Carlisle, and Conway, are the only three British towns or cities that have preserved their ancient walls anyways entire. Those of Chester are nearly two miles in circumference, and sufficiently broad to afford room for two persons to walk abreast; for this purpose they are now kept in repair, affording an agreeable lounge, fresh air, and, from the different sides, varied and extensive views.
The rows are another peculiarity belonging to Chester: the streets, which are much broader than those of old towns or cities generally, are considerably excavated: on this lower level are the warehouses, kitchens, &c. and on the first floor, with galleries, or rows as they are termed, in the front, are the shops. These galleries afford a covered walk for foot passengers: they are inconvenient, particularly for ladies, as at every crossing you have to descend and ascend the different steps: they give an air of great singularity to the city.
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, Eaton 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.