Quarters

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This is a brief summary of the geography and topography of Chester, mostly within the walls and a page/article from which many "rabbit holes" lead off to further exploration. For a more detailed summary of what happened in time rather than space see: A Short History. Like much else on this site, it presents Chester as a "Cabinet of Curiousities". In 1671, when visiting Thomas Browne (1605–82: see: Brown), the courtier John Evelyn remarked,

  • "His whole house and garden is a paradise and Cabinet of rarities and that of the best collection, amongst Medails, books, Plants, natural things."

Late in his life Browne parodied the rising trend of collecting curiosities in his tract Musaeum Clausum, an inventory of dubious, rumoured and non-existent books, pictures and objects. With any analysis of a place like Chester it is worth bearing Brown in mind.

The main streets of Roman Chester, Eastgate Street, Northgate Street, Watergate Street and Bridge Street conveniently divide the city into four quarters. Each of these includes a region which was within the original legionary fortress. All except the Cathedral Quarter were extended outwards by the Saxons. The city outgrew the confines of its walls at different times in different directions.

Initial Siting

A factor which governed the Roman choice of the city's later site was the need for a position on the banks of a navigable river, preferably at the lowest possible bridging point. This location afforded a means of controlling native traffic between North Wales and the Pennines region and an alternative method of moving men and materials into and out of the area. The Dee was an ideal river for this purpose.

The topography of the sandstone ridge on which the Romans built Chester.

It might be thought that the future site of Liverpool or somwhere else on the Mersey could have provided an alternative site for the legionary fortress. However, the Dee flowing south-north and Chester being on the border between Wales and the relatively friendly Cornovii, Chester seems far more suitable as a forward base. Theories have been put forward that the Mersey did not in Roman times connect with the Irish Sea, but these have been discredited.

As the Dee was tidal only as far as Chester a more southerly location on the river would have been inaccessible to shipping which needed the benefit of a tide. A position further down-river was ruled out by the presence of extensive marshlands on both sides of the channel. Thus the only possible site was in the immediate vicinity of the Dee's passage through the sandstone outcrop at Chester. The local topography dictated the alignment of the legionary fortress. Following from this, the Romans frequently used a somewhat standardised layout for fortresses (see: "Castrum") in Britain and this influenced the course of the main streets. There were, of course, accommodations for local topography and variations over time of establishment.

The original topography of the site upon which Chester came to be built consists of a north-south sandstone ridge whose western slope is slightly steeper than its eastern counterpart. A short gorge has been formed to the south by the River Dee cutting its way westwards. Further dissection of the ridge has taken place due to the formation of several steep-sided creeks or gulleys. These occupy positions on the line of Souter's Lane, Lower Bridge Street, north-east to south-west across Nuns' Fields and immediately to the south of Lower Watergate Street. Two broad gulleys had been formed on the southern side of the river, one is now occupied by the suburb of Handbridge and the other, lying further to the west, has been bisected by the southern approach road of the Grosvenor Bridge. The river cliff slopes steeply from the 50 foot contour on the southern edge of the city whereas on the west it does so from the 35 foot contour (mean average height of river level taken as being approximately 6 feet.

In summary the wider topography influenced the geographical choice of the location of the Roman legionary fort. The local topography then influenced the alignment of what was in many ways a standard design of fortress.

Roman Chester

Roman campaigns in Wales during the late 50s culminated in Suetonius Paulinus's attack on Anglesey in AD 60. Although there is no conclusive archaeological evidence, the Romans may well have used the harbour and crossing-point at Chester, defending them perhaps by a small fort. If so, their occupation then is likely to have been short-lived, since the Boudiccan uprising in AD 60 demanded the governor's immediate attention elsewhere and an abrupt cessation to the Welsh campaigns in north Wales. It was only c. AD 70 that a new policy of total conquest of the British Isles led to the establishment of the first permanent military presence at Chester. As a prelude to implementing the new policy, the Ninth Legion was moved forward from Lincoln to York, and a new Legio II, called Adiutrix and recently raised by Vespasian from the marines of the Adriatic fleet, was sent to Britain with the new governor, Petillius Cerialis and based initially at Lincoln. It was soon moved west to construct a new legionary depot at Chester, probably under orders from Sextus Julius Frontinus as incoming provincial governor in or shortly after AD 74. During Frontinus's governorship (74-8) and in the first year of his successor, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the Roman army completed the subjugation of the Silures and Ordovices in Wales by reconquering Anglesey in AD 78. Agricola was then free to complete the conquest of the Brigantes begun by Cerealis in the early AD 70s. The legionary depot and related installations at Chester were built during those years, with the finishing touches to the basic military requirements added by c. AD 80.

The main streets of Roman Chester conveniently divide the city into four quarters. This article looks at the individual history of those quarters and is a not particularly detailed guide (but with links to futher information). The history of the High Cross area dates back to Roman times and The Cross lies at the centre of the original grid plan of Roman Chester. The fortress defences enclosed an area of about 60 acres (24 hectares), rather larger than other legionary fortresses in Britain. In outline it was rectangular or "playing card" in shape, with gateways on each side giving access to the four main streets. Three of these streets met at the central crossroads (now The High Cross) in front of the massive principia or legionary headquarters building (now St Peter), the fourth arrives very close by.

The four main streets meet at the High Cross (with Bridge Street to the left of the cross, Watergate Street behind the Cross), the corner of St Peter in the middle and Northgate Street on the right of center meeting Eastgate Street on which the photo is taken.
Looking down Upper Bridge Street in 2015 with the High Cross in the foreground and Eastgate Street to the left. This wss the site of the headquarters of the garrison of Roman Chester. The building left of center is by Thomas Meakin Lockwood (1888) one of the architects who developed the "Chester Look". The High Cross was broken up at the end of the siege of Chester in the Civil War and some surviving parts only restored to its ancient original site at the intersection of the city's main streets in 1975, after an absence of some 329 years.

