INTRODUCTION

For a stranger to Chester, the opportunity to explore the streets and buildings of such an ancient city, with its near two millennia of continuous occupation, must promise much to the first time visitor. The presence of the city’s almost intact circuit of defensive walls, its many early churches, world famous shopping Rows and its overtly historical character, all suggest a city that has its foundations in earlier times and with a few exceptions one that is totally bereft of the ugly utilitarian architecture, common in most modern English city’s.  However, it is precisely because of its great age, that the city has in fact been constantly subjected to regular periods of development, destruction and renovation throughout its history, a process that continues to reshape the precincts of the former Roman fortress even through to the present day.

Starting with the impressive sandstone buildings of the Romans, Chester has successively been inhabited by the dwellings and structures of the post-Roman Britons, the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans. Later still, there were those of the medieval subjects of the Plantagenet kings, the inhabitants of Tudor Chester, then the Stuarts, the Georgians, Victorians; and finally, those of the modern age, with all of these periods and their people’s adding their distinctive character to the city that stands today.

Following the restoration of British rule in the late 4^th or early 5^th centuries most of the land is thought to have returned to the ownership of the individual monarchs or tribal leaders who held power within their own particular regions and that would certainly have included the inner precincts of the former Roman fortress at Chester. Although large scale reuse of this land is thought to have been impossible, given the presence of the many still standing larger Roman buildings which may or may not have been reoccupied, the smaller, less robust structures, such as the rows of legionary barracks, storerooms and workshops were speculated to have been swept away, so that the site could then be used for other more peaceful purposes, such as settlement and agricultural.

However, for hundreds of years the vitally important sea port of Chester was reported to have been fought over and successively occupied by the Britons of Wales and the newly emerging Anglo Saxon peoples who had first settled in Britain during the 5^th century. These ongoing disputes, which ultimately would have prevented long term settlement of the land, both inside and outside of the fortress’ defensive walls was only thought to have finally been resolved in the 7^th century, around the time that Aethelred, the king of Mercia was said to have ordered the construction of the first Anglo Saxon church of St John the Baptist at Chester around 689 AD.

Where definitive evidence of Anglo Saxon habitation has been found, both inside and outside of the fortress’ defences, it suggests a relatively modest level of occupation and cultivation. A small number of sites have been discovered, all of which indicate isolated pockets of ploughed land and meagre buildings constructed with simple timbers and covered with thatched roofs. One of these sites, located behind the modern western frontages of today’s Lower Bridge Street and close to the river, suggested that there had been limited use of the land, followed by a period of abandonment and then a further period of use.

Typically, Anglo Saxon lands of the time, especially those in a settlement and bordering its earlier Roman streets or roads would have been portioned out into long individual strips, approximately ten metres wide and 30 metres deep, which would have ran backwards from the main thoroughfare. As a major regional sea port, trade centre and stopping-off point for those travelling between the north and south of Britain, Chester with its already well established Roman street plan was entirely different from the numbers of new settlements, which were beginning to spring up elsewhere during the same period and which often allowed for an entirely different street layout.......(continued)

Builders as such, are known to have existed for thousands of years, ever since mankind first decided to construct shelters from the native materials that existed around him, as opposed to living in naturally occurring caves and hollows. However, it was probably only with the dawn of permanent settlement, as opposed to the temporary camps of itinerant hunter gatherers, that the skills of what we would now recognise as a builder began to be developed and appreciated, although in all likelihood, basic construction skills would have been shared amongst the men of the village, who would have worked together to build their community.  

Although Chester’s extensive history generally begins with the legions of Rome, there is ample evidence to indicate that the site of our modern city, at one time played host to a pre-Roman Iron Age community, who occupied and farmed the land for hundreds of years, before finally being driven off or destroyed by the incoming legionary forces. However, unlike their military successors who left their immense defensive walls, great communal buildings and occasional works of art, as evidence of their extensive occupation, their Iron Age predecessors left little more than post holes and pits, many of which were swept away or simply hidden by the later grandiose architecture of the Roman builders of Chester.

Even where evidence of pre-Roman occupation remains intact though, its very nature prevents identification of the individual builder, bearing in mind that most Iron Age houses would have been made of timber, mud and thatch, which usually would have been built by an individual settler or possibly by members of that particular community. Even assuming that such people had been inclined to mark their work, which was most certainly not the case, the very nature of the building materials themselves would have assured anonymity, as it rotted away, leaving only indentations and soil discolouration to actually identify its very existence.

Although the succeeding Roman builders of Chester were known to be far more skilled than their British counterparts, in terms of constructing buildings of a far greater scale and from a greater variety of materials, they too seem to have built their military fortresses and great civic buildings in a communal fashion, rather than having to employ individually skilled builders. Along the length of Chester’s still standing Roman walls, there are stone cut records recalling the efforts of individual legionary units, who were assigned the task of erecting a particular section of the fortress’ defensive wall, suggesting that all members of the resident legion were well enough trained to build their camp to a given standard.

The arrival of Rome’s legions during the first half of the 1^st century probably also saw the dawn of the specialist craftsmen, the masons, smiths and the carpenters who brought with them the tools of their trades, enabling them to produce work of a standard previously unimagined by their British counterparts. It is also likely that the 2^nd Legion that first occupied the site at Chester had amongst its ranks a military engineer who was entirely responsible for the structure and layout of the fortress, as well as the many buildings that lay within its walled precincts.

Prior to the Romans, British building projects were thought to have been entirely limited by both knowledge and generally inadequate skill levels, which saw building sizes and weights limited by the almost sole use of timber posts and lintels. The arrival of the Roman military builders, surveyors and engineers however, with their much more efficient load bearing pillars and arches, coupled with their ability to employ a variety of materials, including concrete and sandstone allowed them to construct buildings of a much greater size and with a far greater life span.

By the late 4^th and early 5^th centuries though, the Romans were reported to have abandoned Britain, as well as the many thousands of buildings that they had constructed during their 300 year occupation of the province. Along with the soldiers themselves, the.........(continued)

Chester’s modern streets are littered with numerous buildings that offer visitor’s a wide variety of history, style and construction materials, ranging from 13^th century cellars to brand new city buildings that are only a few years old. However, the type of property most commonly associated with Chester is the Black and White half-timbered, Tudor style building which often appears to suggest great age and history, even where little if any exists. The city can also boast a plentiful supply of classically elegant Georgian houses, along with revivals of the much more ancient styles of architecture, including Roman, Greek and Gothic.

Despite the fact that Chester can probably offer an example of any sort of architecture that has been employed in England over the past 2000 years, much of what actually captures the eye and the imagination of the visitor today is probably new in terms of the city’s great age. And the reason for that is simple; it is because the central core of the city has been designed by a relatively small number of architects and designer’s who have either been artistically and stylistically sympathetic to their predecessors, guided by current trends or perhaps even influenced by a wealthy employer who had very clear ideas of how he wanted the particular building to look.

This particular section offers a brief overview of the careers and works of that relatively small number of men who most people would agree have been at the forefront of creating modern day Chester and whose work continues to draw inspiration and admiration from the hundreds of thousands of people who visit the city every year. Before beginning with the career of the Georgian architect, Joseph Turner, it is perhaps worth remembering that the city was still recovering from the devastating effects of the English Civil War siege in 1645 and that Chester was no longer a viable trading port, or indeed a strategically important military base, any and all of which might account for the sudden and expansive rounds of modernisation which took place in the city over the following 150-200 years.     

Joseph Turner (1729 – 1807)

Although Joseph Turner is commonly associated with the city of Chester and two of its most notable Georgian landmark structures, the Bridgegate and Watergate, he also has equally strong connections with the adjoining Welsh counties of Flintshire and Denbighshire, where he was reported to have been employed on a variety of important civic projects. It is also worth noting though that there seems to have been several generations of related architects, all of whom were called Joseph Turner, which has tended to confuse the issue of exactly which projects were undertaken by the different individuals.

