CONTENTS

Historic CheshireBy P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A. [1]
The County Palatine of Chester: its Place in HistoryBy Henry Taylor (Chester), F.S.A.[19]
The Abbeys of CheshireBy the Archdeacon of Chester[33]
Cheshire CastlesBy the Archdeacon of Chester[50]
The Timber-framed Churches of CheshireBy the Rev. Dr. Cox, LL.D., F.S.A.[61]
The Walls and Rows of ChesterBy the Archdeacon of Chester[70]
The Half-timbered Architecture of CheshireBy C. H. Minshull[80]
An Old Consistory CourtBy the Archdeacon of Chester[100]
Halton Court LeetBy V. B. Davies[106]
Cheshire WorthiesBy P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A.[114]
The Four Randle Holmes of Chester (an Epitome of a Paper by the late J. P. Earwaker, F.S.A.)By the Archdeacon of Chester[133]
The Chester Mystery PlaysBy Joseph C. Bridge, M.A., Mus. Doc. Oxon. et Dunelm, F.S.A.[142]
The Siege of ChesterBy the Archdeacon of Chester[180]
Cheshire and its FamiliesBy James Hall[194]
Some Cheshire CrossesBy the Archdeacon of Chester[207]
Echoes from FarndonBy the late Rev. L. E. Owen[218]
Some Cheshire Customs, Proverbs, and Folk-loreBy Joseph C. Bridge, M.A., Mus. Doc. Oxon. et Dunelm, F.S.A.[230]
Two Cheshire SaintsBy the Archdeacon of Chester[264]
Index [277]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Chester Castle, Barracks, and Courts
(From a photograph by F. Frith & Co. Ld.)		[Frontispiece]
Page, or
Facing Page
View of the City of Chester
(From an old engraving)		[16]
Hugh Lupus and his Parliament [22]
The Old Shire Hall, Chester[32]
Norman Doorway in Cloisters, Chester Cathedral
(From a photograph by F. Simpson)		[38]
Cloisters, Chester Cathedral
(From a photograph by F. Simpson)		[40]
Norman Chambers, Chester Cathedral Cloisters
(From a photograph by F. Simpson)		[42]
Doorway in Cloisters, Chester Cathedral
(From a photograph by F. Simpson)		[44]
Old Shotwick Castle
(From an old engraving; photograph by F. Simpson)		[52]
Beeston Castle
(From an old engraving)		[56]
Old Gateway, Chester Castle
(From an old engraving; photograph by F. Simpson)		[58]
Marton Church
(From a photograph by H. E. Tonge)		[62]
Old Warburton Church
(From a photograph by H. E. Tonge)		[64]
Siddington Church
(From a photograph by H. E. Tonge)		[66]
Bruera Church, near Chester[68]
Bonewaldesthorne’s Tower
(From a photograph by F. Simpson)		[72]
King Charles’s Tower
(From a photograph by F. Simpson)		[74]
Watergate Row, Chester
(From a photograph by F. Simpson)		[76]
Bishop Lloyd’s Palace, Watergate Row
(From a photograph by F. Simpson)		[78]
Baggily Hall; Section through Large Hall [85]
Interior of the Hall, Baggily Hall, Cheshire[85]
Almshouses, Commonhall Lane, Chester[86]
Almshouses, Commonhall Lane, Chester[87]
Bramall, the Porch (East End)[89]
Bramall, a Corner of the South Wing[90]
Moreton Old Hall, Gatehouse[92]
Moreton Hall, in the Courtyard[93]
Broxton Hall, Part Elevation of Gable[96]
House, Whitefriars, Chester[98]
Consistory Court, Chester Cathedral
(From block lent by Chester and North Wales Archæological Society; photograph by F. Simpson)		[102]
Halton Castle
(From an old engraving by S. Buck)		[106]
Sir Hugh Calveley’s Tomb, Bunbury Church
(From block lent by Chester and North Wales Archæological Society; photograph by J. Elliott, M.D.)		[116]
Old Lamb Row
(From an old drawing by Cuitt; photograph by F. Simpson)		[138]
Tabley House and Chapel
(From an old engraving)		[198]
The High Cross, Chester
(From block lent by Chester and North Wales Archæological Society; drawing by His Honour Sir Horatio Lloyd)		[208]
Base of Old Village Cross, Eaton, near Tarporley
(From a photograph by G. W. Haswell)		[212]
Sandbach Crosses
(From block lent by Chester and North Wales Archæological Society)		[214]
Farndon Bridge
(From a photograph by F. Simpson)		[220]
Facsimile of Speed’s Autograph [229]

HISTORIC CHESHIRE

By P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A.

BRIGHT and fair is the Cheshire land and well renowned in story. It is one of the most famous counties in England, and can raise its head proudly above other less noted shires. It rejoices in being a County Palatine, its Earls in former days having sovereign jurisdiction within its precincts. The Earls of Chester held their own Parliaments, summoned the barons and tenants to the conclave, and Acts of Parliament passed by English houses of representatives had no force within the Palatinate of Cheshire. It had its own courts of justice for determining all pleas of land, tenements, contracts, felonies, &c. It was an imperium in imperio, and though Lancashire and Durham claimed similar privileges of Palatinate, their County Palatines were established later than that of Chester and were not so well settled, nor their powers and privileges so clearly defined. For a brief space Cheshire was a Principality, and Richard II. styled himself Princeps Cestriæ, and it can still boast of having a Prince for its Earl, the title of Earl of Chester being always borne since the reign of King Henry III. by the eldest son of the kings of England.

Famous, too, is the county for its illustrious sons. Speed, a Cheshire man, who ought therefore to know well the truth of his statements, though perhaps for that reason a little partial, says: “The shire may well be said to be a seedplot of Gentilitie, and the producer of many most ancient and worthy families; neither hath any brought more men of valour into the Field than Cheeseshire hath done, who, by a generall speech, are to this day called The Chiefe of men; and for nature’s endowments (besides their noblenesse of mindes) may compare with any other nation in the world; their limmes strait and well-composed; their complexions faire, with a cheerfull countenance; and the Women of a grace, feature and beautie, inferior unto none.”