Much of the rest of the space with the fortress was occupied in Roman times by rows of barrack blocks, baths, workshops and granaries. It was a military base, not a city with civilians living within the walls, except perhaps at the very end of the Roman period. However, attracted to Chester by the chance of a living from the large number of well-paid legionaries were local tribesmen, traders of all kinds from near and far, an army of servants and labourers (both slave and free), and officials employed to run the extramural posting houses, harbour facilities, and other official establishments. There were, too, retired soldiers, some probably from Wroxeter, who preferred to live close to their former comrades-in-arms in a lifestyle which retained a military flavour. Many had wives and families. Thus, quite quickly, a sizeable settlement, known as the canabae, grew up outside the walls of the fortress. It remained under direct military supervision, unlike the nearby independent and large civil settlement at Heronbridge. By c. AD 90 the Second Legion had no further need of its base at Chester and the depot's future had to be decided. Accordingly, the landlocked legionary depot at Wroxeter was abandoned c. AD 90, and Legio XX Valeria Victrix, established itself instead at Chester, possibly after a short stay at Gloucester. Legio XX took over a depot at Chester in full working order. In the extramural settlement between the waterfront and the western ramparts, a short distance outside the west gate, what appear to have been luxurious and extensive baths in stone and concrete were also already in use early in the 2nd century.

The basic grid pattern of the main streets has persisted to the present time, with additions and minor re-alignments over the centuries. The Roman fortress walls enclosed an area smaller than the later City Walls, but were on the same line as the medieval walls in the north east. However, there was considerable Roman activity between the west wall and the River. The walls were later extended to the River growing what in modern times might be called the "Canal", "Castle" and "St Johns" quarters.

Hopefully this will become a clickable map. Much of the historic street plan has survived, and this plan is itself based on the layout of the legionary fortress of Roman Chester.

Saxon and later Chester

The Saxon refortification of the city led to the establishment of "Burgage Plots" along the four principal Roman streets. Each occupant would have a relatively narrow plot of land leading back from short street frontage. The width of the street frontages are often similar or a small multiple of an essentially standard width. Lucian the Monk saw a good deal of symbolism in the layout of the city and did not ascribe it to a Roman origin.

  • "Chester also has two perfectly straight streets intersecting like the blessed cross,Concerning the streets of Chester which form four roads , culminating at the four gates, mystically revealling that the grace of the Great King dwells in the very city , who, through the four evangelists, showed the twin law of the old and new testaments to be completed through the mystery of the holy cross. The internal truth of this arrangement is consecrated and cannot be faulted; it nourishes the observer. Nor do we fear a fair appraisal, because what is committed to the memory of letters must already be perfect in its truth. But if any foreigner tests the account, confirming it, he may see the text with one eye and the city with the other."

The "backlands", behind the principal streets included workshops and possibly some space for small-scale agriculture. The "quarters" of Medieval Chester seem to been associated with these streets rather than with the sectors of the city which they separate.

Hollar's Map gives an impression of the state of the repaired suburbs in c1660, and the amount of open space within the city walls.

By the time of the Civil War Chester had not yet filled the space with the walls, but had developed its extramural suburbs to the north, east and south. The largest lay outside the Eastgate, where Foregate Street was continuously built up as far as Boughton, and where Cow Lane (later Frodsham Street) and the Gorse Stacks to the north, and St John Street (then lane) and Vicars Lane to the south were also lined with houses. In Handbridge there was housing along the main street, Greenway Street, and Overleigh Road. Outside the Northgate, where over thirty houses and several bakehouses and barns were burnt in 1564 or 1565, building extended mainly along Upper Northgate Street. Even to the west, where there was least development, there was building outside the Watergate on the edge of the Roodee. The suburbs contained concentrations of gentlemen's houses and inns, the latter most notably in Foregate Street. The siege entailed much damage, especially in the suburbs. Indeed in 1648 the citizens claimed that a quarter of the city had been burnt. Initially, destruction was the work of the defenders, who cleared large numbers of suburban buildings which they feared might threaten their new fortifications. Further damage was later inflicted by the parliamentarian forces, and by 1646 large parts of the eastern suburbs had been burnt: at Boughton, around the Bars, and along Foregate Street, Cow Lane, and St John Street. St Johns church was severely damaged, and Lord Cholmondeley's house in the churchyard and St. Giles's hospital at Boughton were razed. The northern suburbs were entirely burnt. Losses there included St. John's hospital, the house of correction, the great windmill, and Jollye's Hall. In Handbridge the high street and the surrounding lanes and buildings were destroyed, including the fulling mills, Overleigh Hall, and Brewer's Hall. Immediately outside the walls, the buildings beyond the Watergate on the Roodee and the Glovers Houses near the Shipgate were all taken down. In all perhaps 300 or 350 houses were lost.

Atholl Place (Crook Street Court) before demolition in 1930.

By the time of Victorian Chester much of the intramural "backlands" within the quarters had developed into "slum courts" so while the face of the four main streets gave a picture of opulence, especially along The Rows, a good deal of poverty existed behind this frontage. At the time of their greatest extent in the 1860s and 1870s, Chester had 178 courts lacking effective street frontage, generally with access only by a passage through other property. Although it is difficult to date precisely, such housing was probably built mostly between the earlier 18th century and the 1840s. Within the walls much dated from before 1789. Building took place in back yards and gardens between Watergate Street and Commonhall Street, behind Shoemakers' Row in Northgate Street, and in Lower Bridge and Castle Streets. In the 1790s and more especially in the early 19th century courts were built further from the main streets, for example north of Watergate Street off Goss, Crook, Trinity, and Princess Streets. A further group behind St. Olave and Duke Streets also seems to date from that period. Within the walls only the north-eastern quarter had few courts, their development being inhibited by the Cathedral precinct and the commercial value of sites along and behind Eastgate Street. Beyond the walls an extensive network of courts also developed on both sides of Foregate Street, and in the 19th century more were built in Boughton and behind Upper Northgate Street, and a few in Newtown. The largest number of later courts outside the city centre was in Handbridge. In 1912 some 2,636 people still lived in the 660 court houses which remained, and their death rate was 23.9 per 1,000, compared with a city average of 15.2. In 1914 the average death rate in Chester was 15.7 per thousand people but in the slum courts reached 27.3 per thousand.

Although action to clear slum courts was taken under the 1875 Public Health Act and later legislation, the most powerful motive for their removal was the potential of their sites for commercial redevelopment. Those in St. Olave Street were an exception, replaced by new housing and a school. Most of the other courts removed from within the walls and around Foregate Street succumbed to commercial development, including those behind Shoemakers' Row in Northgate Street (1899-1902), and Allen's Court at the Bars (1910); Valentine's Court in Northgate Street was replaced by a new Fire Station in 1911. Relatively few disappeared from the south-western quarter inside the walls, an indication of the area's depressed character in the 19th century.

