Postcard
The "picture postcard" opens yet another window on local history and this article considers postcards and Chester, both from how postcards can be a useful source of historical fact and their role as a form of "social media". This article takes a single postcard as an example and looks at how it can be analysed from a historical perspective. Much the same analysis can be performed on many other postcards although perhaps not all will lead to as many historical "rabbit-holes" as the instance chosen.
History of Postcards
The classic postcard is intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. This has obvious savings in terms of the material and manufacturing cost as well as the weight of "post" that needs to be transported. Postcards generally have an image printed on one side and a small space for a short message on the back. Production of postcards blossomed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As an easy and quick way for individuals to communicate, they became extremely popular. The study and collecting of postcards is termed deltiology (from Greek deltion, small writing tablet, and the also Greek -logy, the study of).
Cards with messages have been sporadically created and posted by individuals since the beginning of postal services. In 1777, French engraver Demaison published in Paris a sheet of cards with greetings on them, meant to be cut and sent through the local post, but people were wary of "servants" reading messages, so the idea was not very well received. The earliest known picture postcard was a hand-painted design on card created by the writer Theodore Hook. Hook posted the card, which bears a penny black stamp, to himself in 1840 from Fulham (part of London). He probably did so as a practical joke on the postal service, since the image is a caricature of workers in the Post Office.
A Prussian postal official, Heinrich von Stephan, first proposed an "open post-sheet" made of stiff paper in 1865: one side would be reserved for a recipient address, and the other for a brief message. The card would have a pre-printed postage stamp. His proposal was objescted to on grounds of being too radical and officials did not believe anyone would willingly give up their privacy. There was also the complication that each region of German had its own stamps. Von Stephan is also credited with having introduced the telephone to Germany.
Some early postcards in France appear to have been produced so that soldiers could communicate with their families. The lack of an envelope made them easy to censor and kept the cost down. Some sources say that they were re-invented by Léon Besnardeau (1829–1914) at a camp (Conlie) for French soldiers during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. These cards had a lithographed design printed on them containing emblematic images of piles of armaments on either side of a scroll topped by the arms of the Duchy of Brittany and the inscription "War of 1870. Conlie camp. Souvenir of the National Defence. Brittany Army". While these are certainly the first known "picture postcards", there was no space for stamps and no evidence that they were ever posted without envelopes.
Postcards were introduced to Britain in 1870. They were produced in two sizes and drew heavily on the Prussian design. Commissioned by the British Post Office, the cards included an imprinted halfpenny stamp that covered the price of postage and was half that of a letter. They were only printed on one side allowing the message or business correspondence to be printed on the other side. In 1871 around 75 million postcards were sent in Britain and volumes increased vastly to numbers over 800 million a year by the end of King Edward VII’s reign in 1910. While initially postcards were only produced by the Post Office: in 1894 picture postcards produced by private publishers were accepted by the Post Office bearing an adhesive stamp. In these designs, one whole side of the card was used for the address and the stamp, whilst the message had to be squeezed alongside the picture. It was not until 1902 and the "divided back" postcard that the message could be written on the same side as the address. However, these postcards could not be sent abroad until other Universal Postal Union members agreed to do the same. An agreement on the matter was reached at the Sixth Postal Union Congress in Rome, in 1906.
From the above it is clear that early postcards had nothing to do with tourism. Things changed when images of the newly built Eiffel Tower in 1889 and 1890 gave impetus to the picture postcard, leading to the so-called "golden age" of the postcard. These served two functions. To a lesser extent a picture postcard was a relatively inexpensive personal visual souvenir of having visited a place and could be obtained in the days when personal ownership of cameras was rare and the images produced (eventually) were monochrome. From a relatively early date postcards were produced in colour, often by hand-tinting them.
The second function was that a picture postcard was an early form of "social media": the photograph provided the recipient with a visual description of the place visited and there was space for a few words. An article in the Standard (a British newspaper) from August 21, 1899 included the line:
- "The illustrated postcard craze, like the influenza, has spread to these islands from the Continent, where it has been raging with considerable severity."
With the expansion of the Victorian rail network more and more people from all classes were able to reach the British coast and "tourist destinations" such as Chester. This only later increased with the Bank Holidays Act in 1871 and the Holiday Pay Act (1938) allowing people to take time off work without losing pay. For those individuals able to indulge in a day out or a few days away, picture postcards made it possible to show friends and family at home what they had been up to, sometimes before they returned.
In 1893 James Douglas, a London journalist wrote:
- "Like all great inventions, the Picture Postcard has wrought a silent revolution in our habits. It has secretly delivered us from the toil of letter-writing. There are still men alive today who can remember the days when it was considered necessary, and even pleasurable, to write letters to friends. Those were times of leisure. Fortunately, the picture postcard has freed the modern author from this slavery. Formerly, when a man went abroad he was forced to tear himself from the scenery in order to write laborious descriptions of it to his friends at home. Now he merely buys a picture postcard at each station, scribbles on it a few words in pencil, and posts it. This enhances the pleasures of travel."
Undoubtedly, a further part of the pleasure in sending a postcard was the frisson that came from knowing that one's "private" message could be read by others. Unless, that is, a "saucy" message was hidden under the stamp. The small size of the postcard also provided, as Douglas explains, a convenient excuse for a short message, and often signals that there is something being left unsaid which might be communicated in a longer letter or expressed in face-to-face communication. In line with other "new" social media that have appeared in more recent times, the postcard attracted a certain amount of regulation as to what could be said and what could be depicted, although "tourist" postcards from Chester were less likely to be of the sometimes risque "Blackpool" type. A significant downturn came in 1968 when the two-tier pricing system was launched, introducing 1st and 2nd class postage but removing the cheaper postage rate for postcards.
As for the images of Chester found on postcards there were a number of "favourites". These included the Cathedral, the Phoenix Tower, the buildings at the High Cross, Eastgate Street (frequently with the Eastgate clock) and quite often Eaton Hall, the seat of the Grosvenors. While the featured structures and views might be named on the card, no further background information as to the historical significance of what was pictured would usually be given, although there were exceptions to this: TUCK and VALENTINE postcards would give some brief historical details on the back. If people appeared in the image they were seldom identified. However, the postcards would often capture incidental details that a sketch-artist might omit, such as telegraph and telephone wires.
A Hoole Postcard
The illustration below shows a postcard of Hoole Road in Chester. It illustrates both the function of the postcard as an art-form and as a useful historical document. We can only speculate as to where the postcard would have been on sale, although the chemist shop shown in the image also functioned as a "post office". Anyone visiting Hoole could possibly have purchased a card there.
