th century. It is derived from the Italian noun diva, a female deity and can also refer to a celebrated female singer; a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and now, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music.

Nymphs, followed by the goddess Dee and, at the end of this procession, the Tritons, all then enter followed by the fairies from different points of the arena. At the conclusion of the choir's song, Dee addresses Chester saying "...Chester dear, at thy request I am here". A dialogue in verse then ensues between Chester and the Dee; this ends with Chester announcing the first episode and all dispersing from the ground.

Agricola Returns to Deva After Defeating the Ordovices, AD 78
Arriving in midsummer of 77, Agricola discovered that the Ordovices of north Wales had virtually destroyed the Roman cavalry stationed in their territory. He immediately moved against them and defeated them. His campaign then moved onto Anglesey where he subjugated the entire island, presumably with considerable violence. Almost two decades earlier, Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus had attempted the same but Roman forces had to withdraw in 60CE because of the outbreak of the Boudican rebellion. All this is historically accurate.

In the scene portrayed in the pageant Agricola is engaged in business with his officers in Roman Chester. A "Briton" steals up behind him, and Agricola turns only just in time to save him­self from assassination. The native is seized by the angry soldiers, and we gather that the motive of the man’s action is to avenge his bride, who had been "flagrantly insulted" by a centurion. The centurion is under arrest, but the Briton mistrusts the honesty of imperial justice, where the life of so important an officer is at stake and only a native woman has been, presumably, raped. Agricola has the clemency to forgive the assault up himself and "vindicates the honour of his race" by having the centurion brought to immediate trial and sending him to his death within the hour.

There is no historical evidence that the incident portrayed took place. Ayako Yoshino has remarked that the treatment of the Romans and their relationship with the native Britons in the pageant was intended to underline the inherent nobility of the British, foreshadow Britain's later greatness, and demonstrate the assimilation of classical virtues within the indigenous culture. In oher words to demonstrate the justice of the British Empire. It is also worth noting that from November 1905 to March 1906, the future George V Who became king just before the pageant) toured British India, where he was disgusted by racial discrimination and campaigned for greater involvement of Indians in the government of the country.

The music played at the conclusion of this scence underlines British imperial power being the "Invocation of Sabrina" (Henry Lawes) written for the staging of John Milton's Masque, now called Comus. Few would recognise the connection with water-sprites and just hear the "Elizabethan" tune. Lawes was elder brother of fellow composer William Lawes who was "casually shot" by a Parliamentarian in the rout of the Royalists at Rowton Heath, near Chester, on 24 September 1645.



King Eadgar on his Imperial Progress With Queen Aelfthryth Receives the Homage of Tributary Princes, AD 973
The storyline of this episode elaborated on the ascendancy of the Anglo-Saxon monarch as overlord of the British Isles. The concomitant notion that the English nation with its ancient pedigree was the cornerstone of modern British identity would not have been lost on the audience.

On the pageant field, stagecraft was required to represent the drama, with elves and fairies symbolizing the banks of the Dee and the monarchs seeming to row a barge that was actually on wheels and mechanically driven. On Wednesday evening of pageant week Chester Council decided to put on a more lifelike dramatisation by illuminating the river Dee itself. This caused a bit of a row over cost as neither the council nor the pageant were willing to pay for the illuminations, but in the end they went ahead, financed by a special 'Mayor's Fund', which gathered donations. During this display, the banks of the Dee were illuminated with thousands of coloured electric lights covering bridges and bankside buildings for a two-mile stretch, during which the episode's performers re-enacted the arrival of Edgar.

As described by the paper read before the Historical Society (see link below) the pageant depicts how:


 * "Two years before the close of his peaceful reign, he had a splendid coronation at Bath at the hands of the masterful Dunstan, who, in those days, was “the power behind the throne.” Then, as King of the English and over-lord of many princes, Edgar came to Chester by sea, to receive the homage of those who held their titles under him. The ceremony in this City must have rivalled in brilliance and impressiveness even the crowning at Bath, by which it had been preceded. All the princes of the Isle of Albion came to render their homage and take their oaths of allegiance, and they themselves rowed Edgar in the Royal barge up the Dee to the Collegiate Church of St. John, where was witnessed a scene of splendour such as never had been known in these realms."

In reality Edgar did have his boat trip on the Dee.

Hugh Lupus, with St Anselm, Founds the Abbey of St Werburgh, AD 1093
Hugh of Avranches was given a Palatine county with the power to make and break any law save treason in return for bankrolling Duke William's Invasion in 1066, Hugh built castles in England and made a poor job of invading Wales. He managed to arrange the marriage of his son into the monarchs family, but this was to end in tragedy. The Grosvenors claimed to be descended from him. There are several versions of this story. The one the Grosvenors themselves first put forward (in 1389) is that their ancestor was Gilbert (Gros) Venour, who they claimed was a cousin of Hugh. There is very little evidence that Gilbert actually existed.

