Objects of privilege in the Ridgway Silver Gallery at the Grosvenor Museum, Chester

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Sugar sifter spoon. George Walker I, Chester. 1794-95. 1988.53

Silver is one of those materials that can be sublime in its simplicity, relying on the brilliance of the fabric, the purity of shape to create beauty and elegance in functional items.  It can also be elaborately ornate, relying on layers of opulent, showy adornment for its impact and to make its ostentatiously unsubtle point.  The Grosvenor Museum in Chester displays both extremes and everything in between, in its Ridgway Silver Gallery.  The Ridgway Gallery is dedicated both to items of silver that were made in Chester and those that were purchased elsewhere, mainly in London, for use in Chester.

Chester had a long tradition of silver-working at least from the 13th century onwards.  The Chester Goldsmiths Co., registered just before the Dissolution in 1531, were the key authority for the city goldsmiths at that time, laying down standards and rules for production, assaying, and marking objects.  Assaying is a quality control method by which the content of silver in an item is determined, and confirms its purity, integrity, validity, which in turn offered guarantees of value for purchasers.  In the 17th century there was a decline in production by Chester goldsmiths as London grew to prominence.  This was aggravated by the Civil War which raged around Chester’s city walls.

In spite of some very rocky years, the 18th century marked an upturn in the fortune of Chester silver production, described by Peter Boughton as its heyday.  Two family dynasties, the Richardsons and Lowes, became synonymous with locally produced silver.  After 1884 Chester’s Goss Street Assay Office was one of only four in Britain that was still active.  This was only closed in 1962, by an Act of Parliament.

Silver has always been a prestige item, intended for conspicuous display.  Even the most modest items would have been unaffordable for most of Chester’s population, so the market for silver was a clear indication of the prosperity of the city’s elite.  Wealthy individuals and families, as well as the city corporations, institutions and establishments were all affluent consumers of Chester silver, purchasing it to demonstrate both their personal status and the prestige of local enterprises.

The Grosvenor Museum. Source: Geograph (1335188)

The Grosvenor Museum was founded in 1885-6 but it was not until the 1950s that it received the first pieces that formed its earliest display of silver.  In 1951 the Trustees of Chester Municipal Charities placed their collection of silver on long term loan.  The following year the museum began to acquire items of its own.  The earliest goldsmith represented in the Museum’s collection is William Mutton in the 16th century. The first exhibition of Chester silver was held to celebrate the Festival of Britain in 1951, which was held at the County Hall.  The present gallery was opened in 1992 by the Prince of Wales.  It was named after Canon Maurice Ridgway, the Vicar of Bowdon, who contributed a major work to the study of Chester silver with his 1968 Chester Goldsmiths from Early Times to 1726.  In 2000, the museum published Peter Boughton’s Catalogue of Silver in the Grosvenor Museum.

Interestingly, most of the more elegant and arguably the most aesthetically rewarding examples in the museum’s collection were earlier and were made in Chester, whilst the more ostentatious and elaborate pieces, including racing cups and church plate, were made in London and elsewhere, and purchased by local institutions.

 

Silver pap boat by George Walker I of Chester, dating to 1771-2. My photo. Catalogue number 39, p.72-74

A stunning piece that helps to demonstrate the skills that go into the less elaborate pieces is the small pap boat made in Chester by George Walker I, dating to 1771-2.  It is made of sterling silver and is 12.3cm long.  Pap, according to Peter Boughton, is a “mix of stale white breadcrumbs or flower, cooked to a sloppy mush in water, with the possible addition of a little wine, beer, beef-stock or milk” and was fed to infants as young as three months to aid with weaning them onto solids. It sounds truly appalling. It was also fed to invalids, poor things.  By holding the pap cup in the palm of the hand, it was easy to place the feeding end into the mouth and, by tipping it gently, much easier to control delivery of the content than using a handled jug.  Fifteen other Chester pap boats are known.  Due to the lack of fussy decoration, the shape of the jug can be admired without distraction, and the absence of anywhere to hide in the crafting of the object allows the goldsmith’s mastery of the art to be appreciated.