An architect of some repute, the Joseph Turner in question, has been credited with designing the House of Correction at Hawarden, as well as the gaols at both Flint and Ruthin, although the first of these project was thought to date from around 1740 which would have made the architect about 11 years old when he undertook the design, which clearly cannot be the case. It seems likely therefore that the House of Correction at Hawarden was actually undertaken by an earlier Joseph Turner, possibly the father, rather than the son who worked in Chester and who is the subject of this particular history. He was said to have been involved with the repair of Hawarden Parish Church, as well as the Cathedral at St Asaph and designed the brick and stone house at Hawarden Castle for the local landowner Sir John Glynn. This building was later said to have been added to and enhanced by the renowned architect John Nash, the man credited with designing Buckingham Castle....(continued)

Formed by the conjunction of the Roman’s three great internal thoroughfares within the military fortress, Chester’s High Cross, in common with the rest of the city’s historic fabric has been subject to considerable change during its 2000 years of history. Originally, little more than a natural convergence of the Roman’s Via Praetoria, Via Principalis and Via Decumana the site of the later High Cross stood in front of what was once the entrance to the legionary’s Principia or headquarters building, the remains of which now lie largely beneath St Peter’s Church and the generally modern buildings that lie immediately north and west of it.

The actual High Cross at Chester, the stone monument that stands on the site today, is simply thought to be the latest in a long line of such structures that have occupied this particular spot, although its purpose has undoubtedly changed from purely religious to entirely civic over several hundreds of years. The first “Cross” may well have its early origins in the construction of the nearby St Peter’s church which was thought to have been re-founded by the Anglo Saxon leader Aethelflaeda around the end of the 9^th or beginning of the 10^th centuries. This cross was not thought to be in anyway unusual and over the succeeding hundreds of years, numerous such monuments were reported to have been erected both inside and outside of the city, including those dedicated to St Anne, St Stephen, etc. Most of these would subsequently disappear however, notably during the 16^th century, when the whole country was wracked by the religious purges and excesses of successive monarch’s including Henry VIII, Queen Mary and Elizabeth I.

In 1584 the Cross at the centre of Chester was reported to have fallen down, though whether or not this was due to a deliberate act of religious vandalism or intolerance is unclear. In 1644 a similar event occurred, although most commentators at the time suggested that it was more likely that poor workmanship or general neglect had caused the collapse rather than anything malicious or untoward. However, given the events of the time, the English Civil War and the ensuing siege of Chester, it was perhaps little wonder that when the forces of Parliament did finally conquer the Royalist city that the relatively insecure High Cross was an easy target for Roundhead frustrations who were said to have pulled it down purely as an act of retribution in 1646.

Described as having a seven sided capital sitting atop a 3 metre shaft, the Chester Cross was reported to have been smashed into several pieces by the Parliamentary vandals, who then simply discarded the remnants around the adjoining city streets. The head of this original Cross was said to have been inscribed with ornate tabernacle work, along with images of various saints and been topped with a slightly smaller capital designed in a similar manner. Following its demolition, the broken pieces of the monument were thought to have been buried below the walls of the nearby St Peter’s church and seem to have remained largely forgotten for an extended period of time, until they were rediscovered when the stairway to the church was rebuilt in 1804. The recovered fragments were then removed to the care of St Peter’s, until finally in 1815 they were handed over to Sir John Cotgreave who relocated the remnants to his new home at “Netherleigh” in the suburb of Handbridge.

According to legend Sir John intended to use the shaft of the cross as the base for a sundial that was being installed within the grounds of his new home, but after being constructed it almost immediately fell down. Re-erected once again, the feature once again fell over and perhaps through disgust and frustration the stonework was simply allowed to remain in the ditch into which it fell. Fortunately however, the pieces were subsequently recovered from the grounds at a later date and returned to the city, although the head of the medieval cross was reported to have been donated to the Grosvenor Museum.  

As the central meeting point for Chester’s early streets, it seems likely that the High Cross would have been first and foremost, a rallying point for the citizens and defenders of the city. However, as time passed and the city’s commerce developed, the area of the Cross would have become much busier as citizens, visitors and traders moved back and forth between the different parts of the city. Consequently, its position became far more central to the city’s everyday life and the High Cross was reportedly used to house Chester’s Pillory, its Whipping Post and its Stocks, as well as being the place where public.......(continued)

Running from the city’s High Cross northward to the rear gateway of the early Roman fortress, today’s Northgate Street marks the route of the legionary’s Via Decumana which led out of the northern gateway of the camp and onto to both the Wirral peninsula and north east Cheshire. It has also been suggested that in its earliest form, the southern limits of this military roadway, immediately adjoining the modern day St Peter’s church and Shoemaker’s Row, was thought to have lain slightly east of its present position, simply to accommodate the vast Principia building which was known to have existed at that time.

Representing the main military, administrative and judicial centre of the northwest region of Britain, Chester’s Roman Principia building was thought to be an extremely important and highly impressive structure, which was designed to reflect the wealth, style and more importantly, the military might of the empire. Comprising a large open courtyard that fronted the main building, the Principia at Chester was also reported to have included a Judgement Hall, suites of administrator’s offices, shrine’s to the various Roman deities and a strong-room, where the legionary pay chests and valuable equipment could be stored. Known as the Sacellum, this vault was typically flanked on one side by the office of the legionary Signifier, the officer who paid the troops and looked after the legions treasury and its valuables. Often the Sacellum would have been located immediately below the main legionary shrine in the Principia and accessed via a trapdoor or by a dedicated flight of stairs leading to the strong-room. This vault was said to have been guarded day and night and for the men chosen to watch over the treasury, was considered to be a great honour to be chosen for the task.   

Today, this 2000 year old former stone cut vault, or Sacellum, can be viewed through a large window located on the southern flank of the 1960’s “Forum” shopping centre, which now largely occupies the site of the Roman’s Praetorium, the military Legate’s or Praetor’s accommodations. According to local archaeologists that have studied the now hidden remains of the Principia at Chester, in its final form, the building was thought to have been some 300 feet long and an equally impressive 230 feet wide. Lying on a north-south alignment, its great mass was thought to have been supported by a series of massive stone columns, evidence of which still exist below today’s St Peter’s church and Shoemaker’s Row and its south facing entrance was said to have been deliberately built up with terraces, to further enhance its already imposing façade.

As with many of the great Roman structures that were all but abandoned by their legionary builders in the late 4^th or early 5^th centuries, Chester early Principia building failed to survive above ground and only relatively small amounts lie below today’s street level. It seems likely that as elsewhere, the stonework of this imposing structure was eventually robbed out by the later British and Anglo Saxon inhabitants of the now defunct Roman fortress, to be used on other building projects, including the new Christian churches that were beginning to emerge. With much of the site cleared, the little that did remain was thought to have then been covered over by the body of the newly founded church of St Peter, which is thought to have been established by the Anglo Saxon leader Aethelflaeda in the late 9^th century.

Immediately north of St Peter’s and separated by the narrow St Peter’s Churchyard passage, the Commercial Newsroom, which has also been known as the City Club and the Commercial Coffee House was designed by Thomas Harrison in 1808 in his favoured Greek revival style and is highly reminiscent of his castle buildings that stand to the south of the city, overlooking the River Dee. In its original form the street level shop fronts first designed by Harrison met the public footpath directly, but during the 1960’s they were deliberately moved back to create an extension to Douglas’ arcaded Shoemaker’s Row.