The first reaction of many Cestrians and others familiar with the city of Chester to the example postcard is that they recognise the spot as being at the north end of Hoole Railway bridge. The second reaction is often to the absence of road-traffic. The major branch of road trending to the right is the modern A56 and is seldom as quiet nowadays as it appears in the postcard. There are no horse-droppings on the road now, but a comparison with a modern photograph shows much more "modern clutter" in the form of road-markings, boxes associated with telecommunications and bright signage.
A third reaction might be to the three characters in the center of the image, which together with other features, such as the use of horse-drawn transport and what appear to be gas-lamps help to date the postcard. The central figure appears to be wearing "widow's weeds" ("Waed" being the Old English for garment). It is the black clothing worn (principally) by female widows during the Victorian era, which dictated a strict etiquette of mourning. Broad brimmed hats were coming into fashion with elaborate decoration for those that could afford masses of feathers and sometimes even stuffed birds. The rightmost figure is showing what might have been considered an inappropriate amount of ankle and calf a few years earlier.
These three reactions are a modern view of how the card would be interpreted by someone familiar with the location and some knowledge of how things would change in the "future" of the image. The Victorian recipient might see it as three women of different ages walking towards a fork in the road. Is that an allegorical reference to the "three fates" of mythology? - or is that ex post facto analysis of the "meaning" of the image?
The postcard is marked as coming from the "Perfection Series", of which it is number 1003. One might therefore ask whether the image can be interpreted without knowing what else was in this "series". The serial number indicates that it might have been intended as part of a collector's series. Such series often featured images which might be unexpected subjects, possibly explaining why someone would produce a postcard of a relatively obscure road junction. Interestingly, the Perfection Series also contains an uncoloured card (number 1006) showing the upper end of Newton Hollows an equally obscure location in the larger scheme of things.
The postcard is produced in colour but would not have been from a colour photograph. Colour photography was known at the time but the process was complicated and the cameras used were not easily portable. As is obvious in this case the colour was printed onto the postcard separately from the monochrome "background" image. There are two ways of doing this: hand tinting of the card or mechanical overprinting.
We have no way of knowing whether some of the colours are accurate and, for example, whether the leftmost woman's coat was really mauve (the first synthetic dyestuff). Many of the "Perfection Series" cards were printed in Treves (an indication printed under the stamp). "Chromolithography" was used in early postcards and the process, perfected in Bavaria, resulted in many early European postcard publishers printing their product in that country or elsewhere in Germany. Thus, some of the information content of the image may have been generated by someone who was completely unfamiliar with the location being photographed.
Chester in 1906
A little local history helps put the postcard in context. Medieval Chester was a gateway to Wales and Ireland. The city was mostly confined within the City Walls and the later outgrowth of suburbs was in part influenced by longer distance communications, first by road and river, later by canal and eventually by railway. Expansion of the city to the north, through what is now known as Hoole, came quite late in its history.
The people of Chester recieved the news of the death of Queen Victoria on 26th January 1901 with great sadness. Although the new century had already begun, an old era ended with Victoria's death. Few people remembered anything other than the "Victorian Age". By this time there was very little heavy industry left in Chester and while shipping occasionally used Crane Wharf at Portpool (until 1946), Chester was at a low ebb. Increasingly, Victorian Chester became a centre for residence, tourism and retail. Political reform at a national level in the 1830s began to free municipal politics from the influence of the Grosvenors and was followed shortly by thirty years of railway-led industrialization and population growth. A part of this power-shift was to the Brown's, one of whom would have a significant influence on the landscape depicted on the postcard.
The boom faltered after 1870 when the growth rate of the population fell to only half that of the region. Other traditional industries had faltered. In 1871 there were 13 breweries in Chester, of which seven appear to have been pub breweries. All the latter had ceased operation by 1892. Of the commercial breweries, the three biggest were Edward Russell Seller & Co. in Foregate Street, the Lion Brewery in Pepper Street, and the Chester Northgate Brewery. The Seller family continued in ownership until the 1880s, but in 1889 the concern was sold to the Albion Brewery Co. of Wigan and the brewery closed shortly afterwards. Between 1871 and 1892 the Lion Brewery passed through at least four hands before being acquired by Thomas Montgomery. His business was incorporated as the Chester Lion Brewery Co. Ltd. in 1896, but was taken over by Bent's Brewery of Liverpool in 1902. The brewery was closed soon afterwards. The Northgate Brewery was the only Chester brewery to survive beyond 1914. Breweries play a part in the history of the scene depicted in the postcard through the involvement of the Walker, Pickering and Lightfoot families.
The Leadworks went through a difficult period, though by 1900 was probably at the zenith of its development. There was a spurt of growth in the engineering sector, particularly in electrical engineering but many firms lasted only a short time, and only three Chester engineering firms survived the whole period to 1914: Hydraulic Engineering, Henry Lanceley & Co., and Samuel Taylor Parry. By the 1900s the Cheshire Cheese Fairs were held in rotation with those at Nantwich and Whitchurch, illustrating Chester's loss of influence over the trade. In 1910 Chester's largest eight largest businesses as listed in the rate books were: Walkers, Parker & Co. Ltd., Leadworks; Dee Oil Co., Saltney (oil refiners); F. A. Frost & Sons, Steam Mill St. (millers); Hydraulic Engineering Co., Charles St; Edward Webb & Sons, Saltney (Proctor & Ryland bone manure works); The Grosvenor Hotel and Henry Wood & Co., Saltney (chain and anchor manufacturers) and Brown & Co., Eastgate St. (furnishings and drapery).
However, improved railway connexions allowed commercial people from Liverpool, Manchester, and other towns to choose the city as an elegant place of residence. In 1899 Hoole was described as a "commercial nest" because so many of its residents travelled to Liverpool and elsewhere each day, and it was asserted that only four of 75 occupiers in Hoole Road derived their living from Chester. Chester also attracted a growing rentier class living off inherited wealth and investment income, who perhaps formed 5 per cent of the population by the Edwardian period. Their purchasing power was undoubtedly significant, particularly in Chester's more elegant shops.
Local Perspective
A little delving into local history reveals a lot more "content" associated with the image used on the postcard. This can be accessed from a variety of sources and in this instance has been looked into extensively by local historians. As an example of this kind of research the sections below refer to the findings somewhat briefly and contain links to further information. While this postcard view might have more history associated with it than the scene in other nearby photographs, it does illustrate how much history is all around us and there for the finding. Somewhat surprisingly, the seemingly "idyllic" location portrayed on the postcard actually has a long history involving conflict and dispute. These include fighting in the Civil War, unrest in 1732 which required dragoons to be stationed there, assizes held there in connection with the Scots rising of 1745 and further (somewhat petty) disputes at the turn of the 19th century.
