Chester, England - Day 2

Sunday, June 22

The weather was perfect for our walk around the city walls of Chester so we set off from a point near the cathedral. The walk is about 3 kms long and the Victorians used it to parade around in their finery and show off. We didn't feel dressed to do the same. It was interesting to see how the heights of the walls varied so much in different spots - from about 10 feet to well over 50 feet - with the higher points being along the canal and the River Dee.

The city wall near the canal

 

Along the way there were various information boards that gave us some history plus copies of paintings showing what that spot would have looked like in the past. As the town grew, newer and more efficient modes of transport were built and we were amused to see that when the railway came to this part of the country in the mid 1800's, the cutting for it went right through the old wall - imagine that happening today!

Chester was a bustling port in medieval times when ocean going vessels could sail up the River Dee and deliver a wide range of cargoes. The main quay was at a gate along the wall called Watergate (descriptions made sense back then), but in the late16th century the River Dee started silting up and Chester no longer could operate as a port.

The Watergate area today

Earlier in the 16th century a semi circular area nearby called the Roodee silted up and became the Chester Racecourse in 1539, making it the oldest racecourse in Britain. It is still in use today (well, next weekend actually) and in 1946 a crowd of 104,000 attended the Chester Cup. We got a great view over the racecourse from the city wall as we continued our walk along the wall.

Chester Racecourse, the oldest in Britain

We took a short break from walking the walls to visit the Grosvenor Museum which told the story of Chester from Roman rule to Victorian elegance, and included fabulous archeological finds from around the area. There was an exhibition on Roman Stones that were actually headstones from an early Roman graveyard in Chester. They were only found in the late 1800s when parts of the wall collapsed because they had been used as fill to repair damage to the wall centuries before. This helped preserve them as no-one knew they were there! The museum was in a great building and the exhibits very well presented. We really enjoyed it and ended up spending a couple of hours there. We now have a much better perspective on Chester's long history - people have lived there since the 3rd century!

The Grosvenor Museum

It was then back to walking the walls. Next, we came to the Grosvenor Bridge which was the longest single span arch bridge in the world when it was built in 1833, and it retained that title for 30 years. Not much further along the wall we came to the Old Dee bridge which was built in the late 14th century and is still used today. There was originally a bridge on this site dating back to the Roman era, so it has always been a very important crossing over the River Dee.

The Grosvenor Bridge

The Old Dee Bridge

Another detour from the walls took us to St. John's church. Its history goes back to Anglo Saxon times but a lot of that earlier church was destroyed or has collapsed over the years but was rebuilt in a major way in the late 19th century. We were fortunate when we entered that a rehearsal was taking place for a concert tonight and the orchestra was practising some beautiful classical music which added to the experience of seeing the majesty of this church.

We completed our walk around the walls then headed to an old pub under one of the shops along the historic Rows for a traditional English roast dinner. On the way back to our B&B we checked out the Chester Railway Station which was built to cater for the increasing number of visitors in the late 1800s but unfortunately it had lost a lot of its character due to the inclusion of modern facilities. Stone Villas wasn't too far away so we were happy to put our feet up and enjoy a sherry and a cuppa to end another great day of exploring.

The end of our walk around the walls, and farewell to historic Chester

 

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