The Phœnix Tower,
which was formerly used by some of the companies of the city, whose arms were placed upon it, as a chamber for business. Of these the Phœnix, the crest of the Painters’ and Stationers’ Company, which was put up in 1613, now only remains.
From the summit of this tower, King Charles I. had the mortification to see his army, under the generalship of Sir Marmaduke Langdale, defeated by the Parliamentary forces, which were led by General Pointz, at the battle of Rowton Moor, on the 27th September, 1645. From its elevation and command of view over the township of Newton, it was formerly called Newton’s Tower. Linked as it is with that eventful battle during one of the most significant epochs of our national history, it is not surprising that it is always regarded with intense curiosity, as a suggestive memorial of most interesting occurrences. The mind is involuntarily carried back to the period when our country was involved in the discord, strife, and bloodshed of civil war; and, perhaps, as involuntarily reflects on the genial and happy change which the progress of knowledge, freedom, and religion has accomplished in the minds and institutions of the people. We can now occupy the very spot on which the hapless monarch beheld the discomfiture of his hopes and power; but can gaze upon a prospect very different from that which greeted his vision, and with emotions more grateful than those which then distracted the monarch’s breast. His Majesty remained that night in Chester, and on the following day marched with 500 horse into Wales.
Beneath the walls here, deeply cut in the solid rock, is the Ellesmere and Chester Canal.
Between the Eastgate and Phœnix Tower the remains of the Roman Walls are conspicuous in the lower courses. At the distance of about seven feet from the top of the parapet, the Roman portion is terminated by a cornice, which extends in broken lengths for at least 100 yards.
In the time of the great Rebellion, a ditch surrounded the Walls, from the Eastgate to the Water Tower. The view which is obtained from the elevation of this part of the Walls is very extensive and beautiful. As you approach the North from the Eastgate, the ranges of Peckforton Hills, Beeston Castle, and the Forest of Delamere, form the background of the landscape, marked on the foreground with Waverton and Christleton churches; and, still nearer, the commodious Railway Station.
Next we arrive at