Records relating to the post Roman history of this particular site are said to be fairly extensive, with a deed of 1345 noting that the land and the properties associated with it were granted to William of Doncaster and his wife around that same year. By the 15^th century however, the property was reported to have been owned by a member of the Bellot family who seem to have had a connection with the area of Great Moreton on the Wirral and a hundred years after that, the land was thought to have been in the possession of the Leech or Leich family......(continued)

Marking the northernmost point of the early Roman fortress, Chester’s present Northgate was designed and built by the renowned architect Thomas Harrison between 1808 and 1810, around the same time that he was overseeing work on a number of his other city projects, including the Commercial Newsrooms at the southern end of Northgate Street.

It has been suggested that the current archway was the architects second design, his first having been rejected by the city corporation and that the pair of stone of staircases, now standing on either side of the bridge, were not part of his original structure, but were added at a later date and as a matter of pure convenience rather than an integral part of the archway’s overall design.

Harrison’s northern gateway bears little resemblance to the heavily constructed medieval portal which had originally occupied the site and which was thought to have existed in part, from the time of the fortress’ original Roman builders. Representing the rear gateway of the former military compound, this entranceway was nonetheless an important route in and out of the base, marking the starting point for Roman troops that were regularly being despatched to their auxiliary forts and ports in both Cheshire and on the Wirral peninsula.

In its earliest form the gateway would probably have consisted of huge wooden gates flanked on either side by imposing stone built flanking towers that formed part of the defensive circuit which protected their base. Undoubtedly altered and improved over time, it seems likely that much of this early gateway would have remained intact, despite the abandonment of the fortress by the Roman legions in the late 4^th or early 5^th centuries and would have been the foundation for its later reincarnation as a highly fortified medieval gateway.

As seems to be the case elsewhere in Chester and most notably at the city’s East Gate, the later inhabitants of the fortress are thought to have largely build around the early Roman structure and taken full advantage of the solidity that these underlying structures provided. Although there is no definitive evidence to support a conclusion either way, it also seems likely that it was only during the later Norman occupation of the city in the 11^th and 12^th centuries that the gateway finally began to evolve into the heavily protected gateway and city prison that it would ultimately become. Unlike the other three remaining city gates, the northern entranceway was unusual in that it was administered and maintained by the citizens of Chester, rather than having the “serjeancy” held by an often absent nobleman who had been granted the rights by one or other English monarch. A grant of 1360 finally passed the sergeancy of the gate to the citizens, who controlled it in the person of the Mayor and his Corporation and they in turn appointed suitable individuals to undertake the day-to-day running of the gate and prison, including the jailer, the toll collectors, etc.

Eventually the two original Roman flanking towers were thought to have been absorbed into a strengthened, extended, and heightened gateway that was much narrower and longer than its earlier form, with its associated buildings stretching southward and partially incorporating the sites of today’s Liverpool Arms and Water Tower Street. Within these grim precincts, city prisoners were often held for extended periods of time and sometimes in the most intolerable circumstances, although in later years those accused of less serious offences such as debt were treated far better than those accused of theft or murder.

The two most notorious cells within the Northgate Gaol were the Dead Man’s Room and the Little Ease, both of which were reported to have been rock cut cells some 30 feet below ground level which had to have their air supply delivered through a pipe. As the name implies, the Dead Man’s Room was used to hold condemned prisoners until such time as they were taken up to ground level to receive their final sacraments and then to the scaffold. Adjoining this, was the Little Ease, a tiny cell hewn out of the rock and which barely allowed a prisoner to enter it and often it required the jailer to force prisoners into this tiny space. An added feature of this cell was reported to be the draw-boards which could be fitted into carved slots in the rock and which were sometimes used to further....(continued)

Within the grounds of Chester’s ancient Cathedral, Abbey Green or Square is comprised of two major terraces of mid-18^th century houses standing to the west and north of the historic courtyard that once housed the medieval Abbey’s bakery, brewery and workshops. Although the current buildings appear to have been built at the same time, this is possibly not the case and as in other places in the city, the houses were probably constructed in phases, possibly over a number of years and by different builders. The northern terrace is known to overlie the remains of early Roman barrack room buildings which date from the 1^st century AD and represent one of the first phases of occupation within the military fortress. It was also in this general area that archaeologists first discovered a small number of cremation urns, which were thought to pre-date the foundation of the permanent, much larger military fortress which was begun around 80 AD.

Some 1500 years later, the whole of the area, stretching from the back of these houses to the northern defensive wall was thought to have been site of the Abbot’s orchards, a use that was said to have been maintained right through to around 1662. It was in that year that the Dean of the Cathedral granted these lands to a local man called Ralph Bingley for the laying out of a bowling green; such was the fashion and demand for that particular sporting pursuit. As part of his new leisure facility, Bingley was thought to have constructed a large building on the southern part of the site, which between 1770 and 1775 was being used to house the properties which still occupy the site today. A noted 18^th century builder, Thomas Boswell, was thought to have constructed a number of houses in this same general area between 1768 and 1775, including those that stand at numbers 1 and 2 Abbey Green. Boswell is also credited with laying down the now partially defunct walkway that leads from Abbey Square through to Northgate Street, via the Little Abbey Gateway. Now obstructed by a modern looking doorway, in its original form this alleyway was said to have ran northward to Chester’s defensive wall and was built by Boswell to provide a link for the residents of Abbey Green to the city’s northern promenade. Nearby, a number of the buildings that front the eastern side of modern day Northgate Street, including the former home of the Hen and Chickens tavern (until recently Sayer’s the Bakers) have also been attributed to Thomas Boswell. 

To the northeast of the Abbey Green is the current Bishop’s Palace which is set apart from the rest of the buildings in the courtyard by a high garden wall and probably dates from the early part of the 19^th century. The site on which it stands was formerly the home of a chapel dedicated to St Thomas the Martyr that was said to have existed there until the early 1780’s when it was finally taken down. This earlier religious house was then replaced by the Dean’s House which by 1787, was thought to have been occupied by an individual called George Cotton, the holder of that ecclesiastical office.

The stone pillar which stands in the centre of the grassed area at Abbey Square is reported to be a relic of Chester’s historic Exchange building which stood on the Market Square from 1698 until 1862 when it was severely damaged by fire and subsequently demolished, being replaced by the new Town Hall which continues to stand today. This central area of the modern day Abbey Green has itself been put to several uses throughout its long history, including forming part of St Thomas’ Court, a separate courtyard and chapel dedicated to the memory of Thomas a’ Beckett, which was said to have been relocated to the site of the later Bishop’s Palace sometime around 1541. This particular area is also significant for having produced evidence of pre-Roman occupation, specifically prehistoric ploughing, as well as remains of early Roman defensive ramparts which themselves have been linked to the construction of a military stores depot in around 60 AD.  

The western flank of Abbey Green which is also occupied by a second terrace of mid to late 18^th century houses was formerly the site for a number of privately owned kilns, drying rooms and perhaps worst of all a brew house. Despite having been forbidden by the Bishop of Chester from renting out church property for such purposes, the Dean who was in day to day charge of the Cathedral during the late 16^th century did so anyway. However, it seems that at a later date the leases signed by the Dean were cancelled and monies refunded to the tenants, allowing the buildings to be put to other uses, including that of housing pupils from the Cathedral’s own King School, who had been forced out of their......(continued)

Forming the western section of the Roman Via Principalis, or more correctly the Via Principalis Sinistra, this street has always has been one of the most important thoroughfares in the city, simply because of its connection with the city’s early maritime history, founded on Chester’s long since disappeared international port. In the earlier years of the Roman fortress, much of the northern side of this street was known to have been occupied by the headquarters building, the Principa, Officers quarters, stable blocks and legionary barracks. As noted in the High Cross chapter, the Principia was reported to have stood on the site of the later St Peter’s church and occupied the area between Northgate Street, westward to Goss Street and from the High Cross through to Hamilton Place in the north.