Chester's appearance to visitors in 1914 had been largely determined by the new building and reconstruction of the previous seventy years. By then a remarkable modern commercial centre had been created, clothed (at least along the principal streets) in the antiquarian styles of the vernacular revival. Behind this facade, much of the "backlands" had been filled-in with "slum courts", many of which remained. There had also been considerable, if much less distinctive, suburban development, and on the rural fringes there was a scatter of middle-class villas and, towards the end of the period, terraced housing produced by speculative builders.

Exploring Chester's Quarters

The Rows complicate any simple route map for the linear exploration of Chester, as their two level structure means that if you really must look in every shop window you may have to walk up and down each of the main streets several times. Taking Chester a quarter at a time can be less tiring than trying to see the whole city in one go (see: A Chester Lightning Tour). Each Quarter is described below in fairly general terms as regards its historical development. Within the walls there is further detail at the level of individual streets. The Historic England website has searchable maps which identify heritage assets such as listed buildings and ancient monuments. Some of the images are taken from John McGahey's "Balloon View" of Chester from 1855. This was remarkably accurate when first produced, and although some of the buildings shown have not survived, many have.

Grosvenor Bridge, once the largest single span stone bridge in the world.The Old Dee Bridge, Weir and Minerva ShrineThe Castle and the Military Museum. The Grosvenor Museum is very close by.You can take a tour to the top of the Cathedral for a stunning view.The Water Tower once stood in the River DeeThe Phoenix Tower - but can you see Rowton Moor from herePossibly the most painted Church in the world?Did King Harold live here?Edgars Field has a real Roman ShrineHave they got the shields mixed up?The River Dee, from source to seaThe Roodee, once a Roman harbour now a racecourseThe center of the famous "Rows" of ChesterEastgate - a place to start a walk around the WallsNorthgate - a scary prison once stood hereView of Chester from a Balloon
A view of Chester from a balloon : notable features of Chester include: Chester castle, the City Walls, The Rows, the Hermitage, the Amphitheatre, the Cathedral, the partly ruined church of St Johns, the Minerva Shrine, Suspension Bridge, Old Dee Bridge, Grosvenor Bridge. Grosvenor Museum and Military Museum.

What is at once evident from McGahey's 1853 prospect is that there is still much open space within each quarter. The quarters are similar in that they each comprise an intra-mural portion bounded by a Saxon (or Roman) wall and that development has concentrated along the four main streets, with Row walkways radiating along each. The particular character of each quarter however differs:

  • The Cathedral Quarter is largely ecclesiastical;
  • The North-Western Quarter is associated with the canal and the port;
  • The Castle Quarter is the home to the Courts and the Military;
  • St Johns Quarter has a strong extra-mural focus.

These functions are in some ways quite different to those of the same parts of the city during Roman times, but there may be some links. It has been suggested that there might have been a Roman "Mithraeum" on the site of the Cathedral, but the evidence for this is very slight and possibly due to "wishful thinking". The Romans had no Canal and it appears that the intramural facilities associated with the Roman port (for example granaries) were in the Castle Quarter, which has been influenced by the much later Norman castle. The development St Johns Quarter may have been influenced by the location of the Amphitheatre, a possible site of martyrdom, or a suitable site from which to rob-out stone.

It is quite difficult to get geographically lost in Chester as the street layout preserves much of the original Roman grid and in central Chester one cannot walk too far without meeting one of the four principal streets or the city walls. The walls are well signposted and the the way along them is fairly obvious. In terms of history, Chester is a bit of a mish-mash, with each quarter comprising a mix of everything from Roman, through Medieval and Civil War to Georgian and Victorian. Often, a single building will comprise elements from several different historical periods, with a Medieval crypt or undercroft and Georgian or Victorian upper stories which could be decorated with the Tudor-inspired black-and-white of the Vernacular Revival.

The Cathedral Quarter

This intramural portion of this quarter is bounded by the Roman walls running from Eastgate to Northgate via the Phoenix Tower, together with Eastgate Street and Northgate Street which meet at the High Cross.

The Cathedral Quarter as portrayed by McGahey. North is to the right. The Canal runs from the Portpool area down to Cow Lane Bridge at the end of Frodsham Street. Queen Street is shown in some detail. The quarter consists of two main divisions, a southern division of what were originally narrow lanes running from Eastgate Street to the Abbey graveyard and a ecclesiastical division filling the rest of the quarter.

General Description

Listed buildings and other points of interest in the Cathedral Quarter. To dig down see: Historic England.

The quarter contains "original" Roman walls, the Cathedral, with its gateway, fine Georgian houses and open spaces. It is dominated by the Cathedral and for much of the post Anglo-Saxon history of Chester was largely given over to ecclesiastical purposes. Outside of the walls are the Kaleyards, Gorse Stacks and Frodsham Street. Within this quarter Northgate Street and Eastgate Street both have Rows, with those along Eastgate Street being more extensive.

In Roman Chester and within the walls, this quarter was mostly barracks although it did contain the commander's residence (Praetorium). This had its own underfloor heating and may have had its own baths. A narrow alleyway off Northgate Street here goes by the name of "Leen Lane", and probably marks (roughly) the northernmost boundary of the Praetorium. Twelve sandstone hypocaust pillars are located towards the rear east side of No. 16 Northgate Street, along the north elevation, and underlie Leen Lane. These are not easily accessible to visitors.

The City Walls bordering this quarter closely follow the original Roman line, but have been much repaired over the years. During Victorian repairs a large number of Roman gravestones were recovered, especially from the north wall. Many of these are now on display in the Grosvenor Museum. Why the Romans chose to rip up gravestones to repair the walls isn't well understood: it may have been desparation in the face of some threat of attack, and it has been suggested the later Christanised Romans had few qualms about re-using the tombstones of "pagan" predecessors.