The Welsh called him Hugh Flaidd (Hugh the Wolf or Hugh Lupus) and a wolf's head appears on his arms. In an 1086 engraving of the coat of arms the artist has gave the head of the wolf a wide grin, which might be mistaken for that of a cat - this has been suggested as the origin of the Cheshire Cat. As regards Hugh, Hemingway quotes the following:


 * He was, "saith Ordericus, not only liberal, but profuse; he did not carry a family with him, but an army. He kept no account of receipts or disbursements. He was perpetually wasting his estates; and was much fonder of falconers and huntsmen, than of cultivators of land, and holy men, and by his gluttony he grew so excessively fat, that he could hardly crawl about.

The pageant portrayed how the Earl made amends for his dissolute life by enabling Chester to become an important ecclesiastical centre. Hugh did found (or re-found) the Abbey which later became the Cathedral with the somewhat reluctant help of Anselm. The Chester Annales record the foundation thus:


 * In hoc anno venit dompnus Anselmus abbas Ecclesiæ Beccensis Angliam qui sepius ante venerat in Angliam, veniens itaque tunc Angliam Anselmus a multis acclamatus archiepiscopus, quitanti honoris onus humiliter fugiens, rogatu nobilis principis, comitis Hugonis Cestriam venit, ibique abbatiam in honorem Sanctæ Werburgæ fundavit, et monachis ibidem congregatis Ricardum monachum Beccensem primum abbatem instituit. Quo facto, in eodem anno in reditu suo a Cestria, archiepiscopus Cantuariensis factus est. (1093 In this year the lord Anselm, abbot of the church of Bec, came to England, who before this had frequently been in England. On his coming to England this last time, Anselm was acclaimed by many as archbishop, but, humbly desiring to escape the burden of so great an honour, on the invitation of the noble prince, earl Hugh, he came to Chester, and there founded the abbey in honour of S. Werburg, and, having assembled the monks together, he appointed Richard, a monk of Bec, the first abbot. Having done this, in the same year, upon his return from Chester, he was made archbishop of Canterbury.)

In reality the situation was rather more complex. When about to return to Bec, Anselm was refused permission by the then king (William Rufus) but the following year, when the king fell ill (and believed himself dying) Anselm was nominated to the then vacant see of Canterbury. The reluctant Anselm was finally consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093 (this was a disaster for William as the two did not get on). From an early period the monks of St. Werburgh's claimed that Earl Hugh I had granted them the right to hold a fair on the three days around the feast of St. Werburg's translation on 21 June. Robert of Torigny's De Immutatione Ordinis Monachorum records that "Hugo vicecomitis Abrincatensis postea…comes Cestrensis" also founded "abbatiam Sancti Severi in Constantinensi episcopatu" - Saint-Sever in Normandy. Although it has been suggested that Hugh became a monk at St Werburg in Chester, four days before he died (1101), the Chester Annales simply records his death:


 * Defuncto Hugone comite cestrensi principe nobili. Ricardus puer vij annorum comitatum suscepit (1101 The noble prince Hugh, earl of Chester, being dead, Richard, a boy of seven years of age, inherited the earldom.)

There is a "slight" problem with the charter of Abbey, which like many such documents goes to great lengths to ensure that the grant is perpetual and cannot be reversed later. The charter ends:


 * "Et ut hc omnia essent rata et stabilia in perpetuum, ego Come Hugo et mei Barones confirmavim us (&c.), ita quod singuli nostrum propria manu, in testimonium posteris signum in modum Cruc is facerunt:"

..and is signed by the earl himself; Richard of Avranches (his son); Hervey, bishop of Bangor ; Ranulf de Meschines (his nephew, who eventually inherited the earldom); Roger Bigod; Alan de Perci; William Constabular (William FitzNeil - Baron of Halton); Ranulph Dapifer; William Malbanc (Baron of Nantwich}; Robert FitzHugh (Baron of Malpas); Hugh FitzNorman; Hamo de Masci (Baron of Dunham-Massey); and Bigod de Loges. The little problem is that the charter cannot date from 1093 and be signed by Richard of Avranches (who was only seven years old in 1101). This problem is solved if the charter is dated later than 1093 and merely confirms the earlier grant - but then the problem arises that Robert FitzHugh may have been dead by then. However it should be remembered that mediaeval monks were known to fake charters at times.

