Historic Cities · England
Chester through the ages
Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, very close to the England–Wales border. It had a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West and Chester. It is the historic county town of Cheshire and the second-largest settlement in Cheshire after Warrington.
Chester in AD 100
Roman Deva
This is Deva Victrix at the height of its life as a legionary fortress and the administrative heart of the Twentieth Legion. The walk follows the fortress ramparts, the principia at the crossing of the main streets, long barrack-rows and granaries, the vast amphitheatre outside the walls, and the working quays on the River Dee where seagoing ships tie up.
A compact, regular fortress of pale local sandstone with straight streets cut in a Roman grid, defended by a turf-and-earth rampart faced with stone and a broad ditch. Towers punctuate the wall at even intervals and barrel-vaulted public buildings and thermae rise above long, gabled barrack blocks. Red tile roofs and whitened mortar catch the low light, the River Dee glints beside quays busy with small ocean-going craft and rowing boats.
The walk — 23 streets, squares and views
River Dee Bend View → Racecourse Harbour Shore → South Gate → Principia Crossing → Cardo Maximus → Decumanus Maximus → Principia Forecourt → Elliptical Building → Barrack Rows → Horrea Granaries → …
Step inside — 12 interiors
Principia Cross-Hall · Principia Strongroom · Cardo Merchant's Shop · Baker's Oven Hall · Unfinished Oval Hall · Barrack Dormitory · Granary Store Chamber · Legionary Caldarium · Palaestra Exercise Hall · Amphitheatre Undercroft · Minerva Rock Niche · Quayside Warehouse
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Deva Victrix.
Chester in 1600
Tudor Chester
Chester in 1600 is a prosperous walled market city and river port whose Roman street plan still orders life. Walkers will see the famous two-tier Rows of timber-framed shops, the cathedral that was once the Benedictine abbey, the complete circuit of medieval and Roman walls with the projecting Water Tower, and the Roodee race-meadow by the Dee.
A low, crenellated stone skyline of continuous walls and towers surrounds a dense town of close timber-framed houses with jettied upper storeys and covered upper galleries — the Rows. Sandstone church towers and the squat abbey‑cathedral rise above tile roofs. The River Dee coils beside ramparts and the Water Tower; the Roodee lies as a wide, grassed race‑meadow.
The walk — 21 streets, squares and views
The Roodee → Old Dee Bridge → Lower Bridge Street → Bridge Street Rows → The High Cross → Eastgate Row → Eastgate Tower → Cathedral Close → Chester Cathedral Front → Northgate Street → …
Step inside — 12 interiors
Upper Row Draper's Shop · Row Shoemaker's Workshop · Wool Stapler's Counting House · Monastic Cloister · Cathedral Quire · Mercer's Counting House · Watergate Alehouse · Port Watch Chamber · Amphitheatre Arena · Castle Great Hall · Butchers' Shambles · Common Hall Great Chamber
Planned from the Wikipedia record: History of Chester.
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