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England > North West England > Chester

You'd have to be mad to miss the walled city of Chester. It's a splendid place to visit and explore on the way to Wales, the Lake District or Scotland. You can spend a day or two here and still not see everything. Sited on a sandstone spur north of the River Dee, Chester is rich with history, from its encircling Roman walls to its wealth of Tudor and Victorian buildings. In 1779, James Boswell wrote to Samuel Johnson: "Chester pleases me more than any town I ever saw." It's still possible to appreciate why Boswell said that, because Chester has not changed a great deal since. Its position on the Welsh frontier ensured it a turbulent history, and its sights and atmosphere bring it plenty of visitors. Even so, Chester is not overrun with tourists and you can explore the place pleasantly. If you have limited time and want to get out of London and plunge straight into Britain's rich and varied past, Chester is ideal. Few places capture British history as concisely as this ancient and picturesque walled city on England's northwest frontier with Wales.

Chester is famous for its 'rows' - two-tier galleries of shops dating from the Middle Ages and embellished in Victorian times. They are unique to Chester.

The Romans founded the city in 79 AD as Fortress Deva, a strategic outpost manned by the elite Valeria Victrix (Conquering Eagle) legion, famed for crushing a rebellion led by the British warrior queen, Boudicca, (also known as Boadicea). Boadicea was fond of thundering about in a chariot with long knives attached to the axles - very hazardous to the shins if you happened to be a Roman infantryman. A statue of her stands on the bank of the Thames in London near Big Ben.

Chester is easy to reach - the journey takes less than three hours by train from London's Euston station. Mersey rail trains run from Liverpool every 20 to 30 minutes and the journey takes just 45 minutes. Or you can drive up on the M6 and take the M56 and the M53. Chester is about 190 miles from London.

Deva, Chester's old Roman name, was the goddess of the River Dee, which flows past the city. The river can be seen clearly from the city wall but is more pleasantly observed from The Ale Taster, a well-decorated pub located at the eastern end of The Groves. Incidentally, The Ale Taster just happens to serve a fine selection of beers. Chester has many pubs, including the Marlbororough Arms. (You have to look at that name carefully to spot the spelling error.) The pub was meant to be called the Marlborough Arms, but the sign writer accepted part of his payment in beer and drank on the job. If he had drunk another pint, it might have been called the Marlbororororough Arms.


Much of Chester's original Roman wall survives, complete with towers added in the Middle Ages. There are four gateways to the city, all more than 200 years old. A fifth gateway was added in 1966 in conjunction with a motorway, but that one didn't last and had to be removed. (Proof indeed that they don't make 'em like they used to!)


Chester has been attacked by Viking raiders, colonised by Anglo-Saxons and invaded in 1070 by the Normans, who killed half the townspeople and built Chester Castle to keep survivors in check. The sacking of the city was particularly irritating for Ethelfreda, daughter of King Alfred the Great, who had just finished renovating and expanding. Invading armies tend to lack manners when it comes to things like that. Chester went on to become a thriving medieval port that saw battles between Cromwell's troops and Royalist forces in the English Civil War and withstood a siege.


Despite its multitude of ruins and well-preserved ancient buildings, Chester is anything but a museum. It's a major regional market city and shopping centre - more so than its relatively modest population of about 125,000 would lead you to suspect. People throughout northern Wales and England drive to Chester to shop, thronging the streets on Saturdays. An extraordinary aspect of the city is the way old blends with new. If you pop into Spud-u-Like (an inimitably British takeaway food chain that serves hot potatoes with a variety of savoury fillings) on 43 Bridge Street, you can view a well-preserved example of a Roman central heating duct in the basement. It just sits there while potatoes are cooked overhead.


Chester was staunchly Royalist in the English Civil War. The house where King Charles I hid after losing the Battle of Rowton Moor nearby (the battle which lost him the Civil War and ultimately his head) still stands. After the defeat, Charles I asked the city to hold out against Oliver Cromwell's advancing Roundhead forces for 10 days to let him escape. The citizens held out for five months.