From Goss Street westward to Gerard’s Lane, Officers quarters were thought to have lined the main thoroughfare and further west the area between Gerard’s Lane and the fortresses western gate was the location for the legionary barracks, constructed of wattle and daub and standing on stone sills, which helped to protect these organic building materials from the worst of the cold and damp climate in northwest Britain.     

The terrace of buildings on the northern flank of Watergate Street, which stretch westward from St Peter’s church to Goss Street currently occupy the same ground that nearly 2000 years ago marked the southern limit of the Roman Principia, the legionaries headquarters building. However, between the end of the Roman occupation in the late 4^th century and the arrival of the Norman’s at the end of the 11^th century little is known about the use or ownership of these individual plots of lands. Records pertaining to them only seem to exist from around the first half of the 14^th century when parts of the site were owned by private individuals or by the Norman Abbey of St Werbugh.

The plot of land which now houses the historic Deva Hotel is thought to have first been noted in 1312 when it was reported to have been in the possession of Hugh de Brichulle or Brickhill, but was simply described as “land belonging to” which suggests that the site itself was vacant and undeveloped. By 1345 however, the land and the tenement standing on it were recorded to have been owned by Robert of Macclesfield, who had obviously started to make use of the valuable city property. Nearly 200 years later, the site had passed into the hands of an individual called John Bryne who was reported to have been a butcher by trade, which is significant for the fact that the whole of this northern row would later become known as “Fleshener’s Row” in later years.

Sometime between 1534 and 1634 part of the tenement which occupied this city site was given over to housing the “Moon Tavern”, a Chester inn that would inhabit this part of Chester right through to 1840. In that year, the hostelry was said to have been renamed as the “Albion Tavern” and that remained its title until around 1912 when it finally became “Ye Old Deva Inn”, a name that has subsequently been altered to its present form of “The Deva Hotel”.

Within the hotel building itself there are a number of features which testify to its great age, including an Elizabethan staircase from the 16^th century and a fireplace which is dated 1509, but most likely dates from the reign of James I at the beginning of the 17^th century. In 1943 the building immediately to the west of the “Deva” was taken down to ground level, fully exposing the previously hidden west wall of the “Deva Hotel” and allowing historians to view some of the materials used to construct the early hostelry. A decade later, more building work in the adjacent property exposed more evidence of the wattle and daub materials that had been used at the tavern, both inside and outside of the property. Finally, further work undertaken on the tavern’s roof in the 20^th century uncovered evidence of substantial rebuilding or restoration work in the early 19^th century. Workmen who were employed on the buildings roof discovered a major timber carrying the date 1804 which suggested that the whole building had been substantially re-fronted in that year.

The tavern which immediately adjoins the “Deva Hotel” is the “Victoria Hotel”, which is reportedly part of the same building as is its neighbour and therefore shares its extensive history. However, its early use and occupation has differed somewhat, as prior to 1670 this.....(continued)

During the Roman occupation of Chester the current Lower Watergate Street would have represented the route between the fortress’ western defensive gate and the harbour facilities which at the time lay alongside the River Dee, in the area of today’s Watergate arch and Chester Racecourse. Several Roman buildings were known to have stood along the route, including a bath-house, evidence of which was discovered during 18^th century construction work on the Georgian properties that still line the northern flank of the main street. Further investigations during the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th centuries have also found further evidence of occupation in this general area, including the identification of stables, animal shelters and terracing features all of which indicated extensive activity in the lands between the fortress and the Roman harbour.  

Stanley Palace or Derby House in Lower Watergate Street is thought to date from between 1550-1640, although some sources give a definitive date of 1591 when it was reportedly commissioned by Sir Peter Warburton, city lawyer and MP for Chester, who subsequently endowed the property to his daughter Elizabeth when she married into the Stanley family of Alderley. Elizabeth was reported to have later married again, this time to Sir Richard Grosvenor and when she died in 1628, the property passed into the hands of that particular local family. It has been suggested by some local historians that this great house was built on the former site of the city’s medieval Dominican Friary, although in truth it was actually constructed on part of the Black Friars lands that had previously been inhabited by gardens and orchards. 

Between 1665 and 1686 the city mansion was said to have been occupied by John Wainwright, the Chancellor of Chester Diocese, following the move from his previous residence, Leche House. However, following Wainwright’s death in 1686 the property was reported to have been inhabited by a succession of sundry tenants, some good, some bad, but all of whom were thought to have contributed in part, to a general deterioration in the historic fabric of the building. In fact, by the turn of the 19^th century the house was said to be in such a poor condition that at least one local commentator was reported to have referred to it as a slum. This situation was marginally improved in around 1820, when the motley collection of outbuildings that had been allowed to accumulate over the previous decades were finally demolished, creating a similar street frontage to that which exists today. An architectural report dating from around 1856 also noted that within the house itself, a good many of the original fittings and features were still in existence, making the property a true building of note. This is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that ten years later, there was a plan to purchase the house, dismantle it and ship it the United States, where it would then be re-erected. Fortunately for the people of Chester, this plan was prevented by the actions of the city’s Archaeological Society, who were reported to have purchased the house from the Grosvenor family, effectively securing its future.

The Palace was thought to have remained in the ownership of the Archaeological Society until 1889 when it was said to have been purchased by the Earl’s of Derby, also a branch of the Stanley family, who subsequently leased it to Chester’s Corporation in 1931 on a 999 year lease. The building was known to have been substantially restored in 1935, when an extra gable was added and today is reported to be occupied by the English Speaking Union. The house is reported to be underpinned by a series of vaulted cellars, one of which is said to lead to an underground passageway, but no more information regarding the tunnel is available at present.

Standing on the north side of the same street is what little remains of Chester’s former Linen Hall which was constructed in 1778 by Chester’s cloth merchants and giving the name to modern day Linenhall Place. In much earlier times this fairly short thoroughfare was far more extensive, being called “Crofts Lane” and stretching northward as far as today’s Bedward Row, which lies opposite to Princess Street and is thought to recall a builder called Charles Bedward who may have first erected properties there.

Up until 1396, Linenhall Place or perhaps more properly called Linenhall Street was said to have been called Berward Street, possibly recalling the route of the Bear Walkers who brought their unfortunate charges into the city, so that they could entertain the local populace around Chester’s High Cross. From 1396 until 1480 the thoroughfare was said to......(continued)

Back inside the circuit of defensive walls, today’s Nuns Road recalls the medieval Benedictine convent of St Mary’s which once occupied a site in this part of the city’s suburbs, being granted lands in the 12^th century by Earl Ranulph Blundeville, but then later dissolved by Henry VIII in the middle of the 16^th century. In terms of Chester’s extensive history the modern day Nuns Road is a relatively modern thoroughfare, created by the construction of the Grosvenor Bridge and the massive embankments which were built to support the new early 19^th century roadway which led in and out of the city. Much of the wider area, including the Castle Esplanade, Thomas Harrison’s Chester castle and the same architects St Martins Lodge all date from around the same time and brought about dramatic changes to the historic fabric of the city in this section of Chester.

Although the name Grey Friars is thought to have been an earlier title for Chester’s previously mentioned Linenhall Place, today it is carried by a lane which links Nuns Road and the more easterly Nicholas Street. It is worth pointing out however, that this designation is confusing, given that the Grey Friars or Franciscans actually occupied the lands north of Watergate Street and so have little connection with this southern area of land. The lane itself has had a number of titles, including Smiths Walk in 1795 and prior to that Black Friars Alley which more properly recalls one of the city’s early monastic houses, the Black Friars or Dominicans who occupied this particular section of the city. The later name of Smith is thought to be connected with one Thomas Smith who lived in the city around 1543 and who was reported to have lived in the area of this narrow thoroughfare, presumably after the monastery had been dissolved by Henry VIII.

