Whitefriars

History
The following is taken from the proceedings of the Historical Society of Lancashire and Chesshire (1884):

" '''"But still more important discoveries were made at Chester, in May last. At that time Mr. F. Bullin was pulling down an old cottage named "White Friar's Cottage," situated on the north side of the street named White Friars, at the corner of another small street named Holland's Court. A new house was to be built upon the site, and in excavating the cellar for it the various remains now to be described were found. The first 3 feet from the surface yielded nothing of interest, but at that depth the workmen came upon what appeared to have been a fire-place with a moulded hearth-stone, and adjoining to it a floor paved with glazed mediaeval tiles, of a green colour, bearing a variety of geometric, and a few heraldic, patterns. The remains of this floor were slight, only about 3 to 4 square yards being left, and the tiles had evidently been disturbed, as there were comparatively few of them in proper sequence. They were nearly all broken, probably from the fact that the floor had, at some later period, been that of a coal cellar, judging from several inches of slack covering it. The tiles were several hundred in number, and have been identified as belonging to the church of the monastery of White Friars, and are of I4th century date. The excavation extended 10 feet backwards from the street. Between the depth of 4 feet to 7 feet, which was the lowest reached, several fragments of columns, 16 inches in diameter, occurred. At the right-hand furthest corner a portion of a column, 2 feet in diameter, was found at a depth of 5 feet; and inremoving it another portion of a column, of similar diameter but 9 feet in length, was found lying at right angles to it this latter pointing north and south. In the lefthand corner of the excavation a portion of a third column, of the same diameter, was found, pointing in the same direction. In lowering the ground further, a platform, built of massive stones, was brought to light, and upon it were two large stones which had formed the bases of the fallen columns. The stones of this platform, at the point where the bases of the columns occurred, rested upon 2 feet of concrete, which was composed of boulder stones, lime, coarse sand, and gravel, but no pounded tile was in it. The boulders varied from 4 to 18 inches in size. In the other parts the platform foundation was formed of close-laid rough blocks of sandstone, with a layer of sand between them and the rock. The stones forming the bases of the columns weighed about a ton and a half, and the columns were about 14 feet apart. The platform stones were 4 to 5 feet square, and about 2 feet in thickness. The building fronted the present street called White Friars, which was found to be superimposed upon a Roman street, running in the same direction, and the latter was come upon at the lowest level reached, i.e., seven feet. It was composed of broken Roman tile, sandstone, and pebbles, but its width was not ascertained. The portion of the frontage of the building laid bare was 24 feet, but it was traced 14 feet further to the south, under the adjoining house, the builders of which, rather than remove the massive stones of the platform, had thrown an arch over them. In the soil which covered the platform various fragments of a cornice and capitals were found, from which the building would seem to have been in the Corinthian style. The portions of the columns, &c., were very little worn; and from this it has been argued that the building was erected during the latter half of the Roman occupation, and thrown down soon after the departure of the Twentieth Legion from Chester. That it was destroyed by violence seems certain from all the surroundings. In places just above the platform level, a layer of wood charcoal was found, indicating probably that the roof and other woodwork of the building were destroyed by fire. From there being a foot of soil between the mediaeval pavement and the highest part of the Roman level, we should infer that the remains were covered to that depth with soil at the time of the erection of the monastery. Besides the architectural fragments, which were found in the soil covering the platform, there was a great quantity of broken Roman pottery of all descriptions. Samian ware amphorae, mortaria, &c., occurred, but no perfect specimens; also a number of tiles, bearing the stamp of the Twentieth Legion, all more or less broken, and one or two annillae and fibulae, of bronze. Lastly, in the same superincumbent soil thirty-five coins were found, all, with the exception of a "second brass" of Carausius, of the "third brass" series. They were in wretched condition, and only the reverse of one could be made out. They appear to be of the following reigns: Gallienus, 253-268 (1); Postumus, 260-269 (1); Victorinus 269-271, (2); the Tetrici, 271-278 (8); Claudius Gothicus, 268-270 (3) - (one with reverse of CONSECRATIO); Carausius, 286-293 (3); Constantine the Great, 306-337 (5); Constantinopolis, (1). It will be seen that these coins cover a period of about sixty years, between A.D. 260 and A.D. 320. This seems to confirm the idea that the building was not erected until a late period. What was its use? Present appearances would seem to point to the fact that it had been a temple. "'''

Roman Whitefriars
The original street is most likely a survival of the "Via Sagularis" - The Way of the Cloak from Roman Chester: although it may not follow its route exactly. This road is sometimes called the 'intervallum road' as it lay in the space between the rampart and the buildings in the interior of the fort, the intervallum. The via sagularis thus ran around the entire perimeter of the camp within the rampart, encircling the interior buildings. It was possible to use this road to move troops rapidly around. It continues in one direction as Weaver Street and in the other, rather less precisely, by the now vanished Pepper Alley which lay to the north of Pepper Street.

