Courts

Category : Article

Besides its own courts, Chester was the location of courts held at Chester Castle for the county at large. In the Middle Ages the county court, presided over by the justice of Chester, was the superior court for the whole county palatine, including the city. The other palatinate court, the Chester exchequer, operated under the authority of the chamberlain of Chester and heard cases concerned, among other matters, with debt. From 1543 the chief justice of Chester held criminal sessions on circuit for Cheshire, Flintshire, Denbighshire, and Montgomeryshire, the equivalent of the assizes held for other circuits and known as the Court of Great Sessions. The sessions for Cheshire were held twice a year at the castle, usually in March or April, and September or October, and as elsewhere were accompanied by much ceremonial and became the focus of the county gentry's social season.

Related Pages

 * Charters;