The modern looking house which occupies the western end of Grey Friars is thought to be largely 18^th century in construction, but has been heavily modernised and restored in more recent years. The building itself is said to occupy the site of the medieval Chapel of Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of Sailors which was built by the city’s Black Friars and is thought to be the source for the modern day Nicholas Street, which was formerly known as St Nicholas Street, but which has undoubtedly been contracted during its lifetime.

At one time, both ends of the lane were reported to have been graced by stone archways which may well have been gated and helping to isolate the area from the rest of the city. Over time however, these archways have disappeared, with some suggestions that these historic features were later incorporated into the garden walls of the previously mentioned house. It is also reported that these same garden walls contain a boundary marker for the now extinct St Martin’s Parish, helping to identify the limits of this former city church. Nearby, the property known as Soughton House, which stands at the junction of Grey Friars and Nicholas Street Mews, is thought to be another 18^th century property that sits atop the site of the former Grey Friars precincts, which were finally expunged by the Crown in the 16^th century. Directly opposite the eastern terminus of Grey Friars, where it joins Nicholas Street, at the spot now marked by the road entrance to White Friars and Cuppin Street, an elegant townhouse dating from 1844 formerly stood, reportedly housing the Hastings School which ultimately fell victim to the modernisation of the area and the ravages of Chester’s inner ring road system.

Further south along modern day Nuns Road is the city’s Black Friars, which correctly recalls the medieval religious house of the Dominican Order which used to occupy this part of Chester’s western flank. As with the earlier Grey Friars, this thoroughfare too is thought to have held a number of titles throughout its long history, including Aderne Lane; Hawarden Lane; Walls Lane and Nuns Lane, with its present name being formally and correctly attributed to it in 1858.

The adjoining Nicholas Street has formerly been known as St Nicholas Lane and around 1610 was thought to have been called Black Friars Lane, recalling the Dominicans house in this area of Chester. This early lane was thought to have marked the eastern boundary of their religious precincts, which then ran westward to the walls of the city and the banks of the River Dee. The designation of today’s Black Friars Lane as Aderne Lane dates to the reign of King Edward III and is thought to indicate a route or passageway that was associated with the city’s medieval quays that were known to have existed in the area; below the line of the city walls. The lane was commonly called “Walls Lane” from 1795........(continued)

The Chester Castle complex which stands to the south west of the modern city centre is largely the creation of the renowned local architect Thomas Harrison, with much of its fabric thought to date from between 1788 and 1822. However, there are also a small number of buildings within these relatively modern precincts that can trace their foundations all the way back to the late 12^th and early 13^th centuries, some few decades after the forces of Duke William had first received the surrender of the Anglo Saxon fortress of Chester.

Although some historians believe that the Anglo Saxon leader Aethelflaeda was responsible for building a “castle” on this site sometime during the late 9^th or early 10^th century, as part of her recorded refortification of the city, to date little evidence of such a structure has been discovered. The fact that “castles”, as we know them, are almost an entirely Norman invention and that Chester was thought to have been fully enclosed with a circuit of protective walls prior to the Norman conquests would both seem to suggest that such a defensive feature never did exist, but is purely the result of misreporting by later writers.     

In January 1070, Duke William was reported to have brought a large military contingent across the Pennines to capture the city of Chester and its associated Shire, “the last remaining part of a free England”. Some contemporary reports suggest that the city surrendered without a fight, whilst others state that such was the bitterness of the fighting, that William “wasted” large parts of the city as an act of retribution against its citizens. It seems highly unlikely however, that had the city’s defenders simply thrown down their arms in surrender, then large parts of Chester would have been subsequently destroyed as a punishment, which would suggest that only one of these scenarios can be a true reflection of these long past events.  

The first Norman castle which stood at Chester has long since gone, being replaced over time by a succession of Norman Earls and English Kings, until finally much of its historic fabric was finally swept away at the end of the 18^th Century by a generation of architects, public figures and private landowners with more than one eye on their own personal legacies and reputations, rather than the preservation of Chester’s archaeological past. To emphasize the point, it is perhaps worth remembering that around the same period that a large section of Chester’s medieval castle was being razed from the ground; all 4 medieval gates of the city were also being removed and replaced by their modern counterparts. For the great northern architect Thomas Harrison, his impressive Neo Classical - Greek Revivalist castle complex at Chester remains as a highly visible legacy of his life and his imagination, as well as marking a period of closure on Chester’s bloody medieval history.

Unlike today, where the city’s past tends to be regarded as a vital and equally important facet of Chester’s future prosperity, during Harrison’s lifetime such considerations were of minor importance to local architects, builders and developers. Consequently, little was done to either record or conserve the numerous historic buildings which were simply “in the way” of the late 18^th and early 19^th century developments undertaken during the reigns of George, William and Victoria. Instead, the very fabric of Chester’s past was very often just “torn out of the ground” and used as foundation materials for their later replacements or transported away to be ignominiously “dumped” in the surrounding countryside. As a result of this large-scale and indiscriminate redevelopment of the castle site, opportunities for modern day archaeologists to fully investigate the area have proved to be extremely limited, hindered as they are by the additional numbers of rudimentary and piecemeal military constructions which have been successively built on the site since 1822.

It has been suggested that Chester’s early Norman castle was substantially rebuilt by the 7^th Earl of Chester, Ranulph Blundeville, in the late 12^th Century. Both the stone built Flag Tower and the first Inner Bailey Gateway, or Agricola’s Tower, are thought to date from the period (1190 to 1220) and along with the Inner Ward’s outer stone walls might also be credited to Ranulph III. Prior to his death in 1232 and following his return to England from the Crusades in 1220, it seems likely that both Chester and the later Beeston castles may have been substantially remodeled and rebuilt to include features that he had seen on a.......(continued)

Nowadays called Castle Street, this Chester thoroughfare was formerly part of an area called Gloverstone, a county township which marked the legal boundary between the city authorities and that of the crown and owes it name to a long since disappeared boulder which was said to have been used by the city’s leather workers to dry their animal hides. In its original form, the township of “Gloverstone” lay between the main gateway of the Norman Castle and the main trading streets of Chester and was said to have been populated by numbers of disparate tradesmen who made their livings outside of the city limits, often because they were not freemen of Chester and therefore not legally entitled to trade within the walls. However, because “Gloverstone” lay within the county’s jurisdiction and was therefore free of many of the city’s restrictive practices a large number of itinerant and foreign born traders were forced to settle in this particular area of Chester.   

At the “Glovers Stone”, an immense ice age boulder that had been deposited in the area many thousands of years before, the city Sheriffs would call on the Constable of the Castle to deliver his prisoners to them for their sentences to be carried out. The condemned felon might then be whipped through the streets of Chester, placed in the stocks or for those sentenced to death, transported on a hurdle or on the back of a cart to the gallows at Boughton Spital or later to the Northgate Gaol. Although more commonly called “Gloverstone”, this area of the city was also occasionally referred to as “Castlegate”, no doubt because of its close proximity to the medieval castle’s main entrance. Following the redevelopment of the castle site in the 1790’s however, this historic stone was said to have been simply buried in the castles ditch and then forgotten about. Other sources though, suggest that the boulder was actually removed to an area below the city’s 14^th century Water Tower, where it later became part of an ornamental garden feature.  