This is the smallest of Chester's intramural quarters based on the Saxon Walls and it's development outside of the walls was influenced by the fact that the extramural area included water-meadows fed by Flookersbrook and poorly-drained Newtown. Beyond these, the ground rises to Hoole Heath, once an extensive area of common grazing and the site of fighting in the Civil War (see: Battle of Hoole Heath). Extramural developments with the coming of the Canal included the Leadworks, but the establishment of Chester Station led to considerable growth of the suburb of Hoole. Somewhat surprisingly to many "Hooligans", Hoole was not part of the City of Chester until 1954. Although Chester's industrial base remained relatively modest after 1840, the city nevertheless developed areas with a Victorian industrial and urban character grafted rather incongruously on to the ancient core. The Gorse Stacks and Brook Street area was the main industrial centre on the edge of the older urban core, with foundries, engineering works, saw mills, tanneries, and a chemical works. After 1875 the site of the Flookersbrook Foundry was occupied by the Hydraulic Engineering Co.; in the following thirty years, as the firm attained its greatest prosperity, extensions were built backing on to Egerton Street. The Egerton Iron and Brass Foundry, operated by James Mowle & Co. in 1871 and Mowle and Meacock by 1892, lay between Crewe Street and Albert Street, but had been demolished by 1910. The Providence Iron and Brass Foundry of H. Lanceley and Son, founded in George Street around 1869, moved later to a group of mostly single-storeyed buildings on the west side of Brook Street previously used by a tannery. Egerton Street Saw Mill was a three-storeyed range incorporating offices at the street end and works with an arcaded ground floor at the rear, probably built in the mid 19th century; by 1906 it was occupied by paint manufacturers.

Chester Cathedral, formerly a monastery founded in 1092, was spared destruction by Henry VIII at the time of the Dissolution and became the Cathedral of the "new" Diocese of Chester in 1541. Up to that date, the Abbey was in the diocese of Lichfield. The monks attended daily services, cared for the sick and the poor and looked after travellers. When the Abbey Church was made the Cathedral, the monks were succeeded by the Dean and Chapter. The page on the Cathedral contains a more detailed guide and history. The Abbey was not the first ecclesiastical establishment in this quarter as it was formed in part from the Saxon "familia of St Werburgh", which is traditionally said to have been established in 875. This church was razed to the ground around 1090, with the secular canons evicted, and no known trace of it remains although it is believed to have been of the site of the present Cathedral which may contain some re-used Saxon stonework.

Archeological finds in Roman Chester marked on a modern map. The outline of the fortress walls is evident, as are locations of activity outside of the walls.

The Abbey/Cathedral precints once included much of the intramural portion of this quarter and extended from the north wall southwards, and across the whole width of the quarter from Northgate Street to the City Walls, being bordered along Northgate Street by a wall which prevented the extension of the Rows along the east side of Northgate Street. The southern border of the precincts was a line which ran along the southern side of the graveyard, roughly along the line from Music-Hall alley (St Nicolas Chapel), to the location of the present Bell-tower. Until the late 19th century, St Werburgh Street was a narrow lane leading up to the Cathedral and its graveyard. This was replaced in the 1870s by a range of shops by the local architect, John Douglas. The development is regarded by some as the high point of the Vernacular Revival style. Other lanes which ran up to the graveyard from Eastgate Street included Godstall Lane and an extension of Leen Lane. The first known official list of Chester street names is in the year 1567, when, by command of Richard Dutton, Mayor of that year, a description was ordered to be written in the assembly book. This included, with reference to Eastgate Street:

  • "On the north side of the said street is a Lane that goeth out of the said street by the messuage side of late William Stanmer, and so to the kirk yard of St. Oswalds, called Leen Lane, and beneath it upon the same side near[er] the Eastgate is a Lane called Saint Goddestall Lane, and so goeth out of the said street into the said Church Yard. This Goddestall lieth buried within the Abbey Chrch in Chester, and he was an Emperor and a virtuous desposed man in his living, and his Lane lieth between the messuage, sometime of Robert Chamberlyne and the messuage late in the holding of William Humphrey, and on the same side near the Eastgate there is a Lane called Saint Werburgh Lane, and it goeth in to the foresaid Church Yard "

The "buttershops", which sold dairy produce, were located on the corner of Eastgate Street and Northgate Street and are first mentioned in 1270, before which this was open ground: excavations have revealed signs of a late Saxon or early Norman marketplace. After c.1330 cooks and saucemakers appear to have had their premises here and on the north side of Eastgate Street.

West of the Cathedral lies Abbey Square, one of the finest groups of Georgian buildings in the city. This was originally the site of the courtyard of the Benedictine Abbey, containing its secular buildings such as the bakery and brew-house. Most of the buildings on the west and north sides of Abbey Square are individual Georgian houses which were constructed for the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral. They replaced older buildings which had formed part of the monastic complex. Most of the houses were built between 1754 and 1761. The latin insriptions above the door of #11 reads "pax hvic domvi: sit pax introevnti: sit in hac habitanti: sit et exevnti pax" (peace to this house: peace on those who enter, peace on those who dwell here, and peace one those who exit). Two earlier cottages remain. The style evolved in the houses in Abbey Square, which were generally of three storeys, of brick with stone quoins, a solid parapet, and elaborate doorcases, was largely followed in other developments in the third quarter of the 18th century, especially on the east side of Northgate Street (on cathedral land backing on the precinct wall), along King Street, in White Friars, on the north side of Pepper Street (demolished), and in Newgate Street (largely demolished).

From Abbey Square, Abbey Street leads down to the Kaleyard Gate through the walls. The Kaleyard Gate led to the kitchen garden of the Abbey.

The northern end of the quarter includes the Dean's Field (also known as the Deanery Field and Abbey Green) which is one of the few surviving examples of "open ground" within the City Walls. Roman barracks were excavated in 1923-28 and 1935 then covered over again. Subsequent investigations on the site have been intermittent. The last major intervention was conducted between 1975-77, as part of a rescue-style investigation re-exploring the defensive wall and interval tower of the city walls. In 2016 a series of geophysical surveys across Deanery Field were used to explore the archaeology below. Ground Penetrating Radar showed that further barrack blocks remain unexcavated.

The Phoenix Tower (also known as "King Charles' Tower") stands at the outer corner of the intramural part of this quarter. It is occasionally open to the public.

Further Information: Inside the Walls

Click on the link under the thumbnail for further information.

Outside the Walls

Northgate and Canal

This quarter is bounded by the city wall running from Northgate to the Watertower and then on to the Watergate, Watergate Street itself up to St Peter at the High Cross and then Northgate Street back to the Northgate.