One obvious source of information are old maps. These can include the Ordinance Survey and estate maps, as well as tithe maps. The portion of the map reproduced below is taken from the 1870's OS Map and shows the buildings standing at that time as well as the lakes which had they still existed would have occupied the center of the postcard image. Online OS maps are available for 1908, 1898 and 1873. Tithe maps can be found at the excellent "Cheshire Tithe Maps Online".
Not all of the structures shown on the OS map are visible in the postcard. The viewpoint of the postcard is at the bottom-left near what is marked as the "Ermine and Railway Hotel" (a name used quite briefly). The then owners of the pub have probably forgotten that the origin of the name was a coat of arms and not the winter coat of a stoat. The enclosed plantation behind the figures in the foreground of the postcard does not exist on the OS map and at some time after the photograph on which the postcard was based was replaced by a rose-garden. From a combination of the maps and the postcard it can be seen that the image shown is quite ephermeral: only a few years earlier the scene would have been notably different. Thus, while the postcard might be percieved as showing a fixed historical image of "how things used to be", it is actually a snapshot from a very dynamic period in the history of the location depicted.
We can now "dig down" into some of the history associated with the image and mention some of the sources which can be used to explore it further. These "snippets" are intended to show how the postcard and its historical context are related. Similar techniques can be applied to other images.
One thing that is worth considering from a historical perspecive is that the age of photography brought about a significant change in the way that history was recorded. Prior to photography, the writer/artist had to deliberately include details by a stroke of the brush or pen, whereas afterwards the eye of the camera would record much information that the photographer might not be aware of at the time. This aspect is illustrated by considering the photograph and the OS map. The creator of the map has deliberately recorded (for example) the outline of each building and apparently placed each individual tree, whereas the photographer is only concerned with the overall composition and much of the detail is incidental. Later map-makers came far less particular about the placing of individual trees.
The "FT" Stone
We can place the photographer's location in space to within a few feet. The photographer's viewpoint in the postcard is from very close to the location of a red sandstone marker which can still be seen today on Hoole Road. This may be a boundary stone, but is more likely associated with the Frodsham Turnpike. Given that the stone is placed on the beginning of the embankment rising up to Hoole Bridge it must have been relocated at some time in the past, otherwise it would now be buried.
Beyond the former Flookersbrook bridge the original course of the route to Warrington was along the line later taken by Kilmorey Park, Newton Hollows, Mannings Lane, and "The Street" as far as Trafford ("Street-ford") Bridge. The road was realigned through the villages of Hoole and Mickle Trafford when it was turnpiked as far as the existing turnpike at Warrington in 1786. The relevant legislation was:
- "An Act for mending, widening and keeping in repair the road from Flookersbrook Bridge within the Township of Newton near Chester to the south end of Wilderspool Causeway, Warrington and from the market town of Frodsham to Ashton Lane End in the Township of Ashton in the County of Chester".
On 1st June 1786, William Cawley of Mickle Trafford was appointed Surveyor of the Flookersbrook-Frodsham section. He was an engineer who also worked on canals. The Chester and Frodsham Turnpike Trust merged with the Chester and Tarvin Trust and the Ashton and Frodsham Trust in 1868, but the route was disturnpiked in two parts in 1870 and 1883. The next public house along the turnpike was probably "The Old Royal Oak", which was located at Oak Bank (now a private dwelling) just beyond the present-day M53.
Further history of the Turnpike can be found in a series of articles by W. W. L. Starkie published in "Cheshire History", volumes 39ff.
Placing the location of the photographer in time is often a little more difficult. Information on the back of the card (the postmark for example) might provide a terminus ante quem as to when the card was sent. In this case it appears to be postmarked April 1906. The usual "clues" for dating photographic images include: the type of photographic process used, details and presence of buildings known from other sources and sometimes clothing fashions. In some cases details such as visible newspaper headlines and vehicle registration numbers may help. For old photographs of central Chester the presence or absence of visible tramlines or the overhead cabling is often useful in dating as are various industrial chimneys and church spire details.
The Ermine Hotel
Frontage of the Ermine Hotel (much more by following the link) is just visible in the image. The Ermine played a very significant role in the development of the landscape shown in the postcard's image, although it does not play a significant part in the composition of the image itself. From this we can perhaps deduce that the photographer was not familiar with the history of the inn. There are however many other sources on the Ermine and its past.
In a 1670 document there was a John Anderson as inn-holder in Newton (presumably at the Ermine). The site was a good place for an inn, being situated just outside the City/County boundary as marked by Flookersbrook. It is known that lands in Flookersbrook belonged to John Anderson from as early as 1654 when there was contention about his pew in St Oswald’s Church, and in 1665 when there was a problem about him extracting clay. Hanshall’s History of Chester 1817 explains how the lands came into his possession:
- "FLOOKERSBROOK is a Hamlet of Newton forming partially a suburb of Chester and was at an early period in the family of the Masseys of Kelsall In the 37th Henry VI John Massey sold it to the Bruens and temp Hen VII Richard Bruen of Tarvin sold it to Thos Barrow of Chester from whom it passed by marriage of a daughter to the Sneyds The Smiths of Hough afterwards bought it and Sir Thomas Smith conveyed it to John Anderson Esq of Chester. Since the commencement of the last century it has been divided into several small estates."
The name of the inn comes from the coat of arms of the Hurleston family, whose tomb at Plemstall features four ermine tails arranged in a cross. The full inscription of an interesting plaque behind the Plemstall tomb is given in Ormerod, (see: History of Cheshire p 438).
For many years the inn was the site of a livestock market. Almost certainly its location just outside the city boundary had advantages when it came to tolls and other charges.
The Chemist
Possibly five or more medical men lived within the scope of the postcard image at the time that it was made. Several were general practitioners: for an example see Dr Francis John Butt .
The "corner shop" shown in the image is a dispensing chemist, where medicines could be made up. Again we can dig down into the history connected with the image. In 1906 this was Thomas Carter's branch dispensary (and Post Office) and the manager was Ernest Shufflebotham. Shufflebotham had qualified in London in 1904 and first practiced in Newcastle before moving to Chester. He was involved in the "Beehive Murder" case and after surviving being bankrupt (as reported in the local newspapers) went on to become assistant pharmacist at Chester Royal Infirmary, until his retirement at the end of 1955 (when he was aged 80).
The development of "sanitary arrangements" including the provision of sewers and medical services had a profound effect on the development of society at the time that the postcard image was made. The interaction was two-way: in 1841 "Hoole" supported a population of 294, whereas by 1881 it was 2,062. This increase in population was accompanied by public concern over the health and well-being of inhabitants and the concerns would have an effect on the evolution of the landscape shown in the photograph.
