The Stranger's Handbook to Chester and Its Environs / Containing a short sketch of its history and antiquities, a descriptive walk round the walls, and a visit to the cathedral, castle, and Eaton Hall.

by Thomas Hughes

THE
STRANGER’S HANDBOOK
TO CHESTER

AND ITS ENVIRONS;

CONTAINING

A SHORT SKETCH OF ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES,

A Descriptive Walk round the Walls,

AND

A VISIT TO THE CATHEDRAL, CASTLE, AND EATON HALL.

BY THOMAS HUGHES.

WITH THIRTY-FOUR NEW ILLUSTRATIONS, BY GEORGE MEASOM.

“My guide, philosopher, and friend.”

ENTERED AT STATIONERS’. HALL.

CHESTER:
THOMAS CATHERALL, BOOKSELLER, EASTGATE ROW.
LONDON: WHITTAKER & CO., AND WARD & LOCK.

LONDON:
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.

TO
EDWARD HAWKINS, ESQ., F.R.S. & F.S.A.,

KEEPER OF THE ANTIQUITIES IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

AND A “CHESHIRE MAN” WITHAL,

THIS NEW

STRANGER’S HANDBOOK TO THE CITY OF CHESTER

IS,

WITH A LIVELY SENSE OF HIS UNIFORM KINDNESS AND FRIENDSHIP,

GRATEFULLY DEDICATED BY

THE AUTHOR.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Introduction.—The City of Chester under theBritons.—Chester a Roman Colony.—The City a prey tothe Danes and Saxons.—Ethelfleda the Amazon.—Chesterunder the Normans.—The Palatinate Earldom.—RoyalVisits to Chester.—The Plague.—The Siege ofChester.	[1]
CHAPTER II.
The Railway Station.—Chester the Terminus of SixRailways.—Flookersbrook.—Lead Works.—Canal andBridge.—William Penn, the Quaker.—Foregate Street,and the old Watling Street.—Post-Office, and OldBank.—The East Gate, Roman and Mediæval.—TheEast Gate of To-day	[10]
CHAPTER III.
The Walls of Chester, their Builders, and theirHistory.—The Cathedral.—The Phœnix Tower, andthe Walls during the Siege.—Beeston Castle.—The NorthGate.—Training College.—Morgan’s Mount, andPemberton’s Parlour.—The WaterTower.—Infirmary, and Gaol.—Linen Hall.—TheWater Gate	[18]
CHAPTER IV.
The Walls, continued.—The Roodeye.—ChesterRaces.—The Castle of the Olden Time, and the Castle ofTo-day.—The Grosvenor Bridge.—Cæsar’sTower.—Handbridge, and Edgar’s Cave.—BridgeGate.—Dee Mills andBridge.—Causeway.—Queen’s Park, and WishingSteps.—The Newgate and its Traditions.—The EastGate	[31]
CHAPTER V.
The Streets of Chester.—East Gate Street, and RoyalHotel.—The Ancient Rows of Chester.—AnAmerican’s “Notion” of them.—TheArchitecture of the Rows and Streets.—The HighCross.—The Pentice, and Conduit.—The CityBull-bait.—St Peter’s Church	[43]
CHAPTERVI.
Watergate Street.—God’s ProvidenceHouse.—Bishop Lloyd’s House.—The Puppet ShowExplosion.—Trinity Church.—Dean Swift and the“Yacht.”—St. Martin’s and St.Bridget’s Churches.—The StanleyPalace.—Watergate.—Port of Chester	[54]
CHAPTER VII.
Bridge Street.—Ancient Crypt.—The Blue Postsand the Knave of Clubs.—Roman Bath.—GrosvenorStreet.—New Savings’-Bank.—TheCemetery.—Curzon Park, and Hough Green.—The Port ofSaltney.—St. Michael’s Church.—St.Olave’s Church.—The Gamull House.—St.Mary’s Church	[64]
CHAPTER VIII.
North Gate Street.—Commercial Buildings.—TheRows.—The Exchange.—Music Hall and OldTheatre.—Chester Cathedral.—St. Oswald’sChurch.—The Cloisters, and ChapterHouse.—Promptuarium.—Refectory and King’sSchool	[79]
CHAPTER IX.
Abbey Square, Deanery, and Palace.—The AbbeyGates.—Chester Market, and Abbot’s Fair.—NorthGate, and Old City Gaol.—St. John’s Hospital, andBlue School.—Newtown, and Christ Church.—RailwayTunnel.—St. Thomas Chapel.—Training-College	[95]
CHAPTER X.
Llwyd, the Welsh Antiquary.—ChesterFair.—Tennis Court and Theatre.—The JustingCroft.—The Bars.—Steam Mills.—RaggedSchool.—Boughton, and St. Paul’s Church.—The’Spital, and George Marsh.—Roman Altar.—JohnStreet, and Mechanics’ Institution.—Roman CatholicConvent.—St. John’s Church, and itsRuins.—Jacob’s Well, and the Anchorite’sCell.—The Groves, and the Dee	[106]
CHAPTER XI.
The River Dee.—Chester Rowing Club.—TheEarl’s Eye.—Villas on Dee Banks.—The WaterWorks.—Eccleston.—Eaton Lodge, and IronBridge.—Eaton Hall.—The GrosvenorFamily.—Belgrave Lodge.—The Interior of theHall.—Eaton Gardens.—Grosvenor Lodge	[119]

CHAPTER I.

Introduction.—The City of Chester under the Britons.—Chester a Roman Colony.—The City a prey to the Danes and Saxons.—Ethelfleda the Amazon.—Chester under the Romans.—The Palatinate Earldom.—Royal Visits to Chester.—The Plague.—The Siege of Chester.

“Rare old city of Chester!” writes Albert Smith in his “Struggles and Adventures of Christopher Tadpole,”—“Rare old city of Chester! Even in these days of rocket-like travelling, a man might fly all over Great Britain and Ireland, with an extra ‘day ticket’ for Berwick-upon-Tweed, before he saw anything half so fine as the mouldering old walls and towers of that venerable city, or looked upon anything half so fair as the prospect of vale and mountain, wooded headland, and spire-pointed plain, that surrounds it.” Well said, friend Albert;—echoed, too, far and wide, by the thousands of visitors who are annually led to seek entertainment within its Walls!

Situate on the northern banks of the River Dee, the deified stream of the Ancient Britons,—built upon, or, as we ought rather to say, built into the solid rock, for the principal streets within the Walls are almost wholly excavations of several feet in depth—the city of Chester stands forth before the world certainly the most curious city in the British Isles, second to none of its fellows in martial strength or historic importance, and as a faithful and enduring relic of the past, “peerless and alone!”

First a settlement of the Ancient Britons—then a colony of imperial Rome—afterwards a favourite city and frequent resort of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs—now the camp and court of Hugh Lupus the Norman, nephew of the Conqueror—then the key to the subjugation of Wales, and to its union with the English crown—ever a city of loyalty and renown,—no admirer of the curious and remarkable, none who seek after the ancient and honourable, should fail to visit and explore the beauties of “rare old Chester.” The eye of the stranger, be he Englishman or foreigner, European or American, will here find an ample and luxuriant field for admiration: the man of taste, who may linger within its Walls, will not depart ungratified; nor will the antiquary search here in vain for some rich and profitable treasures of investigation: in short, such is the antiquity, the peculiarity of Chester, that the stranger who can pass through without bestowing on it some little share of attention, must have a dull and incurious eye indeed.

Before we proceed to point out to the visitor the numerous objects of interest within the city, we must conform to the fashion prevalent in such matters, and, tedious though it may seem, preface our description with a condensed sketch of the