Although lying outside of the defensive walls of the Roman fortress, excavations in the 20^th century have uncovered evidence of an early Roman building in and around the site of the medieval castle which has generally considered to be the remains of a “Mansio” or Roman guesthouse. Lying on a site, to the south of no’s 11 to 15 Castle Street this early building was thought to have existed, in one form or another, for the hundreds of years that the fortress itself existed and was only abandoned in the late 4^th century when most of the Roman forces finally withdrew from Britain.

A second series of archaeological digs, examining a site bounded by Castle Street to the south, Bunce Street to the west, Grosvenor Street to the north and Lower Bridge Street to the east uncovered evidence of post Roman Anglo Saxon industrial activity. Undertaken as part of a general redevelopment of the area, these investigations were reported to have discovered the remains of an Anglo Saxon leather manufacturing complex, including its sunken tanning pits and suggested that much of this general area, lying between the fortress’ southern wall and the River Dee, was sparsely populated and generally used for early industrial processes, especially those that required easy access to a water supply.

It has also been suggested that much of this same area, along with the newly enclosed lands to the west of the former fortress were given over to commercial agriculture or market gardening and were thought to have been granted to those who volunteered to defend the city from any outside threat. It was only with the arrival of Duke William and his Norman army in 1070 that much of this land was appropriated by the new rulers of Chester, during which many of the earlier Anglo Saxon structures were simply razed from the ground, leaving little evidence of their presence, save for the post holes, pits and evidence of burning that was left behind following their destruction.  

Although Castle Street is inextricably linked to the site of Chester’s early Norman, medieval and modern day castles, it undoubtedly existed well before a stone was laid by Duke William’s engineers in 1070. It seems entirely likely that it actually developed as an early byway, possibly in connection with the previously mentioned Roman “Mansio” and offering a route between that particular building and the first bridge across the River Dee. The ancient church of St Olave’s, located directly opposite the eastern junction of Castle Street, is thought to date from the late 8^th or early 9^th century, suggesting that the route which later became Castle Lane (now Street) would have been in existence by that period.......(continued)

In its earliest Roman form, modern day Bridge Street was known as the Via Praetoria and marked the southern approach to the Roman Principia, the headquarters building which sat at the centre of the fortress, its front entrance facing down the Via Praetoria, towards the southern gateway, the Porta Praetoria and onto the main Roman highway known as Watling Street. The military buildings that lined the street were reported to have included the Praetentura or Bath House Complex which lay on the eastern side of the thoroughfare and was said to have occupied the space now inhabited by much of the modern Grosvenor Shopping precinct. On the opposite western flank, it has been reported that an Officers Club and Bath House, or Scholae, was located and beyond that, towards the western wall of the fortress were the vitally important Horrea or granaries which held the food stores of the legions. Throughout Chester’s long and colourful history, this ancient thoroughfare, along with both Eastgate and Watergate Streets has played a central role in the social and business life of the city, although today’s spacious and generally clean Bridge Street would be barely recognisable to Chester’s earlier inhabitants.

Reports and records appear to indicate that for many centuries Bridge Street was virtually enclosed at its southern junction by the area known as the “Two Churches” which comprised the modern day Heritage Centre, formerly St Michael’s and the long extinct church of St Bridget’s that reportedly owed its foundation to King Offa in the 8^th century. From that point, northward to the present day High Cross area, both sides of the medieval street were said to have been occupied by the predecessors of the buildings that stand today and were themselves fronted by numerous “seldae” or stalls that were erected by the various merchants who plied their trades in this part of the city.

The northern half of the thoroughfare was thought to have been particularly crowded up to and including the 16^th century when it played host to the many and varied markets that were common to the city. It was only with the opening up and development of Chester’s Northgate Street, notably after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1540’s, that many of these same markets and fairs were moved away from the Bridge Street area, allowing the thoroughfare to become much more open and accessible. It was also during this same period, in 1586, that Bridge Street was reported to have been paved, thereby helping to improve conditions for traders and shoppers alike.

Early leases and grants for many of the buildings and lands in Bridge Street, notably between the late 13^th and early 16^th centuries seem to indicate that a good proportion of both were in the possession of the city’s various religious houses. Lands stretching from modern day White Friars, northward to Commonhall Street and bounded in the east by Weaver Street were said to have been held by the Carmelite Order from the 1290’s onwards and only passed into public and private hands following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1540’s. A number of the street facing properties in Bridge Street, along with their extensive rear gardens were said to have been in the possession of St Mary’s convent, located close to the medieval castle and established in the 12^th century by Earl Ranulph Blundeville. These too though were sequestered by King Henry VIII during his religious purges and along with virtually all other church lands in Chester ended up in the possession of a London Salter called John Cocks (Cokks) who was thought to be an agent of the Crown.

It is also apparent from these same early records, that the elevated Rows for which the city of Chester is famed and that continue to exist in Bridge Street and elsewhere were constructed and developed over an extended period of time, rather than emerging as a completed feature. This is witnessed by the fact that individual sites, along both sides of the street, were often described as “void parcels of land” as opposed to identifying distinct or previously existing properties. Two examples of this, are a grant of a “void parcel of land” made to John and Randle Bothe in 1483 and a grant of a “parcel of land” made to Robert Leche, a fishmonger by trade, in 1506.

Members of the Leche family, who are perhaps more commonly associated with Leche House in Watergate Street, were also known to have inherited considerable property interests in Bridge Street as well. Thought to have been related to the Barnston family through marriage, by the first half of the 16^th century these relatives were said to have.......(continued)

The modern day Lower Bridge Street continues to mark the route southward out of the city and in Roman times was thought to have led to both the first bridge thrown across the River Dee and to a shallow fording point which was reported to have lain between the site of today’s County Hall and Edgar’s Field on the southern bank of the river. Apart from a previously discussed Roman “Mansio” building which was thought to have stood close to the site of Chester’s later medieval castle, the only other Roman feature of note in this area was reported to be a raised platform of some description which lay in the area of modern day Duke Street and has been speculated to be an embankment associated with their early bridges or possibly an as yet unidentified defensive or settlement feature.

Lying immediately outside of the southern gate of the fortress, the Porta Praetoria, the legionary roadway which later became modern day Lower Bridge Street was thought to have linked this early military base with the Roman’s Watling Street, which lay further to the south. It has also been suggested that at its most northern limit, that is to say just outside of the southern gate, this roadway formed a junction with a long disappeared minor road that was reported to have run in a southwest direction towards the site of the later castle, but was possibly directly linked to the Mansio building which was known to have stood in that same general area.

Although during the Roman occupation of Britain, this roadway or street was known to lie outside of the fortress’ defences, it was undoubtedly under the legionaries control and was probably inhabited by relatively small numbers of civilians, both Roman and British. Even after the Roman’s had largely abandoned the base in the late 4^th century, this area still lay outside of the main civilian settlement; and remained so until the late 9^th and early 10^th centuries when it was finally enclosed by the Anglo Saxon leader, Aethelflaeda. It was King Alfred’s daughter, who was reported to have ordered the construction of the first extensive timber and stone palisade that finally incorporated this southern area of the much larger post Roman settlement into the city’s historic limits.

Even after its inclusion within Chester’s military defences, the area still appears to have been sparsely populated in comparison to the northern half of the city that was formerly occupied by the Roman fortress; and was reportedly inhabited by a relatively small number of people who were employed in the leather manufacturing industries, coin production, as well as seafarers who based themselves on the River Dee and traded goods throughout continental Europe. This was thought to especially true for the small, but vibrant Hiberno Norse community which was thought to have existed in this southern part of the city during the Anglo Saxon period and whose presence is still recalled by ancient St Olave’s church and Chester’s historic “Wolf Gate”, both of which continue to stand in the city today.