On display at the Grosvenor Museum in Chester is a stone with a figure bearing a shepherd's crook. It is probably Attis, rather than Mithras, and was found built into a cellar wall in White Friars in 1851, close to 169. Most descriptions of the statue claim that he is holding an inverted torch, but Haverfields catalogue states:


 * "170.-Figure of a boy, erect, with legs straight, wearing a Phrygian cap and a tunic to the knees, the right hand on the chest, the left holding up a staff with a curled end; carved in low-relief on a rectangular block 29 inches high by 14 inches wide by 10 inches thick. Found in 1851 in White Friars, built into a cellar wall near that in which 169 was found. Like 169 it is possibly Mithraic; more probably sepulchral. One detail is uncertain: the hand laid on the chest seems to hold something which hangs down. This does not resemble (as some have thought) an inverted torch, but its real character is not easy to decide."

His story is related in different ways. Cybele, the ancient Phrygian Mother of the Gods, was a primal nature goddess worshipped with orgiastic rites in the mountains of central and western Anatolia. The Greeks identified her with their own mother of the gods: the Titaness Rhea. According to Ovid (Fast. iv. 221), Cybele loved the beautiful shepherd, and made him her own priest on condition that he should preserve his chastity inviolate. Atys broke the covenant with a nymph, the daughter of the river-god Sangarius, and was thrown by the goddess into a state of madness, in which he castrated himself. When in consequence he wanted to put an end to his life, Cybele changed him into a firtree, which henceforth became sacred to her, and she commanded that, in future, her priests should be eunuchs. Like Britannia she is often depicted as riding, or next to, a lion. Cybele's temple in Rome, the Temple of Magna Mater, was a prostyle Roman hexstyle Corinthian temple, with columns across the front but without columns along the entire length of both sides.

However, it is unlikely that the building in Whitefriars was a temple of Cybele. The fortress at Chester was always a military base and given the essentially "standard" design of the fortress this is more likely the site of the hospital.

Monastic Whitefriars
The Carmelite priory occupied a site between Commonhall Street, Weaver Street, Whitefriars and Bridge Street; Hollar's Map of Chester shows that the church stood directly on Whitefriars. A tile floor and part of an apse have been found near the eastern end of Whitefriars.

The house was surrendered to Richard Ingworth, bishop of Dover, on 15 August 1538 'without any counsel or constraining but very poverty'. An inventory was made and the visitor removed a small chalice before handing the property over to the mayor. The inventory shows that the house was not as poverty-stricken as that of the Greyfriars and the church was well-equipped with service books, vestments, and altar cloths; there were five altars in the chancel, including Our Lady's altar, two pairs of organs in the choir, three bells in the steeple, and the contents of the vestry included a purse of relics. The buildings yielded little lead, apart from some guttering. Debts amounted to only £8 9s., less than those of the two other friaries. The house owned property outside the precinct which was let out on long leases. It included seven tenements and gardens, an orchard and a barn in St. Martin's parish, and also the carpenters' house which may have been within the precincts. In 1539 rents of the conventual buildings and property amounted to £2 7s. 10d. a year and two former friars were listed among the tenants when the property was sold in 1544 to John Cokkes of London. The site was immediately resold to Fulk Dutton and the buildings were occupied as a dwelling house during the second half of the 16th century; in 1592-3 the site was acquired by Thomas Egerton, the attorney-general, who demolished the church and built a new house. The antiquarian Webb lamented the loss of the church (which was used as a navigation aid) in the following terms:


 * It was a great pitie that the steeple was put away, being a great ornament to the citie. This curious spire steeple might still have stood for grace to the citie, had not private benefit, the devourer of antiquitie, pulled it down with the church, and erected a house for more commoditie, which since hath been of little use, so that the citie lost so goodly an ornament, that tymes hereafter may more talk of it, being the only sea-mark for direction over the bar of Chester.