Much local government developed out of "Local Board's of Health" (see: The coming of sewers to Hoole in the mid-19th century). Many of the medical practitioners became involved with local government and local developers became involved with health issues, such as the provision of purpose-built "chemists" and the setting-out of green spaces.
Ermine Road
The end of Ermine Road appears in the postcard image. In December 1921, Fred Lowe wrote of the Ermine Hotel its surroundings in the pages of the "Cheshire Sheaf":
- "On the left-hand side of Flookersbrook stands the Ermine Hotel, an old-established hostel, with its extensive stabling and auction mart. The earliest licensee I can remember was a Mr. Fern, who carried on the business for many years. The late Mr. George Barnes held the licence for some time, and retired a few years ago. During the annual training of the Cheshire Yeomanry Cavalry a troop was always billeted at this hotel, where there was plenty of accommodation for them. Close to the hotel, through a gateway, there was a pathway across a large field called the Ermine Field, which led to Brook-lane and opposite the entrance to Dickson's Nursery. At that time there were no houses near. Now we have the Ermine-road and Halkyn-road and a number of streets, forming a small town of itself".
The entrance to Dickson's nursery is now Dickson's Drive, while Brook Lane also takes its name from Flookersbrook. The development of Ermine Road and the streets around it was to some extent influenced by the provision of sewers and the course of these was in turn influenced by the local topography and the flow of local watercourses.
The opening of Ermine Road onto Hoole Road was the subject of much discussion (including in the local newspapers) around 1894 when there was a dispute about whether Hoole and Newton should be part of Chester city or not. Involved in the dispute were several people who were to play a significant part in the development of the landscape shown in the postcard image. In 1901, discussions apparently beecame quite heated with the dispute involving the construction of gates as "barracades" to control access ("The Flookersbrook Question").
Of the two near-identical images images shown above at least one is believed to be from a postcard. One can only speculate as to why this particular location was chosen. One possible explanation is that the Chemist's was also a Post-Office, and postcards may well have been on sale there.
William Williams
William Williams was once a well-known local builder and developer. He once lived in Halkyn Road, the end of which can be seen on the postcard. A newspaper report of legal proceedings relating to pub-licensing and dating from 1900 gives his address as "1, Halkyn Road, Ermine Fields" and house deeds confirm this. 1, Halkyn Road was built in 1895 as the first block of William's development of the road. The large "half-timbered" house on the north side of Halkyn Road, also visible in the postcard image, was built by Williams for himself and when it was completed he moved across the street into his new property. Williams built his "middle class" housing to quite a high standard and his buildings feature decorative features such as detailed Ruabon brickwork and stained-glass. Some of his terraced housing was built in blocks with the sale of one block funding the construction of the next. While the houses seem superficially identical, careful inspection reveals that each block is adapted in terms of minor features such as the style of the brickwork and stained glass to fit with elements that were fashionable (or affordable) at the time of construction.
Other architectural details shown in the postcard's image may even make it possible to identify the location even if Hoole was not specified. These include the use of Ruabon brick and slate in construction as well as a tendency to feature the "mockery Tudor" of the English Vernacular Revival style. Other clues to the location of these buildings would be the extensive use of lead and lead paint (supplied by the Chester Leadworks), the plurality of flues for coal-burning chimney's and the style of the pots, and, (if any were visible) the use of the local sandstone.
Roman Road
The left-hand road heading away from the viewpoint in the postcard's image is believed to follow the line of the Roman Road from Roman Chester to the Roman industrial site at Warrington (Margary 701). It leads on out of the postcard's image to Newton Hollows and its Roman origins are preserved in the naming of a section of it known as "The Street". Codrington, in 1903, wrote:
- "A Roman road is supposed to have left Chester by the north gate, now represented by "The Street" or "Back Street" from Hoole, in the direction of Helsby Hill; and to be traceable towards the ford at Bridge Trafford. It is continued on by Denham, Frodsham, and Preston-on‑the‑Hill, beyond which the present road carries on the line for three miles towards Wilderspool. It would there have crossed the Mersey with King Street to Wigan and the north."
St Anne's Lakes
Saint Anne's Lakes once lay where the patch of woodland shown in the photograph on the postcard now lies. Their location and extent is shown clearly on old maps. They appear to be associated with the "Fraternity of St. Anne" a medieval organisation concerned with saying mass for the dead and based at St Johns. The lakes were on the edge of parish. The Fraternity was dissolved with the Abbey at the Reformation and the land owned by the Fraternity was sold.
Saint Annes lakes later became a watering place for cattle and horses, but dissappeared rather quickly at the end of the 19th Century and were replaced by a single drinking trough, of which nothing remains. The condition of this trough was the subject of much debate. As discussed in local council meetings and reported in the Chester Courant (see: Courant, 12th January 1898).
- The second resolution alluded to section 28 of the Flookersbrook Improvement Act, 1876. This section said that such power (meaning the power invested in the trustees) should be exercised subject to the condition that ample provision should always be made and maintained by the Trustees for watering horses and cattle at the large pit next to the Ermine Inn by means of the streams and waters running into and supplying the said pit. In the plans deposited at the time of the Act the superficial area of the pit was 22,100 feet. This had been reduced to 3,600 feet, and now it had come down to the very modest area of 11 feet. The Act said that ample provision should be made and maintained by the Trustees, and if they considered that the reduction he had mentioned was in accordance with the Act- well he did not. He had seen forty head of cattle drinking out of the pit when it was there, but ever since the present trough had been placed in its position, he could honestly say he had never seen a cow or a horse drinking from it. He had only seen one animal touch it, and that was a dog, who had got into it bodily. (Laughter).. ..Mr. BRADLEY, in seconding, said he thought the matter deserved their serious consideration. He had seen Mr. Brown's man emptying the trough, and the man had almost seemed to collapse during the process. The offal and the refuse he had seen taken out had disgusted him. It would knock a man down at a hundred yards. (Laughter). The supply was useless, and people dare not let their horses and cattle drink at it. It was the talk of the county, and the next thing they would be having would be an epidemic of typhoid.
In 1867, as a part of a search for arms thought to have been secreted there by the "Fenians" (Irish Republicans), "Flookersbrook Pits" (as St Anne's Lakes had become) were dredged and 150 rounds of ammunition found. 1200 'strangers' believed to be Fenian revolutionaries came to Chester from Ireland and the North-west of England and were expected to attack Chester Castle to obtain arms (see: Fenian Plots).