The city is a great place for walking. Stroll the city walls, which form the most complete circuit of any city in England. Walking tours start from the City Hall tourist office and the Vicar Lane Visitor Centre. There are daytime historic tours and nocturnal ghost-hunter tours. One of the latter promises "a terrifying night time journey around the eerie haunts of Chester's mysterious and murky past." Screeeech!! Tours are moderately priced and are conducted by Blue Badge Guides, amateur local historians who tend to be retired people. They are well trained and worth the modest expenditure.


Every two or three years, Chester holds a cycle of 'mystery' plays. They aren't mysteries in the modern sense, but well-loved stories from the Bible. Originally, they were performed by craft guilds on two-tiered wagons. They were banned by the Puritans in 1575 and weren't revived until 1951. Since then, they have been performed every two or three years in the open, usually combined with a midsummer fair in the mediaeval manner.


The City Walls extend about two miles and a walk around them should take you about two hours. King Charles Tower is the place where the king sat dejectedly, watching his troops being thrashed by the Roundheads at the Battle of Rowton Moor in 1645. The tower now houses an exhibition of Chester's role in the Civil War. Outside the walls, the Roman Gardens house an exhibition of Roman stonework.


Chester Cathedral was a Benedictine Abbey until its dissolution by Henry VIII in 1540. A year later the building became a Cathedral. Intricate woodcarvings in the cathedral's interior include angels, monsters, kings, dragons - and a small figure of a monk drinking a mug of beer. The Devil is depicted tilting the mug, forcing the monk to drink more. "The Devil made me do it" is an old excuse! The Cathedral's magnificent ceiling was for centuries hidden from view, blackened by accumulated soot from mediaeval oil lamps. In the early 1980s, the church decided something must be done and called tenders for the task of cleaning it. Quotes for the job were so high friends of the Cathedral finally tackled the job themselves with scaffolding, scrubbing brushes and dishwashing liquid. The result looks highly professional - a do-it-yourself triumph!


Perhaps grab an inexpensive snack in the bistro-style Cathedral refectory. For 700 years people have eaten here among stone columns illuminated by light filtered through stained glass. It was quieter in bygone centuries, when monks were forbidden to talk.


Watergate Street (which has nothing to do with Richard Nixon) is one of Chester's main thoroughfares, lined with some of the city's finest buildings. On the corner of Watergate Street and Nicholas Street Mews is Stanley Palace, a wonderful symphony of criss-cross and diamond-pattern timbering. It was built in 1591. Another building in the street has the motto God's Providence is Mine Inheritance inscribed under the window. There's a story there, dating back to the Black Plague of the 17th century, when carts of corpses were pushed through the streets accompanied by criers calling "Bring out your dead!" and ringing a bell. The house with the motto was the only residence in Watergate Street to remain untouched by the Bubonic Plague.


Chester still has a town crier. The position dates from the 16th century and requires a loud voice, a top hat, full ceremonial regalia and a bell. The incumbent doesn't cry, "Bring out your dead!" anymore - he has more cheerful proclamations to make. A good place to see Chester's town crier is at the 15th century High Cross at the junction of Watergate Street and the city's three main streets of the city. The good crier announces local and national news, always beginning each announcement with the customary "Oyez! Oyez!"


The Grosvenor Museum is worth a visit. Rooms recreate different periods in the city's history, from Roman to Stuart and Georgian. There are excellent displays on the legionary system. You get the feeling that Roman soldiers were probably rather similar to soldiers today. Take this extract from a letter written by a Roman trooper stationed in Egypt in 107 AD: "I give thanks … that while the others are working hard all day cutting stones, I am now a principalis [a corporal] and stand around doing nothing."


Chester Castle is proof that blame for the destruction of England's castles cannot be laid solely at the feet of Oliver Cromwell. This one was largely demolished in the 19th century, but the 12th century Agricola Tower remains intact.
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