By the middle of the 11^th century Chester was known to be one of the principal sea ports and trading centres in all of Britain; and was generally celebrated as the premier city of northwest England. It was also noted as the final English city to fall to the armies of the Norman Duke, William the Conqueror, who was reported to have captured Chester in 1070, nearly four years after he had beaten the Anglo Saxon leader Harold at the Battle of Hasting’s. Although the city was said to have been “wasted” because of its resistance to his rule, this retribution may in fact have been largely confined to the southern section of the city and was not so much an act of revenge, but a clearance of the area that would later house his castle. It has been suggested that many of the earlier Anglo Saxon properties that stood in the area, which were almost entirely timber built, were destroyed by fire to provide a defensive zone around the new Norman Castle site, which would have housed the then new and undoubtedly nervous foreign garrison.

As elsewhere in the city, it was the during the reign of the Norman Earl’s and their cohorts that much of Chester began to be extensively laid out and developed, with single plots and large swathes of land being granted to and purchased by individual noblemen and wealthy merchants, all of whom were well placed to take advantage of this new property bonanza. 

By the 17^th century this part of the city was reported to have been occupied by a number of fairly luxurious and important private houses, a small number of which continue to......(continued)

As a city thoroughfare, Grosvenor Street is a relatively modern construction and marked the first street in the city not to adhere to the strict grid-like layout which had been in place since the fortress at Chester was first laid out nearly 2000 years ago. Built entirely to link the newly emerging Grosvenor Bridge with the centre of the ancient Roman city, this is probably the single most vital and yet damaging development that has ever taken place throughout Chester’s long and illustrious history. Although this relatively modern highway and its associated bridge have undoubtedly brought greater prosperity and improved trading opportunities to the city, these have proved to have a high cost, both to Chester’s architecture and to its local landscape.

As a matter of interest, further south of the elegant Grosvenor Bridge lies the Overleigh Cemetery and the Overleigh Road, both of which recall the historic Overleigh Hall which used to stand in the area. Reported to have belonged to the noted Chester family, the Cowpers, Overleigh Hall was thought to have stood on the site now occupied by the Lodge building which marks the entrance to the Duke of Westminster’s woodland drive, linking the city of Chester with this noble family’s seat at nearby Eaton Hall. 

The impressive Grosvenor Bridge which spans the River Dee was designed by architect Thomas Harrison around 1820, but work did not start on the project until 1827 and by the time the bridge was officially opened by the then Princess Victoria in 1831, Harrison had been dead for some two years. The work was said to have been completed by his pupil William Cole Junior, aided by engineers Jesse Hartley and James Trubshaw. More noted designers and engineers, Telford, Rennie and Brunel had all been consulted over the location, structure and design of the new bridge, which at 200 feet was the largest single span bridge in the world at that time. The architect’s model for the new bridge was restored and relocated by Chester Civic Trust in 1979 and currently stands on a grassy bank below the city walls on Castle Drive.

Bypassing the previously discussed Chester Castle and the former Militia building site, now occupied by a brand new hotel, the Trustee’s Savings Bank, originally the Chester Bank Building, now houses the Paparazzi Ristorante at the junction of the modern day Grosvenor and Castle Streets and in earlier times may well have been the site for a medieval Great Hall. In 1847, the local architect James Harrison won a competition to construct a Savings Bank building for the city and six years later the property that stands today had been completed, in what is commonly referred to as a Tudor Gothic style of architecture. The clock turret which graces the top of the building was designed and built by Joyce’s of Whitchurch. The property was further extended in the 1970’s and now serves as a restaurant. Prior to the completion of their new landmark building in 1853, the proprietors of the Chester Saving Bank were reported to have been situated in Northgate Street during the first half of the 19^th century, but by 1846 had relocated their business premises to Goss Street

The Grosvenor Museum building which adjoins James Harrison’s Chester Bank, was designed by T M Lockwood who began its construction in 1885, with the resulting property being completed in the following year. The Chester Archaeological Society, which had previously been housed at the Albion Hotel in Lower Bridge Street, was reported to have relocated to the new museum building in 1887. The museum’s precincts were further extended in 1894 and a second property at No 20 Castle Street was added in the 1950’s.

On the opposite side of Grosvenor Street stands St Francis’ Church, the foundation stone of which was reported to have been laid on 23^rd September 1862. Unfortunately, much of the early construction work was undone by a violent storm in 1863 which caused a great deal of destruction throughout the whole of Chester and reduced the new church to a ruin. It was a further 12 years before sufficient funds could be raised to rebuild the structure and it was only in April 1875 that the new church was officially opened by the Archbishop of Westminster and the then Bishop of Chester. A monastery was said to have been built on the northern side of the church, facing the modern day Cuppin Street, on land that had previously been occupied by three shops, including a photographer's shop, a beer sellers business run by a man called Thomas Langford and an as yet unidentified store. Significantly, a city tavern called the Recruiting Sergeant was reported as existing in......(continued)

Little St John Street continues the route of Chester’s Pepper Street eastward, although its original route has been substantially altered by 20^th century roadwork developments, both in the 1940’s and the 1960’s. Prior to the construction of Walter Tapper’s “Newgate” arch in the late 1930’s, local traffic was forced to negotiate the much narrower and far older “Wolf Gate” which still stands on the northern side of Tapper’s creation. In its original form Little St John’s was supposed to drive straight across land partially occupied by St John’s House, the northern partner of the still standing Dee House, despite the fact that the remains of the hidden Roman amphitheatre had been discovered below it some ten years earlier.

Nevertheless, this highly damaging scheme would undoubtedly have gone ahead, had it not been for the intervention of local archaeological groups and national government who forced the contractors to navigate the new road around this priceless monument, creating the curved thoroughfare that exists today. During the 16^th century Little St John Street was said to have been known as Church Lane, a title that it may well have carried for hundreds of years, prior to its current designation. Much of its northern flank, including its junction with the similarly named St John’s Street, is lined with relatively modern buildings, the biggest and most obvious is which the Travelodge Hotel, formerly occupied by a telephone exchange. East of this building is a collection of 19^th century cottages, constructed and owned by the Grosvenor Estates, which occupy a small city cul-de-sac known as Lumley Place, which may once have formed part of the earlier main route. This small terrace is fronted by the Chester Visitor’s Centre, the former St John’s School building, which may have once been the home of the Chester Blue Girls School that was established in this area of the city at the beginning of the 19^th century.   

Just outside the Newgate and before the partially exposed remains of the Roman Amphitheatre lies Souter’s Lane, which runs from this point, southward to the banks of the River Dee. The land which lies between this thoroughfare and the city’s walls, now houses the city’s “Roman Garden’s” a fairly modern feature which brings together a number of the Roman artefacts that have been discovered in the city over time. Prior to its use as a tourist attraction, parts of this site were known to have been used for producing clay tobacco pipes, one of a number of such places that established themselves in Chester during the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

Souters Lane is a sharply inclined thoroughfare which at one time ran from Chester’s ancient Wolf Gate southward to the banks of the River Dee, but which since the 20^th century has had its northern terminus close to Sir Walter Tapper’s New Gate archway. In earlier times, its northern end was thought to mark the site of “Cockpit” or “Cockfight Hill” which was said to have existed on or near to the much more ancient Roman Amphitheatre. Formerly known as both “Souters Lode” and “Dee Lane” during its lengthy history, in 1710 this thoroughfare was adapted to accept wheeled traffic and shortly afterwards the Corporation began to receive complaints that citizens were using the lane to deposit their waste and rubbish along the banks of the River Dee, much to the detriment of the general area.