Flookersbrook
The stream which flows between the old Roman Route and Hoole Road is not actually the Flookersbrook which gives its name to the area - and by which it was known until shortly before it started to be named as "Hoole" as on the postcard. The original Flookersbrook rises near the Chester waterworks (visible in the form of its blue water-tower from Hoole Bridge) where the Romans also extracted water, and flowed east to west under what is now the railway to enter the River Dee west of the city. Flookersbrook formed the ancient boundary of the city of Chester and its course was the site of much fighting during the battle of Rowton Moor (see: Battle of Hoole Heath).
The Plantation
All that the image shows of the "Flookersbrook Plantation" is that it is surrounded by a fence. A visit to the site today will reveal signage referring to the "Flookerbrook Improvement Act" (1876) and inspection of that Act shows that it was in part brought into law by the efforts of Francis Jack Earl of Kilmorey and Charles Brown. Brown is mentioned in the Act as being the Lord of the Manor of Hoole (he probably wasn't), but he is far better known for his association with the "Browns of Chester" department store. The Brown's were known in Chester for their charitable contributions to various works and institutions, but the Flookersbrook Plantation has the special feature that Charles Brown lived at the side of it and owned other property which fronted onto the plantation.
Charles Brown was deeply involved with local politics, which after the manner of the times would nowadays be considered somewhat corrupt (see: 1883 Reform Act). In the 1880 elections, bribery was especially rife and the result was that Chester's MPs were unseated and the city was disenfranchised. Brown was "scheduled" for bribery at the 1880 election and disqualified from voting for a number of years. This did not prevent him from becoming Mayor of Chester several times. Not unsurpringly, Brown's political mischief is hardly mentioned in the local press from the time, although it was reported widely in the press elsewhere.
It appears that the conversion of St Anne's Lakes into an area of woodland was at the initiative of Brown, who was unhappy with cattle being taken to the market at the Ermine turning the lakes into a mire. The lakes were filled-in save for a central conduit, in which the flow goes underground at the south end of the plantation. To the present day passer-by the woodland looks like it is ancient, whereas in fact the landscape feature is to a large part artificial.
The "Sarcophagous"
Disputes over the land shown in the postcard continued into the turn of the 19th century. In 1904 the local newspapers were again reporting issues:
- "THE FLOOKERSBROOK "SARCOPHAGUS. DISCUSSION BY HOOLE COUNCIL. GRANDILOQUENT LANGUAGE. MR. PHILLIPS'S DISCLAIMER. The chief item on the agenda of the Hoole Urban District Council on Monday was the following motion in the name of Mr. W. E. Phillips: That this Council calls upon the Flookersbrook Trustees to at once supply an adequate drinking fountain for cattle, horses, etc., in lieu of the water supply for this purpose which was diverted by them before filling up the large pool for the purpose of improving their property"
Evidently the discussion became quite heated, and evolved into a debate as to whether the drying-up of the water-supply to the sarcophagous-like trough was due to "Providence". One interesting feature of these discussions is the mention that the lake had within living memory been "318 feet long by 40 wide, and of great depth", and that "300 people had skated on it at the same time". The lakes were often a focal point for local celebrations, such as the 1831 Coronation Celebrations of King William IV and Queen Adelaide.
Flookersbrook Hall
The chimneys of Flookersbrook Hall can be seen above the trees, behind the flagpole on the left. The original hall was demolished in 1644 when the Flookersbrook salient collapsed during the siege of Chester and the present hall is a later reconstruction.
The land at Flookersbrook was held by the Massey family of Kelsall prior to 1450 and later passed to the Bruens of Tarvin, to Thomas Barrowe, and through daughter and heiress to the Sneyds before being bought by Sir Lawrence Smith (or Smythe) of Hough, 1516–82 (1st MP for Chester 1545). According to some sources he built the first Flookersbrook Hall, slightly to the north of the present Hall, which land remained in that family until just after the Civil War, but was at lease at the time of the fortification (to "Shingleton", according to Rupert Morris). Other sources, in particular the Cheshire Sheaf, state that property at Flookersbrook was left by "Roger (Barow) of Flookersbrook" to his daughter Jane who married William Sneyd. The relations of the Smiths and the gentry of Cheshire show the usual complexity.
The Flookersbrook salient was an outgrowth of the earth-bank defences of Chester during the Civil War. In military terms it made little sense and either indicates the importance of Flookersbrook as a place for grazing by cattle or the influence of the local gentry on the construction of the defences.
In late November 1643 Sir Abraham Shipman gave orders to Colonel John Marrow, who commanded a Regiment of Horse (previously Lord Cholmondeley’s Regiment of Horse, later Colonel Robert Werden’s Regiment of Horse), to burn "unknown to the Mayor", the suburb of Handbridge. The next day Bache and Flookersbrook Halls were both burnt, as part of a "scorched-earth" policy by the defenders of Chester while the Royalists retreated from Hoole to a defensive line now followed (roughly) by the canal. With very few exceptions, the defenders destroyed just about every building outside of the City Walls.
Gaslight and Telephone
Some prototypes of "modern" services can be seen in the image. These are probably the sort of feature that a landscape illustrator might omit, but which are captured on a postcard. These features include a telephone/telegraph pole and street-lighting using gas. Telephones arrived in St John Street Chester in 1882, operated by the Liverpool and Manchester Exchange Telephonic Co. as a subsidiary of the United Telephone Co. and under Post Office licence. The number of lines can be estimated by counting the insulators on the cross-arms.
The Chester Gaslight Company was formed in 1817 by Deed of Settlement and remained a non-statutory company. Its works were in Cuppin Street and were built by the famous gas engineer Samuel Clegg. The streets around Cuppin Street were first lit in 1818 and the main city by 1830. The OS map extracted above does not show street-lamps, but the postcard clearly does. A new gasworks was built on the Roodee in 1851, and the gas companies amalgamated soon afterwards. The Roodee works were rebuilt in 1880 and a series of Acts of Parliament extended the area of supply to surrounding villages, including Flookersbrook. Victorian style gas-lamps are still present in Flookersbrook, although these contain electric lights. Comparison of these lamps with those shown in the image indicates that the present lamp standards are somewhat taller and so probably not "original".
The Hoole Turnpike
The route of the Hoole Turnpike appears to have once been the course of a drovers way from Chester to common land on Hoole Heath. Such "city to heath" drovers routes are often funnel shaped and indeed a glance at old maps, particularly Tithe Maps, shows that the field boundaries appear to confirm this.
