Pepper Street

Category : Street Category : Article





The record of the "names of the streets and lanes in the days of KIng Edward III" lists Pepper Street as follows:


 * "PEPPER STREET goeth out of Bridge street upon the south side of the church of Saint Michael and putteth over Fleshmonger's lane to Wolfield gate in the walls of the said city the which gate some time had a hollo grate with a bridge putteth upon Souter's loode and up Saint John street and Saint John's lane this gate was closed up for so much as a young man in the summer season take a mayres daughter haire out of Pepper street as she was playing at the hall amongst other maidens and fled with her away and after he married the same maid."

The rest of that story is discussed under "Wolfgate".

Both the Wolfgate and Pepper Street were decayed and inconveniently narrow by the 1960's, when the Newgate was cut through the walls and Pepper Street was widened.

Former Methodist Chapel
There is only one remaining building of architectural note in Pepper Street, and that is the old "New Connection" Church. It opened in 1835 having been designed by William Cole, and closed shortly after World War One, when the building was sold. For many years the chapel was hidden inside the facade of a later motor garage and was only "rediscovered" during conversion work in 1984, when another part of the building became a "Habitat" store (now closed). As of 2014 it was vacant (and being rapidly overgrown with Buddleja davidii (Buddleja). It has been said that in 1836 Joseph Hemingway considered this the most handsome chapel in Chester. However, in his "Panorama" (1838) Hemingway notes the following, after writing about one Methodist church:


 * "The other stands in Pepper street it is built of stone in a neat style and was erected in 1827 Mr Sim is the pastor but the congregation is small".

However he later adds:


 * "This body of people have lately erected a place of worship in Pepper street which in point of elegance and dimensions is superior to any other dissenting chapel in the city it is fronted with stone and supported by four beautiful fluted pillars. The building was begun in September 1834 and opened for service August 23rd 1835 At the various services connected with the opening the collections amounted to 264 7s id a sum larger in amount than ever was known on a similar occasion in the city."

An aircraft factory is perhaps the last thing you would expect in Pepper Street, but parts of the Spitfire were manufactured here during WW2, when the motor garage was used for that purpose.

Almshouses




To the East of the St Micheal's Church, in Pepper Street, stood William Jones’ almshouses, established in 1658 for 6 women and 4 men, all of whom had to be:


 * “a poor and old inhabitant, unmarried, decayed and impotent” and swear that they did not indulge in “any Sins or Vices such as Adultery, Drunkenness and Swearing”.

Lion Brewery and Newagate
The car park just before New Gate stands on the site of the "Chester Lion Brewery Co Ltd", Pepper Street, founded 1642. It was said that underneath it was a tunnel used to sally the besiegers during the Civil War (although many have looked for this tunnel, none have found it). On the roof of the lift shaft you can see the statue of a lion. The story of the lion is told as follows:


 * "The figure of the lion used to be owned by the Lion Brewery, which was later taken over by Bent's Brewery. It is reported by some people that there were two lions on the old brewery, but there is some disagreement between historians over this fact. Both, or one, stood upon a tall tower on the site of the existing multi-story car park from the 1840s. When it was known that the brewery had to be demolished, Chester Civic Trust stepped in to save the lion sculpture. The chair of the group, Gertrude Jones, asked permission from the Duke of Westminster (who must have held an interest in the brewery), if she could arrange for the rescue of the lion. John Tomlinson, the secretary of the Chester Civic Trust, arranged for the Royal Engineers to get the sculpture down, because he had connections with the army. In 1971 the sculpture was sent to the stonemasonry firm of Robin Clegg to be mended and cleaned. The lion was then offered to Chester Zoo for safekeeping, but the zoo declined the offer. Next, it was offered to Chester Cathedral, because there were plans to make a garden for mothers and children on the site of the present Addleshaw tower. The Civic Trust has designed the garden and won £500 as the second prize in a national competition for urban improvement. However, the architect of the diocese was horrified at this idea, and insisted on the Addleshaw Bell Tower instead. The £500 for the garden was sent back to the competition organisers, and the Civic Trust had problems finding a place for the lion to be sited. Finally, Mr Tomlinson said that he would keep it in his garden, at 11 Curzon Park, Chester. Mr Tomlinson wanted to take the lion with him when he moved away, but the chair of the Civic Trust refused. For a short time the lion remained with the new occupants, Mr and Mrs Rankin. The chair spoke to the Duke of Westminster to ask if he wanted the lion atop his new business venture, the Pepper Street Car Park. The Duke agreed, and the Civic Trust arranged the final re-siting onto the car park lift tower. On 25 October 1971, the work was lifted to the top of the 70 ft column of the Pepper Street Car Park buildings. The multi-story car park was constructed for Grosvenor Developments by Laings, and finished shortly after the lion was placed on top of the column."





Links and Sources

 * Listed building record at British Listed Buildings;
 * Virtual Stroll has some photo's;
 * proposed new development;