At the corner of this street stands her Majesty’s Custom House. Adjoining is Trinity Church, which contains the mortal remains of Parnell the poet, and Matthew Henry, immortalized in his far-famed commentary. Trinity-street contains nothing worthy of special notice: it leads, however, to a memorable spot, of surpassing interest to all who love to trace the “records of a good man’s life.” Higher up is Crook-street, where stands the chapel built for Matthew Henry. These chapel walls once echoed the voice of that eloquent man, who assiduously asserted the pure principles of the Gospel. Associated, therefore, as the place is with the memory of a great mind, whose works have taken an honourable position in the religious literature of the country, it cannot but be an attraction to all who love to treasure the incidents which mark the biography of an eminent and a worthy man. Matthew Henry’s chapel is now occupied by the Unitarians.
Returning to the Cross, we proceed to
Northgate Street,
which forms the northern division of the city, and is 440 yards long. On the east side, adjoining St. Peter’s Church, are the Commercial-buildings, occupied as a subscription News-room, and the Library of the Archæological Society. The rows in Northgate-street are chiefly formed of wood; that on the west is the only one in general use, extending from the Cross to the Fish Market. The regular market for “Fish and vegetables,” says a History of Chester, 1791, “is in the square opposite the Exchange, which, in general, are plentiful and reasonable. In that useful article, salmon, no market in the kingdom did, some few years ago, excel it; indeed, such was the profusion of this valuable fish, that masters were often restricted, by a clause of indenture, from giving it more than twice a week to their apprentices! Though the bounty of Providence, in this particular, is yet unabated, such restriction is no longer necessary—some artificial cause or other very kindly rendering this fish, at the present day, a delicacy even to the masters themselves.”
The Exchange
is situated in the Market-place, on the west side of Northgate-street. It was commenced in 1695, and completed in 1698, at an expense of £1,000, towards which Roger Whitley, then Mayor, contributed largely. It is a good brick building, ornamented with stone-work, supported by stone pillars on the ground floor, through which is a thoroughfare from south to north. In a niche on the south front is a statue of Queen Anne in her coronation robes. On the right of this statue is a tablet, having the arms of the Earldom of Chester on a circular shield in the centre, and above these the coats of the Principality of Wales and Duchy of Cornwall, having each their respective coronets over them. The blazon of this tablet is believed to have been furnished by the last Randle Holmes, Deputy Norroy King at Arms, who died in 1707. On the left of the statue is another tablet, containing the Royal arms of England as borne by Queen Anne. The centre of the building is occupied by the Common Hall, wherein are held the city sessions and the elections for members of parliament for the borough. The north end of the Common Hall is fitted up as a court of justice, having a bench, bar, witness and jury boxes. On each side of the bench are ornaments, composed of lictors’ fasces and spears, used to support the sword and mace.
Adjoining and communicating with the Common Hall on the north is the Council-room, commonly called the Pentice, where the mayor and magistrates sit as a court of Petty Sessions. Over the mayor’s seat in this room is a splendid full length portrait of George the Third in his coronation robes,—the figure by Gainsborough, the drapery by Reynolds,—presented to the city by the late Marquis of Westminster, in 1808. On the south side of the Exchange-buildings is the City Assembly-room, where the meetings of the Town Council are held. The Town Hall, the Pentice Court, and the Assembly-room, are all decorated with fine portraits of benefactors to the city, and of eminent men who have been officially engaged in its highest legal appointments, or in the administration of its municipal affairs. Among these worthies may be seen the donors of local charities, and other celebrities; as Recorders Comberbach, Leycester, Levinge, Townsend, and Sir W. Williams; Sir Henry Bunbury, M.P. for Chester in eight successive parliaments during the reigns of Queen Anne and George the First; Sir John Grey Egerton, M.P. for the city from 1807 to 1818; Thomas Cholmondeley, Esq., Mayor in 1761; Robert, Earl Grosvenor, in his parliamentary robes, painted by Jackson; Richard, Earl Grosvenor, and Thomas Grosvenor, Esq., M.P., in their robes of the civic mayoralty, painted by West; W. Cross, Esq., first Mayor after the passing of the Municipal Reform Act; and W. Wardell, Esq., Mayor in 1841. At the north end of the Exchange is the Market, appropriated for the sale of butter; and a few yards apart is another building of equal breadth, but longer, for butchers’ meat, both of which are neatly fitted up and well adapted for their respective purposes. We recommend the tourist now to continue his walk up the street, for the purpose of visiting the Training College, which, we doubt not, our former description has made him curious to see. Supposing this to have been done, we now return on the east side, passing through the Northgate about 100 yards, where we come to a narrow avenue on the left, under an old archway, the remains of one of the gates of the monastery of St. Werburgh. A little further down, opposite the Market-hall, stands a noble arch called
The Abbey Gate,
which is a Gothic pointed arch, with a postern at the side, both of which are included in a larger obtuse one, apparently of the same order. The interior of the gateway is vaulted with stone, with ribs, and carved keystones at the intersections; and the rooms over were originally approached by a spiral staircase. On the south side was the porter’s lodge, and on the other St. Thomas’s-court. Before this gate were anciently raised the booths for the merchants frequenting the Abbot’s fair; these booths were covered with reeds, which the monks were empowered to gather from Stanlaw Marsh; and here also the performers in the Chester Mysteries commenced the exhibition of their pageants. This was formerly the grand entrance into the monastery, which appears to have occupied a very extensive range. On passing through the arched gateway we enter into the Abbey-square. On the right hand is a wall, enclosing the episcopal palace, which was rebuilt by Bishop Keene, out of his private resources, at an expense of £2,200, soon after his promotion to the see in 1752. In former days the residence of the Abbots of St. Werburgh stood on this site. The spacious edifice at the end of the palace wall is the Registry Office, of which Dickens has given an interesting sketch in his ‘Household Words,’ in one of his able papers, entitled, ‘The Doom of English Wills.’ The entire arrangements and management of the office are described in terms of unqualified commendation, highly complimentary to the talented registrar, who is described as “a gentleman who fulfils the duties of his office in person with assiduity.” In the centre of the square is a shrubbery, enclosed with an iron palisading, having in the centre an elliptic column, which was once a pillar under the Exchange; but on removing it to build a shop there, the Corporation presented it to the Dean and Chapter, who appropriated it to its present use. In the north-east angle of the square is the Deanery, built on the site where once stood an old Gothic structure, called St. Thomas’s Chapel. Returning into Northgate-street, the next narrow avenue on the left gives us a fine view of the west transept of the Cathedral, with its beautiful window, enriched with elegant tracery. A few paces below we arrive at