The plan on the right is taken from a Tithe Map of circa 1835 and shows an expansion of the area in the postcard image above right. The Turnpike is the straight road which extends across the plan from lower left to upper right. It divides the plan into a part of the Parish of Hoole in the lower right and that of Newton in the upper left. The original township of Hoole was north of the region shown on the map. The red line is the boundary of the ancient parish of St Johns. The Turnpike is now Hoole Road. Place-name studies sometimes confuse Hoole Rake (the old Turnpike route) with St Anne's Rake (Hoole Lane). Hoole Lane can be seen crossing the plan on the lower right and has a notable "kink" in it where it is crossed by the boundary of St Johns parish. The complexity of the boundaries of the parishes of Plemstall and St Johns may date back to around the time of the Norman Conquest when St Johns was briefly the seat of a bishoprick.
Local legend holds that the road northeast from the viewpoint of the postcard was "haunted" by a "Hell Hound". Lucian the Monk (writing c.1200) possibly describes this road as the "Vallem Demonum" ("Valley of the Demons") with reference to "those who lie in wait" to "despoil the traveller". It is believed to correspond to Newton Hollows. Local legend also holds that some form of shrine or cross was errected at St Anne's Lakes for the comfort of travellers. This has been described as a re-purposed Roman sculpture. St Annes Street, in Chester, heads roughly in the direction of St Anne's Lakes from the Northgate. However, other evidence points to a St Anne's Cross being located on St Annes Rake, roughly at the point where the St Johns boundary crosses it. The location and nature of "St Anne's Cross" is the subject of ongoing research.
Balloons over Flookersbrook
The sky at the top of the postcard image also has a story to tell. In 1785 Thomas Baldwin of Hoole made a remarkable balloon flight from Chester and viewing this area from above make one of the first, if not the very first, drawings of the landscape seen from above.
Baldwin has been dismissed as a "mere adventurer" but his attempts to gain investment and his correspondence with Pennant show that he was very much up-to-date with balloon technology and some of his ideas such as the use of a "drag rope" and his representation of the earth from above seem original. His observations of the "pilot's glory" and the pressure on his feet when rising (The Equivalence Principle) might seem trivial, but as Baldwin himself writes, "who is to know what will turn out to be important to science". In recent years Balwin's work had become better known through his imagery and he is now less "forgotten" than he was. After many years of eclipse he is becoming recognised less as a "mere adventurer" and more as a serious scientist.
The map produced from his sketches is not particularly accurate as regards the course of Flookersbrook, the River Gowy and the Mersey, but shows the general line of the Chester-Warrington turnpike, northeast of the city.
The Beehive Hotel
The Beehive Hotel is now (2025) a hi-fi store.
The earliest record of a licensed premises on this stretch of Hoole Road appears in an 1857 Directory. The 1861 Census lists the Globe Tavern run by Robert Hand, who was described as a “railway servant and beerhouse keeper”. An application for a fuller licence in 1884 revealed that The Globe had been replaced by a new hotel called The Beehive. Old maps show the difference between the original buildings and those on the site today. The Beehive was owned by Thomas Henry William Walker, an architect from Liverpool who probably also designed it. Together in partnership with his brother, John Lightfoot Walker, he also owned the Lion Brewery in Pepper Street, Chester. They were the great grandsons of John Lightfoot and the grandsons of the Thomas Walker who was associated with the Ermine and other local businesses. These included the tan-yard which can be seen on the OS map extracted above.
Landlord William Arthur Farmerley had been in Court in 1904 when it was discovered he was watering his cask whiskey. He faced the prospect of far more serious trouble in 1906, when his wife, Bertha Mabel Farmerey, died of what appeared to be strychnine poisoning. At the time strychnine was known both as a poison for vermin and as a medicine. It was said to have helped marathoneer Thomas Hicks achieve Olympic Gold in 1904 after a dose of 1/60 of a grain (roughly 1 mg) of strychnine and some brandy (he collapsed at the end of the race and had to be carried over the line). However, strychnine is listed third in the top ten poisons by number of criminal cases, behind only arsenic and cyanide.
Further details of this quite mysterious case and the local characters connected with it can be found on the Hoole History website under "Murder at the Beehive".
Flookersbrook House and Brook Lodge
Opposite the Ermine is Brook Lodge, a group of buildings which were once home to the local historian Broster and later the home of Robert Lewis Jones, manager of Chester Station and an early pioneer of electrical assistance in time-keeping (see: Time). Broster mentions the building in his 1828 Chester Guidebook as:
- “Brook Lodge in the village of Flookersbrook is an object well worthy of notice for the quantity of ancient carved work it contains. The portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh and his Lady with the family arms are inserted in the front door.”
Jones started as an “industrial” chemist, inheriting the works his father owned at what is still known as “Chemistry Lock” (see: Canalside). He made chemicals for the tanning industry and for use in inks and paints. When the railways arrived in Chester he changed jobs and eventually became the Station Manager at what is now Chester General. As Station Manger he lived at Brook Lodge, on Hoole Road just to the north of Hoole Bridge – today it would be 1 Hoole Road.
After a major railway accident (see: Accident Report) Jones became interested in the accuracy of "Railway Time" and invented a system by which clocks could be synchonised by electricity, using the clock at Chester Station for his experiments. Jones patented his system and it was adopted widely, including to operate the “Docker's Clock” in Liverpool from the observatory at Bidston where astronomers determined the time. Other observatories also adopted the same method, including Dunsink in Ireland - and Jones' "time brought by wire" is even mentioned by James Joyce in "Ulysses". Conveniently, Jones' system avoided the patent on an earlier synchronisation method, and was bought up by the “Magnetic Telegraph Company” who needed to avoid the rights controlled by their rival, the “Electric Telegraph Company”. Magnetic were deeply engaged in what was the Internet of the day, being involved both with Liverpool's telegraph connection to Holyhead and the undersea cable to Ireland.
Lightfoot Street
It is not clear whether the end of Lightfoot Street appears on the postcard, but it probably does. In 1893, however, with the prospect of the Royal Agricultural Show taking place in Hoole, the Hoole Local Board and the Joint Railway Companies had agreed plans and costs for “…putting Lightfoot St in a proper condition…”. However, as the Cheshire Observer of 2nd May 1893 reported, “This thoroughfare which we are assured is going to be made one of the most beautiful in Europe is still unfinished…”. Tensions between the Board and the Railway companies led the Observer to report also that the Hoole Local Board would be “… unable to prevent the Railway Companies from using the road by strength of arms”.
