Chester was formerly termed Caerleon Gawr, or Vawr, and was, during the time of the Romans, the station of the twentieth legion. Numerous Roman antiquities have been found here, such as altars, &c. and a hypocaust or furnace for heating a sudatorium, was a short time back to be seen at the Feathers’ inn.
The castle is situate at the north-west extremity of the city. It was founded by Hugh Lupus, in the reign of William the Conqueror, and has within these few years undergone considerable alterations. In it was confined the beautiful, but unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots after her defeat at Langside.
The cathedral is a heavy irregular pile of building, affording little either within or without worthy of observation. It is built of bad stone, on which the workmanship bestowed was quite good enough: it stands on the site of the ancient Abbey of St. Werburgh. The altar-piece is a fine specimen of tapestry, representing the history of Elymas the sorcerer, taken from one of the Cartoons of Raphael.
The bishop’s palace, in the Abbey Court, is a handsome modern stone building. The exchange, or town hall, is an elegant and useful fabric, standing in the middle of the city. It is supported on columns, and contains, as well as the common hall, assembly rooms, with every convenience for the corporation meetings and entertainments. The shire hall is a handsome stone building, with one of the most complete and elegant court rooms in the kingdom. The new gaol is likewise a well-constructed edifice, having five yards, and all the necessary conveniences for a separation of prisoners.
Anxious to view the superb seat of the Earl of Grosvenor, Eton Hall, we did not afford that time to examine this ancient city which it merited; it will not, therefore, be right for the tourist to be satisfied with this as a guide to its antiquities, but rather to purchase the local one, which will afford every information.
EATON HALL,
the seat of Earl Grosvenor, recently erected by the present noble earl, is a splendid Gothic mansion, standing on the site of the ancient fabric, in an extensive park, surrounded with fine and venerable timber. The basement of the ancient pile has been preserved, but the superstructure has been enlarged to double the original dimensions. The style of architecture is Gothic: but it is proper to observe, that the cathedral Gothic, of the age of Edward the Third, as exhibited in York Minster, the church of Newark-upon-Trent, and other celebrated structures in England, is chiefly imitated, especially on the outside; though Mr. Porden, the architect, has not scrupled to avail himself of the low Tudor arch, and the forms of any other age that suited his purpose, which was to adapt the rich variety of our ancient ecclesiastical architecture to modern domestic convenience. The same style prevails through the whole of the interior, but more or less embellished, to suit the uses of the apartments respectively. Round the turrets, and in various parts of the balustrades, are Gothic shields, charged in relievo with the armorial bearings of the Grosvenor family, and of other ancient families, that by intermarriages the Grosvenors are entitled to quarter with their own. The windows, which are rich in tracery, are of iron, cast from models in wood by the iron-founders of Chester, and are, perhaps, the first that have been made of that material, moulded on both sides and grooved to receive the glass. The walls, balustrades, battlements, and pinnacles, are of stone, brought by land-carriage about sixteen miles, from quarries near Fordsham. It is of a light and beautiful colour, which harmonizes with the hues of nature in the landscape.
The park is flat, but the distant country is elevated and various. To the west the mountains of Wales, with Moel-Famma, rise directly in front; and to the south and east the hills of Shropshire and Cheshire, with that remarkable knowl on which Beeston Castle is situated. The city of Chester lies on the north. From various parts of the park and grounds this noble mansion is seen to much better advantage, than by the regular approaches from Chester, &c.
“The entrance to the house is in the middle of the west front, under a vaulted portico, which admits a carriage to the steps that lead to the hall, a spacious and lofty room, occupying the height of two stories, with a vaulted ceiling, embellished with the Grosvenor arms, &c. in the knots that cover the junction of the ribs. The pavement is of variegated marbles in Gothic compartments. On each of the sides is an ornamented marble chimney-piece, and four niches with pedestals and canopies. The niches, it is probable, will hereafter be filled with statues, and the walls covered with historical paintings; for which no family can furnish more ample materials, as the heads of it were engaged in most of the military transactions of the English in the chivalrous ages. At the end of the hall, a screen of five arches supports a gallery, that connects the bed-chambers on the north side of the house with those on the south, which are separated by the elevation of the hall. Under this gallery, two open arches to the right and left conduct to the grand staircase, the state bed-room, and the second staircase; and opposite to the door of the hall is the entrance to the saloon. The grand staircase is highly ornamented with niches and canopies, and with tracery under the landings, and in the principal ceiling, which is crowned with a double sky-light of various coloured glass. The steps of the second staircase, with its tracery and balustrade, are all of cast-iron. The state bed-room is lighted by two painted windows, with tracery and armorial bearings, and contains a magnificent bed. On entering the saloon, the eye is struck with the splendour of three lofty painted windows, which contain, in six divisions, the portraits of the Conqueror’s nephew, Gilbert le Grosvenor, the founder of the Grosvenor family, and his lady; of William the Conqueror, with whom Gilbert came into England; the Bishop of Bayeux, uncle to the Conqueror; the heiress of the house of Eaton; and Sir Robert le Grosvenor; who distinguished himself in the wars of Edward the Third, and more particularly by his legal contest with Sir Richard le Scroope, for the family arms—azure, one bend, or; in which Sir Richard gained his point. Sir Robert being obliged to add to them un bordure argent—objecting to which he was allowed to bear the arms of his relation Hugh Lupus, first Earl of Chester, azure, a garbe, or, which is the family coat to this day. These windows are from cartoons by Mr. Thresham and others. The saloon is a square of thirty feet, formed into an octagon by arches across the angles, which give the vaultings a beautiful form. The chimney-piece is of statuary marble, and opposite to it is an organ, both richly decorated. On the left of the saloon is an ante-room, that leads to the dining-room, and on the right another that leads to the drawing-room, both decorated, but in a subordinate degree to the state-rooms with which they communicate. The windows of these rooms are glazed with a light mosaic tracery, and exhibit the portraits of the six Earls of Chester, who, after Hugh Lupus, governed Cheshire as a county palatine, till Henry the Third bestowed the title on his son Edward; since which time the eldest sons of the kings of England have always been Earls of Chester.
“The dining-room, situated at the northern extremity of the east front, is about fifty feet long, and thirty feet wide, exclusive of a bow containing five arched windows; the opening of which is thirty feet. In the middle window is the portrait of Hugh Lupus. This portrait, with the six Earls of Chester in the ante-room windows are the work of Messrs. Davenport, of Staffordshire, from Cartoons by Mr. Singleton. The ceiling is of bold and rich tracery, with coats of arms in proper colours, and a large ornamented pendant for a chandelier. At the end, opposite to the entrance, is an arched recess containing the sideboard, and on each side of it is a large niche, with its pedestal and canopy. The opposite end of the room has a similar recess, under which is the door from the ante-room, and similar niches on each side of it. Other niches and canopies, of smaller size, ornament the jambs of the arched recess and the bow.