Joseph Hemingway writes of secret passages linking Whitefriars to Chester Castle:


 * A very popular opinion has long prevailed, that there anuiently existed' subterranean passages between the castle and various public buildings in the city, though for what purpose, or why or when discontinued, is wholly unknown. This idea received the authority of the author of the Polycronicon, who says," In this cyte been ways under erthe, with vowtes and stotie-werke ivonderly wrought; three chambred werkes." In remarking upon this passage, Mr. Pennant observes, that of these not a trace, nor even the least memory is left, notwithstanding the most diligent search and inquiries have been made. None, says he, have ever been discovered, by the frequent sinking of cellars for new buildings on the site of the old ; tradition has delivered no such accounts to us; nor is their exit to be traced beneath the walls in any part of their circumference. It should be recollected, however, that Mr. Pennant wrote upwards of fifty years ago [before 1780], and that since his time, a greater number of reliques of antiquity has been discovered, than before his time. I am not prepared to speak decidedly on the question, but confess I am less sceptical on the affirmative part of it, than formerly. There is some difficulty in accounting for the blocking up of passages and arches several yards below the surface of the ground, without admitting the existence of continuous ways for some purpose or other; and if we cannot ascertain their direct object, yet the palpable fact is not to be denied or evaded. But what has most tended to incline me to a persuasion of the existence of these hollow ways, were the appearances of a subterranean passage, discovered on sinking the cellars for the buildings now standing on the site of the old Lamb-row. Here was found a distinctly marked road, about five feet wide, and more than five yards deep from the level, running the whole length of the building in an oblique direction, and without termination at either end. The road seemed to proceed in a direct line from the site of the old Friary, situate between Commonhall-street and White Friars, taking a slanting direction across the latter, and pointing obliquely across Bridge-street. At the time of sending this sheet to press, the author is engaged in prosecuting a closer research into this subject, the result of which will be given when he comes to notice our antiquities.

Despite many attempts, no-one has ever found these reputed tunnels.

Number 1
originally constructed in 1588 and extended in 1658, part of the building incorporates part of the original Roman walls.

Numbers 3, 5 and 7
A row of three brick cottages, originally circa 1800, rebuilt 1889-90, on a sandstone plinth with a slate roof. They are in two storeys; No. 3 has two windows in the upper storey, and the others have one. There is an entry into a passageway between No. 3 and No. 5. The doorways have pilasters and fanlights. The Proberts, in the 1877 Charles Moston case had got themselves a defence lawyer, Mr J P Cartwright, of Joseph Frank Postlethwaite Cartwright and Thomas Charles Cartwright, solicitors, of 3 Whitefriars, Chester. Cartwright's firm was involved in many cases involving boatmen,

Number 9
Two town houses later recast as one, now office. c1720 with cellars probably of late medieval origin. Brown brick in Flemish bond to front, with grey slate roof hipped to the front. The first storey has a boot-scraper recess, and a door of 6 fielded panels in a panelled case with eared architrave and shaped cornice. The central rainwater head, with upper part of pipe, is lead inscribed JJ 1720; the west rainwater head inscribed FWM 1725 and the pipes are lead. The building is listed in Pigot and co.'s national commercial directory for 1828-9, as being the offices of Joseph Thomas Faithful Strengthfellow, Attorney. By 1887 lawyer, Mr J P Cartwright is listed as having his offices here.

Number 13
An 18th Cent. house, later used as an office, with probable medieval material in the cellars. It is built in brick on a rendered plinth and has a slate roof. The building is in three storeys with a symmetrical three-bay front. The central doorway has fluted pilasters, a pediment, and a fanlight. The windows are sashes with stone sills and wedge lintels. Once the home of Georgina F. Jackson, author of "A Shropshire Word-Book". In 11 years of travelling the county Georgina F. Jackson noted 11,000 Shropshire words, and their pronunciation, for posterity. Prior to Ms Jackson the property was occupied by Mr R. Walker, surgeon dentist.

Numbers 19 and 21
In 1874 you could get French or German lessons at number 19 from Professor W. Georges-Schleinitz: "late French and Classical Master at the Military Academy, Berlin". Number 21 is listed in Pigot and co.'s national commercial directory for 1828-9, as being the premises of Joseph Brown, Pawnbroker. By 1897 it was the home of the Cathedral’s assistant organist, J T Hughes.

Number 31 and 33
Anne Harrison, daughter of Thomas Harrison lived at number 33 and from here wrote (18 September 1851) to John Gibson asking Gibson to make a monument to her father.

Number 41
The east and part of the central bay of a probably symmetrical town house, now with Nos 37 & 39 an office; the redeveloped west bay of the town house forms No.43 c1700, altered. Brown brick in irregular English garden wall bond; grey slate roof, ridge parallel with front. Fhe former central bay projects slightly with partly painted flush stone quoins at its east corner; both bays have painted stone plinth and bevelled floor bands, part cut flush, to second and third storeys. Windows have painted stone sills and wedge lintels with cambered soffits. The presence of the lintel and examination of the mortar lines in the brickwork show that the window was once much larger: in fact, this was previously a pawnbrokers.