Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
hirers of canal pleasure craft in Britain. By Quarry Bridge is a 19th century warehouse with
a canopy.
There are two Cow Lane Locks, Chemistry Lock and Hoole Lane Lock. Between them is
Steam Mill, home to the Artichoke cafe, bar and bistro, and the Old Harker's Arms, trendy
city bases in old industrial buildings at Boughton. The Mill Hotel is tucked in beside the low,
inner ring road, St Oswalds Way bridge with the Fortress on the opposite corner.
The canal uses the moat at the foot of the city walls. Prominent is the King Charles Tower,
from which Charles I watched the battle of Rowton Moor, now a Civil War museum. One of
the bridges crossing the red sandstone canyon by Northgate Street is a strange footbridge that
reaches between two blank stone walls.
Can anywhere pack so much heritage into so small a space as the centre of Chester? It is
based on the Roman street pattern, Deva being named after the Dee, and was a fortress com-
pleted in 79 for the 20th Legion by Agricola, the modern name coming from the Old English
ceaster
, a Roman fort. The 3km circuit of the walls is almost complete, the most complete in
Britain, being broken only by the council offices. It is one of the best walled Roman cities in
Europe and the best surviving Roman wall fortress in northern Europe.
The 1769 Eastgate is on the site of the Roman East Gate. Spud-u-Like in Bridge Street is
built over a Roman bath house. The half-excavated amphitheatre, which seats about 7,000
and is the shrine of the Greek goddess Nemesis, is the largest stone amphitheatre in Britain
and may have been used for gladiatorial combat. The Roman Gardens have stone and pil-
lars from various sites and a reconstructed hypocaust. The Roman fortress houses the Dewa
Roman Experience including a Roman galley. The George & Dragon Inn is on the site of a
Roman cemetery and has the ghost of a Roman centurion who passes and returns after 20
minutes, walking through brick walls. Chester has more ghosts than any other English city.
After 1,600 years, the changing of the Roman guard now takes place again at noon on sum-
mer Sundays.
There were Viking raids in the Dark Ages but the Vikings were driven out by Aethelflaeda
by the 10th century and the walls were extended and strengthened. Among the wall's features
are the Wishing Steps, which require a person to walk the walls and then run up, down and
up again without drawing breath. If they do this they will have their wish come true.
The Saxon minster was rebuilt in the early 10th century as a Benedictine monastery, the
most complete medieval monastery complex in the country, parts remaining from 1092. It
became the Norman St Werburgh cathedral from 1541 and has 11-18th century architecture
of Keuper sandstone. The 1380-carved choirstalls, with the Tree of Jesse and monastic build-
ings, are the most complete in England, notably the 13th century chapter house, magnificent
refectory and cloisters. The massive gateway to the square is the venue for Mystery Plays, the
original texts being the most complete in existence, and there is a copy of Handel's marked
score for the
Messiah
, first rehearsed here in 1742. There is a 200-year-old cobweb picture,