The Northwest Quarter. This is before the construction of the Town Hall and the Exchange which burned down at the end of 1862 can be seen in the image.

General Description

Listed buildings and other points of interest in the Northwestern quarter. To dig down see: Historic England.

Within the present walls the Roman legionary fortress only covered a portion of this quarter, being that bounded to the west by St Martins Way and to the south by Cuppin Street. A Roman gate was located roughly at the site of Holy Trinity and the earliest version of that church may have used stone robbed-out from the Roman gate. In Roman Chester this area contained barracks and some workshops. It was also the site of a unique and mysterious "Elliptical Building" of which all archaeology has been destroyed. There was also a large building with a central courtyard roughly on the site of the present market square. In the early second century of Roman Chester there was a civilian settlement between what is now the inner ring road and the Saxon/Norman walls to the west. As noted above, remains of a Roman bath house were discovered near the present Watergate which would have placed it outside the legionary fortress.

The quarter was enlarged to the then banks of the River Dee by the Saxons, led by Æthelflæd. This involved the building of a wall, or possibly an earthwork, from the corner tower by St Martin's Gate down to the site of Bonewaldesthorne's Tower. It is unclear whether the Saxons were building on what may already have been some kind of Roman fortification and this presents something of a puzzle. Excavations at the Infirmary have revealed a Roman cemetery, and so any Roman fortification would have enclosed this, which would have been not in keeping with Roman custom. Archaeologists believe that excavation along the wall from Morgan's Mount down to Bonewaldesthorn's Tower could resolve these issues but there has been no opportunity for such investigations.

The purpose of the refortification was to establish a "Burh" (fortified city) to counter Viking expansion. The Normans, or later rulers, may have also altered the defences on the western side of the quarter. The present defences to the north of this quarter include the remains of the Goblin tower, now known Pemberton's Parlour, and Morgan's Mount.

The Goblin Tower, called in Henry VIII's reign, Dille's Tower, was originally twice its present height, and was occupied by the Smiths' Company. It's early history and construction date are unknown.

The location of extra-mural settlements and cemeteries in Roman Chester.

The Braun and Hogenberg map (1581) seems to show a tower on the site of Morgan's Mount - roughly half-way between the Northgate and the Watertower - a good while before the Civil War. The Smith Map shows three towers along this same stretch of wall, again with one more or less in the middle. So it is possible that there was a tower here before the present structure. The wall at this point is still "Roman", and there was a Roman "corner tower" quite close by, but it is impossible to say with any certainty what was on the site of Morgan's Mount prior to the Civil War.

Despite its earlier use by the Romans, it appears that this quarter, especially the extension towards the river, was largely undeveloped until it became the site of some of the various monastic developments, particularly the Franciscans (Greyfriars). The area nearest the river was generally known as "the Crofts".

Dodgson writes:

  • "The Crofts is a name usually associated with the open ground, unoccupied until the old city gaol and the infirmary finally swallowed it, in the north-west corner of the medieval city. But it must originally have applied to the whole extent of the ground inside the west wall of the city, from the castle to the north wall: as if, in expanding beyond the Roman wall, the city had included within its greater circuit allotments of unbuilt ground. .. From the middle of the thirteenth century onwards, The Crofts is the name of the ground north of Watergate Street. King Street was formerly Barn Lane, called after St. Werburgh’s Abbey’s barn in the crofts. These northern crofts were called ‘the crofts of Northgate Street’ in 1348, as though the allotments were appurtenant to a particular part of the town. The encroachment upon this northern part of The Crofts was under way by the middle of the thirteenth century, with the establishment of the Grey Friars’ house. Their east precinct-wall (still standing in 1574) was along Linenhall Place, and Linenhall Street was Gray Friars Lane 1480 to 1775, whereas it was Crofts Lane or Street 1345 to 1574. But north of the Grey Friars there seems to have been little permanent building until modern times. The extension of the infirmary in 1963 occupied the last remnant of The Crofts at their north end, formerly Lady Barrow’s Hey. South of this was Kitchen Croft, part of The Crofts lying in St. Martin’s parish, whence the street-name St. Martin’s Fields; and also Gaol Fields' and Infirmary Field, named after the City Gaol (1706*) and the Infirmary (1706*). The gaol was south of Bedward Row, contiguous with the Grey Friars’ site. The Linen Hall was built upon the site of the Covent Garden16 of the Grey Friars. The site of their house was partly occupied by an inn called The Yacht," whence the Grey Friars Close or the Yacht Field." (*some of his dates are out}
Religious communities in Chester. The Roman walls are shown in red, the Anglo-Saxon extension in purple

Apart from King Street and the Town Hall, within the line of the Roman Walls this is an area of almost exclusively post-war development behind the Northgate Street frontage. King Street was once orchards and gardens for the Abbey, it was redeveloped from the late 16th century for housing and contains mainly Georgian and Victorian houses. There is also some surviving Georgian architecture in the form of the Infirmary and around Stanley Place. The land upon which the infirmary later stood was anciently known as Lady Barrow's Hey, Hey being a Saxon name for a field enclosed with hedges. Earlier still, the land was used by the Romans as a cemetery and many graves were uncovered when the hospital was being built and enlarged. Immediately to the east of Stanley Place what is now (2024) a car-park was previously the site of the "Linenhall", where the linen trade with the cloth coming from Ireland was conducted between 1778 and the 1830's. After this the Linenhall was a place for trading Cheshire Cheese.

On the edge of the quarter, on Northgate Street is the Town Hall. The inside is worth a look and it is frequently open to the public (free of charge). Around the back and sides of the Town Hall is the Northgate development. After over 20 years of planning, delays and false starts, Northgate Phase One, including Exchange Square and the new Chester Market opened in 2022. A report on the archaeology can be found here.

The inner "corner feature" of this quarter is St Peter, notable for a medieval wall-painting and a palindromic font. This was built on the site of the Roman "Principia" (headquarters building) of Roman Chester a part of which survives in Hamilton Place in the form of a Roman strongroom. "St Peter's Churchyard" is now a pleasant courtyard at the rear of the church with entrances, in the form of covered alleyways, from both the rows along Watergate Street and from Northgate Street. The Commercial Hotel, located in the churchyard dates back to 1817 and was designed by prominent architect Thomas Harrison.