The Lightfoots were part of a group of related families that played a part in the development of Hoole and have local streets named after them. These also include the Pickerings and the Walkers. All three families were associated with the Ermine Hotel. Mary Artingstall (of the Ermine) married John Lightfoot and their daughter Catherine married Thomas Walker. They had various interests in brewing, tanning and malting and a daughter married a Pickering another malting and brewing family from Frodsham. Thomas Walker is shown in a painting by Daniel Clowes (1774-1829) described as "THOMAS WALKER AT FLOOKERSBROOK, CHESTER signed, oil on canvas, 62.5 x 84.5cm". Possibly dating from c. 1805, after Walker's marriage to Catherine Lightfoot, this depicts Walker on a horse which he was reputed to have bought from the Shah of Persia. The viewpoint of the postcard is in the distant background.
A Pickering became involved with the development of the trans-Atlantic cable. Charles Pickering had married Elizabeth Walker (1819-1895) in 1840 at Chester, she was in turn the daughter of Thomas Walker (of Flookersbrook) and Katherine Lightfoot of another Hoole family. Katherine's father was John Lightfoot, licensee of the Ermine from 1818-1820. As noted above, the names of the families turn up in the street names of Hoole. Pickering had also been in business with a Charles Walker as a common brewer, porter dealer and maltster. At some point Charles Pickering left Chester to eventually become a banker in Liverpool.
In 1857 Cyrus Field visited Birkenhead and successfully enlisted the financial help of Pickering to seek funds to build his first Transatlantic communications cable. At the time (1857) Liverpool was a hot-bed of telegraphic developments. As recorded in George Sawards history of the cable:
- "In Great Britain Messrs. George Peabody and Co., Messrs. Overend and Gurney, Messrs. Schroeder, Messrs. C.M. Lampson and Co., and the Right Hon. J. Stuart Wortley, of London; Mr. C.W. Pickering and Mr. Cropper, of Liverpool; Mr. Richard Gardner and Mr. Robert Lees, of Manchester; Messrs. Coats and Co., of Paisley; Mr. Crum Ewing and Mr. Walter Paterson, Glasgow, were among the earliest and most liberal subscribers to this undertaking at a time when the hope of profit from their venture was very remote, and the undertaking rather partook of the character of a grand philosophical experiment."
In 1858, Charles Pickering was present when the first official Transatlantic Telegraph message was transmitted:
- "A number of electric currents were then sent through the conductor, and the insulation was reported to be perfect, -- perfect so far as the comparatively crude means of testing were then capable of showing. The following Directors were at Queenstown at this time in attendance upon the squadron: Mr. Brooking, Mr. Lampson, Mr. Crosibe, Mr. Pickering, Mr. Logie, Mr. Brett, and Mr. Cyrus W. Field."
It was to be the message from Queen Victoria to the US president but Charles Pickering made a change and just before the Queen's message on August 5, 1858 Pickering sent:
- "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will towards men".
The story of Pickering's message is reported by his son (in his memoirs) who wrote:
- "The message from Queen Victoria to the president was handed to the telegraph operator, a Mr. St. John .. The telegraph operator told me later that my father put his hand on Mr. St. John’s shoulder and told him to stop. My father told him there was a message to be sent before the queen’s telegram."
Whether Pickering actually sent the message is only evidenced by his son, but the fact that the message was sent by one of the directors is evidenced by a later enquiry into cables which reports the entire traffic and indeed places the message just before that of the Queen, and we know that Pickering was present. Events then descended into something of a farce, which may have fogged the history of events somewhat. The British were unable to get a repeat of the Queen's message back as the cable had been damaged. One of the electricians, Wildman Whitehouse, then used thousands of volts on the cable in an attempt to improve transmission and wrecked it within three weeks. It would be 1865 before a new cable was laid and brought into use.
The back of the card
Messages on the back of postcards are frequently brief and may often comprise little more than "Thanks for the postcard, here is another one" and may include a snippet of "gossip". The wording on the back of the featured postcard reads:
- "Dear F. Thank you for P.C. How have you enjoyed your holiday has not the weather been lovely. I suppose you are busy today. I hear Harry is going home again (n/h)ow (unreadable), much love to you. From Liggie(?)"
The postcard from Hoole is addressed "c/o E. J. Capsey" of Wellington, Shropshire. Eberezer James Capsey was a draper and outfitter with premises is the Market Square at Wellington who appears to have catered to moderately wealthy clients. "Harry" might just be Dr Harry William Pooler (1866 - 1954), whose father was also a prominent master draper in Wellington and had a shop and home in the same Market Square. Pooler moved to Birmingham to complete his medical qualifications, and remained in that city for many years as a busy general practitioner, medical innovator, and highly respected City Councillor. He eventually became the vice-president of the British Medical Association.
Summary: the Hoole postcard in context
The above example relates to a single postcard which, probably unknown to the original photographer, has a lot of local history associated with it. The postcard and other sources of information contribute to a "sense of place" and a perception of both what the location was like in the past and how it came to be what it is today. The threads of these stories and their interconnections are sometimes surprising and have a scope which spans both the hyper-local and the international.
Other Postcards of Chester
Many other "postcards from Chester" exist. The vast majority are depictions of what might be called "tourist locations". Some of these are collected together in the books and web-pages listed in the "sources" below. The subjects chosen illustrate how the people of the time imagined their past and what were considered to be the main "attractions" or characteristic features of the city.
The postcards fall onto a spectrum which has depictions of the major tourist attractions at one end and things of more historical interest at the other. Older postcards in the latter class are often a very good source of historical information and several postcard images of this type are used on this site. The more "touristic" and recent postcards have a tendency to become rather banal depictions of shopping streets and often contain information which is wrong.
Roman Chester barely features in early postcards (especially those before the rediscovery of the Amphitheatre). However the "remains of a Roman bath" features on several postcard from when the stone pillars used in the construction of a hypocaust were for some time relocated to the park by the Watertower. Again, the quality of these is variable and, even when a written description is included on the card, not all of them mention that this was not the original site of the "bath".
Postcards may however be one contributory factor to the "popular" view of Chester's history. In this view Chester is a city with Roman walls and Tudor architecture. As should be apparent from other content on this website the story of the City Walls extends far beyond the Romans. While the buildings of central Chester conceal much Tudor structure, their superficial appearance is mostly late-Victorian Vernacular Revival, sometimes bordering on what has been named "mockery-Tudor".
Francis Frith produced a large number of images of Chester many of which were available as postcards. Frith started as a grocer in Liverpool. He became independently wealthy on selling his grocery business in 1855 and turned his attention to photography. Frith made three journeys to the Middle East from 1857 to 1860 and kept diaries of his trips, highlighting the appalling conditions under which he worked. His superb photographs reveal none of this. In 1859 he opened the firm of Francis Frith & Co. in Reigate, Surrey, as the world's first specialist photographic publisher. He established a postcard business which became one of the largest photographic studios in the world. Within a few years, over two thousand shops throughout the United Kingdom were selling his postcards. After his death (1898), the firm continued to produce images until the 1970's. Photographs attributed to Francis Frith & Co Ltd are held in the Conway Library of Art and Architecture at The Courtauld Institute of Art and in the National Portrait Gallery. The collection relating to Chester can be viewed online.
