Category:Military History

A category for all things military on the wiki. The city of Chester, from its essentially Roman foundation at a strategic crossing point on the River Dee has a strong thread of military history stretching from Roman Chester through the Dark Ages, the Viking period and the Civil War. Close to the border with Wales it has, as befits a border town, one of the best-preserved City Walls in the country, despite them having been fought over on several occasions. The border has fluctuated between the River Gowy, the River Dee and possibly even the nearby mid Cheshire Sandstone Ridge along which even a short walk along will touch on many interesting sites, from hill-forts to a nuclear bunker.

Military History
The Romans left around 400 with the fortress having been the base for Legio II and Legio XX. During the Dark Ages which followed, the Battle of Chester took place in 616. The city was re-fortifed by the Saxons under Æthelflæd in the early 10th Century, her brother Edward the Elder died at Farndon after fighting at Chester and the Battle of Brunanburh was probably fought just north of the city. During the 11th Century it became the home to powerful Saxon earls. Equally powerful Norman Earls of Chester replaced these after 1066, when Chester was the last city to fall to the Normans, who promptly added Chester Castle to the defenses of the city as one of a string of Cheshire Castles along the River Dee. Local legend has it that Harold II survived the Battle of Hastings to live out the remainder of his life at the Hermitage.



During the time of Edward I Chester was an important base for the conquest of Wales. Later it was a much-favored city of Richard II (who was eventually imprisoned in Chester - leaving legends of his Royal Treasure being hidden nearby) and a source of revolt for his successors. Once a major port, Chester declined but was still important during the Civil War when a protracted siege and a further major battle took place. Chester resident Roger Whitley (1618 – 17 July 1697) was a royalist officer in the English Civil War, attaining the rank of Major General (2nd in command of their forces in the battle for the Isle of Anglesey) and was closely involved throughout the 1650s in plans for a royalist uprising against the Interregnum and Protectorate regimes. He had accompanied the young King Charles II into exile and carried the kings orders into Cheshire on the rising of forces, known as The Booth Rising, at the eve of the Restoration.

One often overlooked item of military history in Chester is the grave of Thomas Gould, who is buried under the roundabout between Grosvenor Street and Grosvenor Road. This is the site of the graveyard of St Bridget (since demolished). The grave marker is shaped as a casket and inscribed:


 * IN MEMORY OF THOMAS GOULD LATE OF THE 52ND REGT. OF FOOT LI. DIED IN NOVEMBER 1865 AGED 72 YEARS 46 OF WHICH WERE SPENT IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY. HE WAS PRESENT IN THE FOLLOWING ENGAGEMENTS. VIMERA, CORUNA, CROSSING THE GOE NEAR ALMEIDA, BSACO, PUMBAL, REDINHA, CONDEIXA, FOZ D'AVOCA, SARUGAL, FUENTES DONOLE, STORMING OF CUIDAD RODRIGO AND RADASOS SALMANCA, SAN MUNOS (fallen prisoner), ST MILAN, VITTORIA, PYRENEES, STORMING OF THE FRENCH ESTABLISHMENT OF VERA (wounded), NIVELLE, PASSAGE OF THE NEVE ORTHES, TARBES, TOULOUSE AND WATERLOO. HE RECEIVED THE PENINSULA MEDAL WITH 13 CLASPS AND THE WATERLOO MEDAL. THE STONE IS PLACED OVER HIM BY A FEW FRIENDS

The Grosvenor Museum houses the largest collection of Roman tombstones from a single site in Britain. With a few exceptions, all the stones in the gallery had been reused at some time to repair the City Walls. The tombstones on display tell you something about the lives of the soldiers, slaves, women and children who lived in Roman Chester. Chester has a Military Museum which is particularly concerned with the Cheshire Regiment, the Militia and various associated units including the Cheshire Yeomanry, the 3rd Carabiniers, the 5th Royal Iniskilling Dragoon Guards and the Eaton Hall Officer Cadet School. The Medical Museum contains a permanent collection of curiosities from the world of medicine, nursing, midwifery and social work which features an original letter from Florence Nightingale, written from the Crimea in 1856. The "First World War: Returning Home" exhibition commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the conflict and provides an insight into what a soldier invalided back from the Front would have found on his return to Cheshire. Using local examples wherever possible, the exhibition covers aspects such as the psychological effects of war.

HMS Chester was a "Birkenhead" class light cruiser (sometimes called a "Town" class) fought as part of the 3rd Battle Cruiser Squadron at Jutland. Those killed on the Chester included John Travers Cornwell (VC) (8 January 1900 – 2 June 1916), - who died aged 16. Other elements of naval military history in Chester include the "Galeka Bell" which was salvaged from a WWI hospital ship, SS Galeka.

Military People & Places
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