The outer "corner feature" of this quarter is the Watertower, constructed between 1323 and 1325. This once stood in the River Dee and was reached via a spur of the walls, but the changes in the course of the River have progressively "marooned" it on dry land. Access to it can only be gained via Bonewaldesthorne's Tower which may be open on "Heritage Days".

The Portpool lies outside of the walls of this quarter. Outside of the Walls to the north this quarter contains St John's Hospital and the Canal and Boatyard. St John's Hospital "for the sustentation of poor and silly persons" stood just outside the North Gate of Chester was probably founded by Ranulf de Blondeville, Earl of Chester, in the early 1190s. He gave the site in free alms and free of all services except the reception and care of the poor and ordered that the brothers of the hospital who travelled through Cheshire preaching and collecting alms should be honourably treated. The earl's grant was made to the Virgin and All Saints but within a few years the hospital had acquired its dedication to St. John the Baptist (Sigillum Hospitalis Sancti Iohannus Baptiste Cestrie) and was usually known as the "Hospital of St. John without the North Gate". Over the years it has provided almshouses, a school (with its own brass band), a part of the infirmary and a chapel both for all the aforementioned and for condemned criminals from the Northgate Prison. The present building is Georgian. It bears a prominent bell with a interesting history on one corner.

The dry dock at Tower Wharf (known as Graving Dock) is believed to date from 1798, potentially making it the oldest surviving example of its kind on the canal system. There was still a substantial shipbuilding industry in Chester at that time.

Further Information: Inside the Walls

Outside the Walls

Characterisation Studies

Castle Quarter

The intramural portion of this quarter is bounded by the city walls running from the Watergate to Chester Castle and then to Bridgegate, by Bridge Street up to the High Cross and then down Watergate Street back the Watergate.

The Castle Quarter. The street layout is still largely the Saxon/Medieval one, but has been altered by the construction of Grosvenor Street cutting diagonally across the grid.

General Description

Listed buildings and other points of interest in the Castle quarter. To dig down see: Historic England.

The Roman part of this quarter is that part bounded by Nicholas Street and Cuppin Street. The Roman facillities here included some officers quarters, the granaries and probably the hospital. As with the quarters to the nortwest and southeast the Saxons enlarged this quarter such that the city walls now lie closer to the river than those of the legionary fortress. The orginal corner of the Roman quarter would have been close to the site of St Martin, which leads to speculation about a Roman corner tower being robbed-out to provide stonework. A Roman wall beneath the city walls alongside the Roodee is sometimes said to be a Roman Quay, but this would appear to have required a huge tidal range. It appears that the Romans actually unloaded much cargo at the end of a long pier which extended out accross the Roodee to near the site of the present railway bridge.

The first Saxon domestic buildings to be found in Chester were in the Bunce Street, Castle Street areas, but this may mean that archaeology was less disturbed on these sites and they were the only ones discovered.

It is not known whether Saxon ruler Æthelflæd built any kind of fortified structure at Chester (the Saxon's did not build castles) although it has been speculated that she may have had a hall on the site of the Norman Castle. The Saxon rulers refortified Chester to protect the city against external raiders, whereas the Normans built the castle to protect themselves against the citizens. The south western quarter of the city has been dominated by Chester Castle for almost 1000 years, and while the western part of the area enclosed by the city walls was quite loosely developed in medieval times – containing agricultural land as well as monastic buildings, it became more densely infilled after Henry VIII sold monastic lands in the area and merchants built houses for themselves.

The quarter contains the Grosvenor Bridge. Once the largest stone arch bridge in the world and designed to allow relatively "tall" ships to pass beneath as of its opening (1833). Further downstream the railway bridge of 1845 is much lower above the river, showing how shipping had declined.

The frontage of the quarter to Watergate Street contain, among many buildings along The Rows, Bishop Lloyd's House and Leche House. The frontage to Bridge Street contains the Three Old Arches, The Falcon, Gamul House and the Bear and Billet.

The Castle quarter on the Lavaux Map.

As with many buildings in the city, Victorian or Georgian facades can often disguise medieval cellars or interiors and many buildings have evolved as fashion and economics dictated without necessarily being redeveloped. Many of the backland areas to the west of Bridge Street, linked by narrow passageways connected at Row Level and street level, have been cleared over time, with occasional surviving mews buildings, stables and other service functions, as well as warehouses giving clues as to the former character of this area.

The Dominicans or Black Friars arrived in 1236, occupying a site to the west of the city, between Black Friars Lane and Watergate Street. The street of Blackfriars marks the approximate boundary between the precincts of the nuns of St. Mary's. The Carmelites or White Friars came sometime before 1277 and built their church alongside White Friars Lane in 1290. Although never rich, these friaries were successively enlarged and they became very significant features within the medieval townscape, occupying almost a quarter of the land within the walled city. Excluding the Cathedral, apart from some street names and a relic in Grosvenor Park, there is little to see of these early friars in modern Chester.

None of the original parish churches of this quarter survive as such. St Bridget has been demolished twice and its only remains are a fragment of its graveyard including the resting place of Napoleonic soldier Thomas Gould. St Martin survives only in the name of a section of the inner ring road. St Mary on the Hill has become an arts center, but its interior is worth a look when access can be obtained.

Whitefriars is now a fine street of varied architectural styles, and one side of Commonhall Street, the site of the first civic meeting place (Common Hall) up to the 16th century has survived, with some Victorian cottages reflecting the original narrow plots. Nicholas Street, having lost its east side to the ring road, still has a run of Georgian terraced houses from the local architect Turner. The local architect who had most influence on this quarter was Thomas Harrison.

Stanley Palace in Watergate Street is Chester's finest Elizabethan house. It was built in 1591 for Sir Peter Warburton of Grafton, Vice Chancellor of the Cheshire Exchequer and the city's MP. The building was almost exported to the USA in 1866 but saved by the Chester Archaeological Society.

The quarter contains three museums, the Grosvenor Museum (free), the Military Museum (paid) and the Medical Museum (free but only open sometimes). Technically, the city walls are crossed twice by Castle Drive

Further Information: Inside the Walls

Outside the Walls

Characterisation Studies

Newgate, Amphitheare and St Johns

The intramural portion of this quarter runs from the Bridgegate along the city walls facing the Groves to where the walls turn inland from the River. There is no notable corner feature, but the boundary continues along the walls via Newgate to the Eastgate, and thence along Eastgate Street to the High Cross and down Bridge Street to return to the Bridgegate. Many of the heritage features of this quarter lie outside of the city walls: see St Johns Trail.