Although now separated by the city’s inner ring road system, Dee House was primarily identified with Little St John Street in the city, which is now marked by the modern day Lumley Place. Since 1929 the property has found itself at the centre of a huge local controversy, standing as it does on the southern, as yet uncovered half of Chester’s Roman amphitheatre. Dee House itself is thought to date from the middle of the 18^th century, having been built for James Comberbach, a wealthy merchant and Mayor of Chester, reportedly by the architect Thomas Harrison. The house was further extended in the 1740’s; giving an L-shaped look to the property and it was reported to have been owned by the same family until 1860 when it was sold to the Anglican Church. Four years later the building was acquired by the Companions of Jesus who established a convent school on the site and added an east wing to the house, which included a chapel. This work was said to have been carried out by the Liverpool architect Edmund Kirkby, who was also responsible for the nearby St Werburgh RC Church on Grosvenor Park Road. Kirkby was a Liverpool based architect who was said to have worked with the noted Cheshire architect John Douglas prior to establishing his own practice. He and his two sons were reported to........(continued)

Representing the eastern section of the Roman’s fortress’ Via Principalis, which was formally known as the Via Principalis Sinistra, Eastgate Street would have been the main thoroughfare in and out of Chester’s military fortress, linking the eastern gate with the Legions Headquarters building, the Principia, which lay at the centre of the fortress.

The great Roman gateway, which was reported to have remained virtually intact until the late 18^th century was thought to have been a twin double barrel vaulted entrance, which was flanked by guard towers on either side and topped by a patrol walkway that linked the northeast and southeast sections of the fortress’ immense defensive walls. Even after the Roman’s had abandoned the military base in the 4^th century, their great gateways were thought to have remained relatively intact, being adapted and supplemented by the various British, Welsh and Anglo Saxon occupiers who successively held control of the city.

It seems that rather than dismantle the imposing Porta Principalis Sinistra, these later defenders of Chester simply chose to employ one set of these double archways as an entranceway and incorporated the other into their own buildings and structures. Although there are no records to indicate when this transformation was actually first undertaken, most sources believe that the great Anglo Saxon leader Aethelflaeda, may have been responsible, given her noted refortification and rebuilding of Chester in the late 9^th and early 10^th centuries.

Nevertheless, it seems clear from later records that the underlying presence of the Roman gateway had been largely forgotten by the mid 18^th century, when the medieval fabric of the eastern entrance had become so ruinous that the city authorities sought to replace it. Around 1766-1767 work finally began on dismantling the medieval gateway and as the workmen slowly removed the various phases of construction that had been applied to the gateway over the preceding centuries, the great mass of the hidden Roman gateway was slowly revealed. A number of local commentators were compelled to record the discovery of this soon to be demolished Roman structure, with some urging a halt to the planned modernisation of the city’s east gate and proposing that the newly discovered historic archways should be left intact. Sadly though, their pleas were left unanswered and along with its medieval successor the Roman’s imposing Porta Principia Sinistra was taken down and carted away, leaving only a written record in its place.

According to one of these written reports, the gateway consisted of two sets of twin arches, with one pair facing out, towards what is today, modern day Foregate Street. Some several feet behind this first pair of arches, was the second identical set, which marked the eastern end of the Via Principalis, today’s Eastgate Street. It seems likely that these two separate sets of archways were joined at their centre by a massively constructed central pillar, which was set into the middle of the main thoroughfare, helping to create two lanes for the traffic that flowed in and out of the military fortress. The double set of twin arches were also thought to have been further connected by the Patrol Walk which ran on top of them and which helped to link the northeast and southeast sections of the bases massive defensive walls.

Although most illustrations and physical reproductions of this gateway tend to suggest that each pair of these vaulted entrances was made up of two identically sized arches, 15 feet wide, by 16 feet high and 10 feet deep, other historians believe that this is incorrect. Instead, they point to the fact that most existing Roman gateways of this type and from this period, generally consist of two arches, but of completely different sizes. They have argued that a difference in width would generally be attributed to the function that each particular archway served, with smaller ones for foot traffic or horses and larger ones to allow large freight carts in and out of the protected precincts. 

The only other feature which was noted about this long extinct gateway, was that on its eastern facing front, that is looking out towards Foregate Street and visible to those coming into the fortress’ precincts, was a carved figure of the Roman deity, Mars. It was said to be over this ancient carving that the severed heads of both Piers de Legh (1399) and Henry Hotspur Percy (1403) were publicly exhibited on the orders of the usurper king Henry Bolingbroke during the late 14^th and early 15^th centuries.......(continued)       

Modern day Foregate Street was formerly known as Forest Street and during the Roman period was reported to be the site of the “Vicus” or civilian settlement which commonly established themselves outside the defences of legionary fortress’ and permanent bases. Stretching from the fortresses main double barrel vaulted gateway through to the area of modern day Boughton, this main access road was thought to have been flanked by stone built shops, timber built booths and an assortment of permanent and semi permanent structures which housed the traders, merchants and artisans who commonly attached themselves, their businesses and their families with the resident legionary force.

Laid out along the length of the street, as in later times buildings were thought to have been built on individual and fairly regularised strips of land, possibly ten metres wide and stretching backwards away from the main thoroughfare, sometimes to a depth of 30 metres. The street facing frontage would have been used as the shop front, with their workshops and storage areas immediately behind this area. The rear section of the building and often the smallest part was given over to the merchants living area, where he and his family would have eaten, slept and brought up their children.

Typically each of these individual plots would have been separated by a narrow passage or open piece of land which may or may not have carried a gutter, helping to carry away the rain from the roofs, liquids or waste from the household or other equally unpleasant materials. As one of the major routes in and out of the military fortress, it seems likely that Foregate Street during the Roman period would have been a well constructed and maintained road, with a slight camber to its centre forcing rainwater into the side gutters where it could be safely and efficiently washed away. Possibly the gutters or drains laid down between the nearby civilian buildings would have helped to carry away much of this waste material, finally depositing it on uninhabited areas which lay far enough away from their homes and businesses so as not to be a nuisance.

It seems entirely likely that these early civilian settlements formed the core of the later Chester, even after the last Roman legionary had finally withdrawn from Britain. Although many of the merchants and traders would undoubtedly have relocated themselves to new sites within the central area of the Roman fortress, their early presence seems to have ensured continuity for the settlement and later archaeological excavations have confirmed that the Foregate Street area has been constantly occupied throughout every period of Chester’s extensive history. Significantly, in 1825, workmen digging a trench for new water pipes on the north side of the street, between the Eastgate and Frodsham Street, discovered the remains of 2 Roman pavements, as well as an ancient horseshoe and a stone pillar, at a depth of between 6 and 8 feet below the modern surface.

This thoroughfares one-time designation as Forest Street has been suggested as deriving from its former route towards the ancient forest of Delamere, although most historians now believe this possible origin to be an unlikely foundation. Rather, it seems far more plausible that this name simply originated from the streets actual position in relation to the city’s main gate, being “fore” and “east” of the principal gateway and eventually being corrupted from “Fore-east” to “Forest”. City records also suggest that it was reported with that particular name in 1698 by a noted historian who was visiting the city in that year. It’s more common title of Foregate Street, is thought to have an equally early foundation, possibly being derived from an Anglo Saxon term “Forgeat” or “the street of the main gate”.    

The Old Bank Building which is located below the Eastgate clock on the southern flank of the street was redesigned by TM Lockwood in 1895 and includes a short pier arcade linked to the Eastgate archway. The earlier buildings which had stood on this site prior to the outbreak of the English Civil War were reported to have been demolished during the siege of Chester, but by 1650 the site was once again occupied by city inns, reportedly first by “The Maidenhead” and then by the “Elephant and Castle”. In 1792, this tavern was finally demolished to make way for William’s Bank which had formerly been housed in the city’s main marketplace. The sign of the “Elephant and Castle” however was subsequently transferred to Chester’s main market square, where it sat alongside another city hostelry, the Coach and Horses. At the same time that the new William's Bank building was being.......(continued)