Archbishop Baldwin Preaches the Crusade at Chester AD 1189
In 1188 King Henry II of England called for a tax to support the Third Crusade, following the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187. It was collected at the rate of a tenth of all the property and income of any person not vowing to go on crusade. It was popularly known as the "Saladin tithe" and was the most extensive tax ever collected in England up to that point. Being a tithe and not a secular tax, it was collected by dioceses rather than by shires. Baldwin of Forde, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was especially blamed for its harshness. As well as avoiding the tax, going on crusade was an opportunity for travel, wanton violence and plunder, remission for past sins that might otherwise might lead to damnation, and the gain of freedom for serfs. Not going on crusade could be viewed as cowardice.

Gerald of Wales was appointed to the entourage of Baldwin on a mission to travel through Wales in order to raise money and recruit troops for the Crusade. Gerald praised Baldwin as "distinguished for his learning and religion", but also claimed that he was gloomy and nervous. Baldwin had a long-standing row with some of his clerics which caused the chronicler Gervase of Canterbury to characterise him as "a greater enemy to Christianity than Saladin". Though the Archbishop was to celebrate Mass in the four cathedrals in Wales, he was assisted by the worthy Gerald who could summon up a sermon with a fluency of speech in both Latin and French; though how much of these tongues was familiar to the local knights and common folk is not in evidence. The jester at the court of Rhys ap Gruffudd was of the opinion that if Gerald had preached in Welsh there would not have been a man left who would not have joined the cause. A number promised to go, but when the time came, almost all those who had agreed to join the crusade found some excuse not to go. No one made more fuss about this than Gerald.

Gerald recounts his six-week journey step-by-step in his delightful Itinerarium Kambriae (The Journey Through Wales). It is estimated that the journey would have covered over 760 miles. The text records the journey itself, but is primarily composed of historical, topographical, and anecdotal material relating to the areas through which the two men passed. The route tended to follow the coast and the Marcher borders with very little travel in the interior. This engagement on the ground in Wales also seems to have inspired his Descriptio Kambriae (The Description of Wales), a text valuable for being, among other things, one of the finest pieces of ethnography written in the Middle Ages. During his travels in Wales Gerald collected many strange tales of mysterious afflictions and miraculous cures, fortune-telling fish and weird hybrids.

Gerald was in Chester with Baldwin at Easter 1188. This was a complicated period in the history of the abbey and Balwin was involved in the various schemes and plots, which are discussed in more detail on the page relating to Lucian the Monk. Both Gerald and the pageant are silent on these matters in their description of the visit.

Prince Edward, First Royal Earl of Chester, and Princess Eleanor, Visit Chester, AD 1256
According to the pageant, Prince Edward — son of Henry III and first Earl of Chester — came to the city in order to accept the fealty of the Welsh Princes. In this particular retelling, loyalty was given with some reluctance on the part of the Welsh. This supposed visit underlined the historic associations of Cheshire with Wales and the fact that the Princedom of Wales had, since Edward's time, been coupled with the Chester Earldom. The episode's narrative anticipated the eventual quashing of the Welsh princedoms and, yet again, the dominance of England and its ruler.

Richard II is Brought A Prisoner to Chester by Henry Bolingbroke, AD 1399
In this episode the last Plantagenet, Richard II, appeared as the prisoner of his Lancastrian successor, Henry IV. This scene seems to imply that loyalties were divided in Chester but that Henry won the day and the support of the majority in the city at the time.

This is a considerable distortion of the facts.

(a) King James I visits Chester, AD 1617; (b) The Midsummer Revels (c. AD 1620)

 * "all the freaks of the revels were on display, including four marvellous giants in fearsome attire, a huge dragon vomiting fire, a ship merchant's mount, a camel, an elephant and castle, and numerous other strange devices, guarded by guild boys with banners"

Performance Art in Chester

 * Chester Mystery Plays;
 * Queen Dido;
 * Chamber's Book of days;
 * Shakespeare and Chester;
 * Midsummer Watch Parade;
 * Minstrel Court;

The Episodes

 * Timeline for Chester;
 * River Dee;
 * Roman Chester;
 * Edgar's Field;
 * Hugh of Avranches and the Cathedral
 * Gerald of Wales and Bishop Baldwin;
 * Richard II and the story of his Royal Treasure;
 * Charles II and the Civil War;

Online

 * Chester Historical Pageant;
 * Joe Smoe's excellent history;
 * Chester Pageant 1910.: Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society 17. Vol 17, pp. 107-119
 * The Music of the 1910 Chester Historical Pageant;
 * "History taught in the pageant way": education and historical performance in twentieth-century Britain;
 * Chester Waits

Others

 * Historical Pageants and the Medieval Past in Twentieth-Century England: The English Historical Review, Volume 133, Issue 563, August 2018;
 * The Place of the Past in English Culture c. 1890-1914: Past & Present, No. 186 (Feb., 2005),
 * The Pageant of History: Staging the Local Past, 1905–39: from "Filming and Performing Renaissance History";