The St Johns and Amphitheatre quarter from McGahey's "Balloon view". Visible here are the Suspension Bridge, Cholmondeley House and Grosvenor Park.

General Description

Listed buildings and other points of interest in the Southeast quarter. To dig down see: Historic England.

Historic mapping (such as Braun and Hogenberg) shows that, outside of the line of the Roman Walls, this area has changed very little in its street form over the last 500 years. The main historic features are St Johns, the Groves, the Hermitage and the Amphitheatre, all of which lie outside the city walls. The only significant change in the street form was the introduction of the Grosvenor Park Road / amphitheatre route as a key traffic corridor, although this did largely follow existing historic streets. The Roman fortress site is today bounded by Pepper Street and the section of the City Walls from the Roman corner tower near the Amphitheatre to the Eastgate, although the Roman wall ran a little further to the east. This section of the Roman fortress was home to the Officer's Quarters (Praetentura) which housed some of the six military tribunes, and occupied the street frontage on the south side of Eastgate Street. Fronting onto upper Bridge Street were the Roman baths. The positioning of the baths complex within the Roman fortress of Deva would have been on one of the main streets; the Via Praetoria, close to the south gate. It was placed in the first building strip or "scamnum" of this block, which is unusual for Roman planning - the usual Roman procedure would be to place it in the second strip. The bath complex consisted of an entrance room (vestibulum), an exercise hall (basilica thermarum), a sweating room (sudatorium), a cold room with a cold pool (frigidarium), a warm room (tepidarium), and a hot room with a hot plunge bath (caldarium). An unsheltered exercise yard (palaestra) also formed part of the complex. The baths had mosaic floors and were heated by a hypocaust under-floor system connected to three furnaces. The ceilings of the baths were domed with lines of terracotta tubes to support the structure. Part of the Roman hypocaust remains in situ under the Mall and can be viewed from the cellar of the restaurant on 39 Bridge Street. Almost all the "Roman" portion of this quarter within the walls is buried under the Grosvenor Shopping Center.

Outside of the walls, the first Amphitheatre on the preesnt site was built soon after the establishment of the Roman fortress itself, sometime in the late 70s AD. From that time, it stayed in constant use until its final abandonment around the year 350. There is evidence that it underwent numerous structural modifications and alterations during this long period. The site of the amphitheatre was previously built upon until it was rediscovered and restored in the 20th century. Near to the Amphiteatre the "Roman gardens" is not an original Roman site but a collection of Roman stonework gathered from various locations around the city.

The St Johns quarter on the Roberts Map.

The foundation date of St Johns is uncertain and estimates very between the traditional founding date of 689 and sometime later, but it was established by 973 when Edgar the Pacific visited it during his "coronation" at Chester. It was made a Cathedral in 1075 and remained the see of a bishop until 1102. It appears that when the second Norman bishop in 1102 removed the see to Coventry and abandoned the plan of making this church the cathedral of the three united dioceses of Chester, Lichfield and Coventry that the fabric of the church was left very incomplete. The bishop also removed the funds on which its completion depended leaving the monks of the Priory of St John were left forlorn state with a large church commenced, and little more than commenced. While the external fabric of the church is largely Early English in style due to later restorations, much of the interior still consists of Norman stonework. If you do not go inside then you miss the whole point of visiting this building.

The area sloping down to the Groves became the home to several Georgian mansions. These included Dee House and the palace of Bishop Peploe which survive although Dee House is somewhat ruinous.

Foregate Street and St John Street can be made out on the Braun and Hogenberg plan. There is evidence that even in Roman Chester there was development along Foregate Street. In medieval and later times this was the start of the route between Chester and London, and inn's, smiths etc could be found here. "The Bars" were a set of gates (or turnpikes) some distance along Foregate Street and controlled access to this busy but extramural part of the city.

The area to the east of St John’s remained as open fields until the late 19th century, when Grosvenor Park was created in this space. Grosvenor Park is now regarded by many as one of the finest and most complete examples of Victorian parks in the north-west of England, if not nationally. Many changes have taken place since its official opening in 1867, but much of the original design and features have been retained. Some ancient relics of old Chester were re-erected in Grosvenor Park:

  • St. Mary's Arch – the archway and wing walls were removed from St Mary's Benedictine Nunnery (adjacent to the Roodee, see: Nicholas Street). The Nunnery had lain in ruins since Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. The arch and walls date from around the 13th century. They also have a mystery of their own.
  • a doorway from old St Michael Church - at least that is what the label on it says. However, it actually looks virtually identical to the gate which used to be at "The Bars".
  • Jacobs Well drinking fountain – this little stone arch had a fountain for people and a dish for their pets. It is now dried up - for the simple reason that it was also moved from elsewhere. Beside the fountain is the inscription "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall never thirst again" (John IV, 13).

Yet further to the east Dee Lane runs down to the river, and from here on upstream there were a number of large houses built. These are best seen from the pathway heading upstream on the south bank of the river. Further along the line of Foregate Street, at Boughton was the place of Execution at Chester, still called Gallows Hill. Nearby is the historic St Giles Cemetery.

Further Information: Inside the Walls

Outside the Walls

Characterisation Studies

Summary

A simplistic view would say that the Romans had a limited choice as to where they located their major legionary fortress on the North Wales border. They needed to be on a navigable river of which the choices were the Dee and the Mersey. The Dee is a better forward position. Chester is the highest tidal limit for navigation, and downstream the banks of the estuary are swampy and the river is not bridgeable. The north-south sandstone ridge on which their fortress was built was a good practical choice, as it was located near springs which could supply the fortress with water, had downhill drainage and lay above a very bridgeable crossing point. Building stone was also available locally. Once settled on the site the alignment of the fortress was decided by the local topography. The regimented layout of the fortress is similar to that of other legionary camps in Britain, being optimised for military efficiency rather than civilian life.

The Roman and Modern layout of Chester compared. The principal roads from the four gates to the High Cross have been re-used with some slight deviations. There are also minor roads along the lines of the peripheral routes both inside and sometimes outside of the walls of the legionary fortress. For many of the other "modern" roads these only roughly fit with the Roman layout.

