Handbridge

A Brief History
There is evidence of Iron Age activity in Handbridge but the first known settlement was built by the Romans around 74 AD, shortly after the fortress of Deva. Handbridge was built on a large sandstone outcrop and the site was used as a stone quarry until the end of the fourth century, excavating stone to build the City Walls  and  buildings of Roman Chester. From this era remains the carved Minerva Shrine (now in Edgar's Field).

Viking Handbridge


There is some slight evidence that the Vikings (in the form of Hiberno-Norse migrants) settled in Handbridge, based on names with a possible Norse origin. Edgar's Field was at one time "Ketill's Croft" and also in Handbridge is "Grymesdichw Haye" - Grimr's ditch. Handbridge traditionally measured land in Carucates named for the "carruca" heavy plough that began to appear in England in the 9th century, introduced by the Vikings. Elsewhere in Chester land was measured in more standard Anglo-Saxon "hides". The Domesday Survey records the three ancient manors of Overleigh, Netherleigh and Royal Handbridge, but records land in Carucates.

It is possible that "Devil's Ditch" in Handbridge is what is commonly referred to as a "linear earthwork", but very little is known about it other than it being marked on early OS maps. Elsewhere it Britain there are other "Devil's Ditches" and "Devil's Dykes". In many cases Devil’s Dyke or Ditch is a post-medieval name: as so often, a supernatural provenance is ascribed to a monument, landform or structure whose original purpose is lost in the past. Thus the ditch could be a drain, a defensive earthwork from the time of the Viking/Hiberno-Norse occupation of Handbridge or even some remnant of Civil War defences.

"Burnt Town"
According to a popular legend the site was regularly pillaged by the Welsh of what is now the neighbouring county of Flintshire, who frequently burnt down the suburb, leading to the Welsh name for Handbridge, Treboeth, meaning "burnt town". Its English name appears to be derived from the Old English for bridge (bruge) at a rock (hane).

Civil War
Handbridge played a part in the Civil War. It was burnt down by Easter of 1645, but also appears to have been burnt in November 1643 as a defensive measure and this, rather than the Welsh, may be the reason for the name of "Treboeth". A defensive fortification was built near the south end of the Old Dee Bridge and was commanded late in the siege by a Lieutenant-Colonel John Robinson (at times the governor of Holt Castle. It's exact location is not known.

Sir Thomas Smith and his son claimed that he had an estate in Handbridge and Claverton worth £100p.a. "before the troubles". The papers state:


 * "...his houses in Chester for which he had compounded, many of them were either pulled down or burnt, and were yielding no rents nor would they until they were repaired –he considered his rents were lowered by these damages £35 a year."

In 1650, church surveys showed that 65% of sites in Handbridge were vacant spaces, evidence of severe damage that had not yet been rectified.

Later Handbridge


Before the Victorian era the suburb itself was considered a poor area, with one contemporary commentator, Joseph Hemingway, describing the area as:


 * "almost exclusively inhabited by the lower orders"

The population were primarily industrial workers who worked in the many factories that surrounded Chester, including the tobacco works on the Dee banks, and the neighbouring area of Saltney. Cobbled Greenway Street is the traditional home of Chester's fishing community. Once known as Sty or Stile Lane, its current name is maybe after Joseph Greenway who rented the salmon cage (a piece ofequipment for catching salmon) in the 1840s. The river below the weir was an important fishery up to the 20th century. At one time the riverside here would have had fishing nets hung out to dry.

The development of Queen's Park changed the nature of Handbridge. The Suspension Bridge was originally built in 1852 at the instigation of Enoch Gerrard, Esq., the "projector and proprietor" of Queen's Park, the developing suburb south of the River Dee. The imposing red sandstone tower and spire in Handbridge belong to Chester's St Mary-Without-the-Walls. This church was built in 1887 at the expense of the 1st Duke of Westminster. When opened it replaced St Mary-Within-the-Walls as the parish church.

Related Pages

 * Edgar's Field;
 * Minerva Shrine;
 * Old Dee Bridge;
 * Civil War;

Sources and Links

 * Handbridge on Wikipedia;
 * Chester Churches in Handbridge;
 * Handbridge Life: Local website;
 * POINTERS TOWARDS THE STRUCTURE OF AGRICULTURE IN HANDBRIDGE AND CLAVERTON PRIOR TO PARLIAMENTARY ENCLOSURE