Watergate Street





Seacome, Batenham and Hemingway unashamedly copy each other in their descriptions of Watergate Street, so we leave it to Hughes to open this description:


 * "Westward Ho! a few steps and we find ourselves moving along Watergate Street: once, and when Chester was a thriving port, the chief street of the city As with men so "There is a tide in the affairs of streets, Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune" but the tide for Watergate Street has ebbed away and now flows in other and more favoured channels. Still, as we shall presently see this Street is not behind any of its neighbours in absorbing interest. You will perceive that like Eastgate Street it has the Cestrian characteristic on either side its high level Row. The one upon the right hand adjoining St Peter's Church is perhaps as good a specimen as we have now left to us of the Rows of the last century. Had we the time to spare a ramble along this Row and a hole and corner visit to the numerous alleys that intersect it would convince the most sceptical that there is more in Chester than meets the eye. But we must away for see here is an odd looking tenement on the other side of the street inviting our attention..."

The building to which he refers is discussed below.

=Buildings (listed or otherwise)=

High Cross to St Martins Way (North)

 * Booth Mansion north of Watergate Street also accommodated assembly rooms, which as 'Mr. Eaton's Great Room' gave space in the 1750s for such diversions as "rope dancing, fire eating, and a learned dog". It closed in 1758.

Stanley Palace


Stanley Palace was built in 1591 for lawyer Sir Peter Warburton of Grafton, Vice Chancellor of the Cheshire Exchequer and then the city's MP (and also - a relation to the bread bakers). When Warburton died in 1621, the property was inherited by his (sixth) daughter; Elizabeth, who was married to Sir Thomas Stanley, a kinsman of the earls of Derby (hence it is also known as Derby House). On the death of her husband Elizabeth married Sir Richard Grosvenor of Eaton Hall, she died in 1627 at her Black Friars home (probably Stanley Palace) & was buried with the Grosvenors' at Eccleston.



The Stanleys were one of Chester's most influential families. Through their connection with the earls of Derby, they held custody of the nearby Watergate. Stanley Palace stands on the site previously between the Friary's of the Blackfriars and the Greyfriars. Thomas Stanley the first earl of Derby, managed to remain in favour with successive kings throughout the Wars of the Roses until his death in 1504. His estates included what is now Tatton Park in Cheshire, Lathom House in Lancashire, and Derby House in the City of London, now the site of the College of Arms. At Bosworth Field (1485) Thomas, Lord Stanley (he was the stepfather of Henry Tudor) and Sir William Stanley brought a force to the battlefield, but held back while they decided which side it would be more advantageous to support. A night shortly before the battle, asleep in the Blue Boar Tavern, King Richard was supposed to have had a terrible dream in which he was forewarned that all was lost. It is an unlikely story – one of many told about the King. More probable is the story that the Duke of Norfolk was warned cryptically of the Stanley brothers’ coming treachery by a notice pinned on the door of his tent while he slept. This read:


 * "Jacky of Norfolk, be not too bold, For Dickon thy master is bought and sold."

When Richard III saw the treachery unfolding he was urged to flee, but flatly refused: “This day I will die as a King, or win” he is reported to have stated. Spying Henry Tudor with only a few men around him, Richard III gambled everything on personally leading a charge across the battlefield to kill Henry Tudor and end the fight - Richard almost succeeded. However, seeing the king's knights separated from his army - perhaps not more than 100 in all - and open to attack, the Stanleys intervened; Sir William led his men to Henry's aid, surrounding and killing Richard. Richard III's last words were apparently "Treason! Treason! Treason!". After the battle, Richard's circlet was found and brought to Henry Tudor, who was crowned king at the top of Crown Hill, near the village of Stoke Golding.

A later William Stanley is sometimes said to have written (between 1589 and 1613) the plays attributed to William Shakespeare. His brother Ferdinando, also known as Lord Strange and who was to become the fifth Earl of Derby, formed his own group of players known as Lord Strange's Men. Lord Strange's Men was one of the leading companies of the time, by 1592, probably including a little-known actor named "William Shakspur" from Stratford-on-Avon. Eventually, Lord Strange's Men became The Chamberlain's Men and finally The King's Men.


 * Stanley Palace - official site (many pictures);
 * Stanley Palace on Wikipedia;


 * Stanley Palace at English Heritage;