It is however untrue to say that there were no civilians at Chester. Many of the Roman castra on the frontier possessed two town-like settlements. Immediately outside the defences was a civil settlement, the history and development of which mirrored those of the fortress itself. Its population was composed of merchants, traders, craftsmen and probably prostitutes who made their living by providing goods, services and entertainments which the members of the garrison could take advantage of during their off-duty hours, veterans and their families, slaves and servants employed in the households of the above, and the common-law wives of serving soldiers and their children (until the early third century, it was an "official" condition of service for the ordinary soldier that he be single). There was a further settlement at some distance. This was the situation at Chester with a settlement between the fortress and the river and a further one at Heronbridge. To some extent then, the western quarters of the city had already been extended to the banks of the Dee in Roman times.

Following the "departure" of the Romans c. AD 400, the next stage of Chester's development is problematic. For a fuller discussion see Chester in 900. In brief there was a transition from Roman to British (Welsh) control and then the expansion of the Saxon Mercians to eventually control Chester. There are suggestions that a "Celtic" synod was held here in c600, and the Battle of Chester was fought nearby in c616. St Johns, a Mercian foundation has a traditional date of establishment in 689. Werburgh's remains were translated here in AD 876. The Vikings raided the city in c.AD 892. It is not at all clear whether Chester was continuously occupied during this period. This period ends with the "restoration" of Chester by Æthelflæd.

Burhs are often said to be effectively an innovation from Wessex, but this may not be the case. A network of fortified towns, or "Burhs" was almost certainly constructed across greater Mercia in the 8th century which may have been instrumental in the emergence of the kingdom as the most dominant in Anglo Saxon England, the years of the so-called "Mercian Supremacy". Here military obligations were supplied by the great estates in exchange for land tenure and consisted of bridge-bote (repairing bridges and roads), burgh-bote (building and maintaining fortifications), and fyrd-bote (serving in the militia, known as the fyrd): the sometimes so-called "Three Necessities" (or "common burdens") which emerged under the Mercian kings Æthelbald (r.716 to 757) and were reinforced by Offa (r.757 to 796) in response to Viking coastal raids. It therefore does not appear to be true that the concept of the Burh originated in Wessex. It appears to have been a continental import by the Mercians, with some 22 Burh's (according to some sources) being constructed in Mercia by the end of Offa's rule. The locations of these are not agreed on but may include Bedford, Hereford, Northampton, Oxford and Stamford. In addition to their defensive uses, these burhs are thought to have been administrative centres, serving as regional markets and indicating a transformation of the Mercian economy away from its origins as a simple grouping of midland peoples.

In the 880's Alfred the Great of Wessex adopted the policy of encouraging the formation of Burhs, throughout his lands, such that no place in Wessex was more than 20 miles from a town which could provide protection during an attack. In exchange for free plots of land within the towns, settlers provided a defence force. The Burhs were also encouraged to become centres of commerce and local government. Alfred's son Edward the Elder continued his father's policy of establishing fortified towns, and he and his sister Æthelflæd of Mercia built a new double row of Burhs along the old Roman road of Watling Street, which (approximately) marked the border of the Danelaw as it ran from the Mersey to Essex.

The Saxons had very similar reasons for the establishment of the Burh at the same location as the legionary fortress, added to which they also faced a possible sea-borne threat from the Hiberno-Norse and Danes. The Roman fortifications could be repaired and extended, or robbed-out for building materials. There was already at least one Mercian religious community established on site and probably considerable existing Irish-Sea trade. These would enable the Burh to become a self-sustaining civilian community rather than an externally-funded military outpost.

It made sense for the Saxons to at least partly re-use some of the Roman street-plan, with the most valuable commercial property lying along the frontages to the four principal streets and the land behind the frontages being of lesser value. In cases where Roman towns were reused to create burhs the Saxons did not necessarily follow the Roman street pattern. Although frequently one or more of the main streets were reused, as at Chichester and Winchester, the Saxons often built their houses upon the firm foundations of the Roman street, with the new streets running alongside. In Chester the Saxons chose to re-use some elements of the street plan, but not all of them.

"Burghal Plots" then developed with narrow, possibly continuous, frontages along the main streets of an essentially standard width and backlands. This produced a natural tendency for the city to develop with four quarters. Extension of the area enclosed by the walls could be arranged without needing extra forces to defend them by extending the walls down to the River Dee at Bonewaldesthorne's Tower and Barnaby's Tower. This would also provide protection for the harbour and the river-crossing. It is possible that undeveloped land within this enclosed area could provide protected grazing for livestock and allow the Burh to hold-out if attacked until a relief force could arrive, while denying any approaching attacker from plundering supplies locally. The frontages of these plots eventually developed into The Rows.

The Saxons therefore converted a Roman military fortress with an associated civilian settlement into an integrated fortified town intended to protect all of the inhabitants as well as those of the hinterland. The Normans needed to protect themselves from the local populace and so while they appear to have improved the defences of the city as a whole, they built themselves a castle for their own protection. As Medieval Chester developed the relationship shifted again such that it can be seen as a significant port and mercantile center with with an associated castle as a military base and administrative centre. Throughout this, the city plan of four "Quarters" largely survived intact. The only major changes to the layout of the city within the walls would come with the construction of the Grosvenor Bridge, Grosvenor Street and later the Inner Ring Road.

Despite the vast amount which has been written on the history and topography of Roman and Saxon Chester there are still many areas where issues remain. Some of these are:

  • The date at which Legio XX left Chester and the manner of their departure;
  • The timing of the transition from "Roman Rule" to "British Rule" and whether it was orderly or disturbed;
  • The exact nature of the civilian settlement between the fortress and the Dee, and the nature of any defences it may have had;
  • The presence of any religious settlement at Chester in the years around AD 600, just prior to the Battle of Chester;
  • The date of the arrival of the Saxons in Chester, and the establishment of St Johns;
  • How, when and why the cult of Werburgh became established at Chester;
  • The extent, timing and nature of Viking settlement in Chester;
  • Events around AD 900 involving Æthelflæd, Edward the Elder's death at Farndon (924) and whether the Battle of Brunanburh (937) was fought near Chester;

Sources and Links

The following set of maps provide a useful illustration of the extent to which the intra-mural layout of Chester has changed since Elizabethan times.


A gallery of Old Maps of Chester


Related Pages

Online

Roman

Saxon

Medieval

Other

Books