Frodsham Street

Frodsham Street runs between Foregate Street and Cow Lane Bridge where the road towards Warrington (via Frodsham) becomes Brook Street as it crosses the Canal.



History
Frodsham Street lies in the area of Roman Chester once occupied by a parade ground, just outside of the walls.

In Medieval times the are was occupied by the Kaleyards of the abbey, and a "jousting croft".

Hemingway writing in late Georgian Chester describes it as follows:


 * "The next opening presented by Foregate street is on the north side named Frodsham street; formerly called Cow lane and still more remotely Coole's lane. It is one of the principal entrances into the city from Manchester, Warrington and Frodsham; the houses are generally of the meanest description; the street narrow, filthy, and inconvenient; and but ill accords with the more distant approach at the beautiful hamlet of Flookersbrook, and the respectable appearance of Brook street. This street has excellent capabilities of being widened and improved, there being abundance of vacant ground behind, particularly on the east side, where the houses are most miserable; but as the property has a great number of owners who are generally in humble circumstances, there is no immediate prospect of any material improvement here."

Such was the state of the street that the city fathers decided on a new route from Chester Station along City Road.

The entire south-western section of the street was taken down around 1904 so that the road could be widened.

East Side
On the corner with Foregate Street stands a late modernist style building dating from the late 1950's, built on a location occupied by the "Bear's Paw" (demolished 1956) - its name probably derived from the "Bears Paw" (it is actually a Lion's Paw) said to be used in the coat of arms of the Savage family, Lords of the Manor of Frodsham from the early 17th Century. John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers, a Catholic Royalist and past mayor of Chester, had his seat at Halton Castle and the great manor house at Clifton near Runcorn, called Rocksavage. When Earl Rivers returned to Cheshire after the Civil War with Rocksavage being ransacked and uninhabitable, and Halton Castle dismantled, Earl Rivers retired to Frodsham Castle where he was stripped of the family honours and estates. He died on 10th October 1654. A few hours after his death with his body lying within Frodsham Castle was set on fire and burned down - it was completely destroyed. The side of the building used to bear a "benchmark" used during the "First primary levelling", of England & Wales, and was levelled with a height of 76.4540 feet [23.3032 metres] above mean sea level (Liverpool datum). It was included on the Warrington to Pembroke Docks levelling line. The surveyor's description was "No. 69. Mark on corner of the Bear's Paw Inn, at junction of Frodsham-street and Foregate-street, Chester ; 3.35 ft. above surface" (p521). The adjacent leveling marks are Number 70 in the Cathedral and Number 68 which was at the old Cow Lane Bridge (but has been destroyed).

connect
Foregate Street

Brook Street

Canalside