The Frith collection contains several "rare" images of locations which are not common on postcards, such as the reconstructed Shipgate (already then in Grosvenor Park) and other parts of the City Walls. When Francis Frith first started photographing the city, in the 1860's, the black-and-white vernacular style was beginning to preliferate, but many early photographs show Georgian facades to buildings which later became "Tudor". The Art of Louise Rayner from the late 1860's to around 1910 initially shows a Georgian city. A little earlier the "street views" of Batenham also display very little "Tudor" architecture. James Harrison (1814-66) and Thomas Penson (1818–64) pioneered the Vernacular Revival "Chester Look" of Victorian Chester, which was taken up and reached its peak artistic expression under the prolific John Douglas (1830-1911) and his contemporary, Thomas Lockwood (1829-1900). Other architects of that and the following generation included H. W. Beswick, James Strong, W. M. Boden, and Thomas Edwards. The active period of these architects overlaps with the dawn of the "Photographic Age" and a little later the "Golden Age" of the postcard.
Another source of images of Chester, some of which appeared on postcards, is the "Cheshire Image Bank". This collection of media is held at the Cheshire Archives & Local Studies, the Chester History & Heritage and in Cheshire Libraries. Over 30,000 images can be viewed online.
Locations
Some typical examples of Chester postcard locations from the "Golden Age" of postcards are:
The Cathedral
Many postcards feature the Cathedral, or rather what became of it after Victorian "restoration". Views are generally from the outside and show the tower and the outer structure of the Choir and Lady Chapel. Photographic emphasis is placed upon the modifications by George Gilbert Scott which include pinnacles/spires and turrets which played no part in the original design, particularly that of the abbey. There are also some postcards which feature the interior.
Chester Castle
Images of the castle are frequently as seen from the River and dominated by the parts of it which comprised the Georgian County Gaol rather than the few surving elements of the Medieval castle. Architect Thomas Harrison would probably have been appalled that the Palladian frontage of his building is not given more emphasis.
The City Walls
Of the City Walls the most common image comprises the "Phoenix Tower", which for many years housed a small museum at which the postcards would have been available. The tower is forever associated with the legend that Charles I saw his army defeated at the Battle of Rowton Moor from it, although one cannot actually see the battlefield from this viewpoint. The impression given in the "tourist version" is that this was some kind of major turning-point for Charles, although it can also be viewed as an almost accidental battle lost by a king who was already effectively defeated. For more on the events surrounding this second visit of Charles I to Chester see: Battle of Hoole Heath.
The other common postcard images of the City Walls were of the Watertower. Some of these were produced by George Parsons Norman who also produced a Prospect of Chester. As both the Watertower and the Phoenix Tower were at times "mini museums", postcards would almost certainly have been sold there.
The Eastgate Clock
The Eastgate Clock features both as the main subject of postcard imagery and is something shown in the corner of pictures of Eastgate Street, or more particularly the Grosvenor Hotel. Other hotels would presumably have their own postcards, either for sale to guests or possibly offered for free as a form of advertising.
The River Dee
The River and its bridges often feature in postcards, most often showing the Groves between the Old Dee Bridge and the Suspension Bridge, with boats used for river trips often being depicted.
The Rows
The most prevalent image of the Rows presented on postcards is the corner building at No #1 Bridge Street. This is an 1888 Vernacular Revival building by local architect T. M. Lockwood and has the Rows running through it. Other frequest depictions are of Bridge Street looking towards St Peter. Another common image is a section of the Rows on the south side of Eastgate Street showing an elaborately carved mid-Victorian shopfront (Phillipson & Golder's booksellers) - where postcards would have been sold. This is no-longer there: it was lost when the Grosvenor Precinct was built. Phillipson & Golder not only sold postcards but also had them printed.
Eaton Hall
Many early postcards depict Eaton Hall, the seat of the Grosvenors. These are photographs of the building started in 1870, finished c.1892, and designed by Alfred Waterhouse. By 1960 the fabric of the "Waterhouse" building had deteriorated and, like many other mansions during this period, it was demolished, although the chapel and many of the outbuildings were retained. A new house was built but its design was not considered to be sympathetic to the local landscape, and in the late 1980s it was re-cased and given the appearance of a French château. The house and estate are nowadays (2025) not normally open to the public, but the gardens are open on three days a year to raise money for charity. In the early 20th century the house was far more accessible. In 1914 visitors to the hall could travel from Chester not only by river steamer but by public "brake" (except on Sundays). Admission charges were 6d each for the hall and gardens.
Conclusions
Postcards are far more than just "old pictures". They provided an affordable means by which memories of place could be augmented and were the "social media" of their day. The relatively new technologies of photography and lithography meant that they captured (and preserved) significant amounts of information, generally much more than the few lines of text added by the sender. Improvements in communications meant that this information could move from place to place rapidly and become both widespread and "backed-up" in the form of multiple copies.
The choice and composition of images used on postcards helps illuminate how people percieved their environment. It also helped to shape that perception and the perception of later historians. Chester was often depicted with reference to Tudor Revival architecture, which had first manifested in domestic architecture of the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in reality it usually took the style of English Vernacular Architecture of the Middle Ages that had survived into the Tudor period.
Sources and Links
Books
- Chester, a portrait in Old Postcards V1, by Karlyn Goulborn;
- Chester, a portrait in Old Postcards V2, by Karlyn Goulborn;
- Francis Frith's Around Chester, by Clive Hardy;
- Unseen Chester: Britain In Old Photographs, by Derek Stanley (2017);
- Chester: The Postcard Collection, by Peter Byrom (2019);
Related Pages
- Flookersbrook: this was the ancient boundary of the city of Chester;
- Hoole: the modern suburb and the original hamlet;
- Newton Hollows: a surviving route which has been the subject of several postcards;
- Prospect of Chester: a look at historical depictions of the city in the form of "prospects";
- Time: Robert Lewis Jones (of Brook Lodge) and his contribution to time-keeping;
- 1883 Reform Act: Charles Brown, politics and the disputes over the land shown in the image on the postcard;
- Batenham: Chester as it looked before the "Tudor Revival";
- Art of Louise Rayner: the arrival of the "Vernacular Revival";
- Architectural Glossary: what the bits are called;
Online
The Hoole Postcard
Chester Postcards in General
- Francis Frith Collection: images of Chester;
- A Postcard from Chester;
- Cheshire Image Bank;