 

Peter Boughton’s Catalogue of Silver in the Grosvenor Museum. Chester. Phillimore., 2000. The cover image is a silver-covered cup made for the Chester races by Peter and William Bateman  of London 1813-4, (no.96 in the Catalogue)

Of the many elaborate and ornate pieces in the Ridgway Gallery is the silver-gilt cup, with a cover, made for the Chester races by Peter and William Bateman  of London 1813-4, (no.96 in the Catalogue).  It represents an item that was purchased for use in Chester rather than made by one of the local goldsmiths.  Horse racing on Chester’s Roodee has been taking place since the early 16th century, with the earliest known painting of racing on the Roodee dating to the earlier 18th century, by Peter Tillemans.  Even today competition winners are awarded elaborate trophies or cups, often highly ornate, usually in silver, sometimes gilded, recognizing a significant sporting achievement with a substantial and expensive display of splendour.  This was the object chosen for the cover of Peter Boughton’s Catalogue of Silver in the Grosvenor Museum, published in 2000.  Its Neoclassical design sits somewhere between the elegant simplicity of the unadorned items and the more ornamented items that are virtually encrusted with decorative emblems and motifs.  It was made for the second Earl Grosvenor, who paid £70.00 for it, and on the opposite side from “Chester Races 1814,” shown on the catalogue cover, shows his heraldic device.  As well as emulating a Classical shape, it also makes use of Classical motifs.  The Bateman family of London had a long history of providing racing cups for the Chester races, and this is stylistically very similar to other trophies that they produced for Chester.

Peter Tillemans: Chester and the Roodee c.1710–1734, showing a horse race in action. Grosvenor Museum, via ArtWork.org

 

1755-6 (catalogue no.27) by Richard Richardson II, Chester

Another twin-handled ornate cup is the  St Martin drinking cup 1755-6 (catalogue no.27) by Richard Richardson II, Chester.  It is a rather bizarre mixture of decorative concepts. It’s key theme is the cast figure of St Martin of Tours on horseback, mounted on the lid.  Boughton comments that the use of cast figures is rare, and was confined to particularly elaborate vessels.  Although St Martin (c.316/336 – 397) became the third Bishop of Tours, be was born in Hungary, and served in the Roman cavalry in Gaul (modern France).  He performed a number of miracles and acts of charity.  The scene on the lid shows one of his best known charitable acts, similar in tone to the Good Samaritan, where he uses his sword (the top half missing on this piece) to cut his cloak in half to give to a freezing beggar dressed only in rags. As he slept that night, St Martin dreamed that Christ appeared before him wearing that section of the cloak that he had donated to the beggar.  St Martin left the army to become a follower of Hilary, the Bishop of Poitiers in southern France, and went on to found at least one monastery.

The other side of the St Martins Cup. Source: Peter Boughton's Catalogue of Silver (catalogue no.27), p.59

The St Martin’s Cup, showing the other side from the one above.  Source: Catalogue of Silver in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester. By Peter Boughton, p. 59, catalogue number 27

The main body of the vessel is a good example of fine chasing (the working of the silver to produce relief decoration).  Boughton  says that the chasing is the equal of examples found in contemporary London:  “employing a wide range of textures from very find matting on an even ground to vigorous punching over an irregular embossed surface.”  The style of the cup is derived from rococo designs but the body decoration is heavily influenced by Chinese porcelain and ornament, with obviously oriental themes combined with contemporary emblems from the decorative arts in the bottom half of the cup around the entire body of the vessel.  On one side a lady sits flanked by two cherry blossom trees and a tall slender pyramid or obelisk, with flowers in her lap, shown above; on the other, a figure sits with fishing rod in one hand, a sprig of cherry blossom in the other, and an urn set back to the rear right.  Above these scenes in the upper register are two ornamental cartouches, designed to house crests, of which one is empty and the other has an obviously later lion’s head crest, probably dating to the 19th century, shown on the above photograph.  The only parts of the cup that have not received some form of decoration are the two handles, which are beautifully shaped but plain, apart from thumb rests and the sinuous, tapering “ducks-head” ends.  The lid shows a Chinese style pavilion on one side, and another tall slender pyramid or obelisk on the other.  There is no connection between St Martin and east Asia, so the themes are presumably purely decorative.  The overall impact is remarkable, demonstrating the artist’s skill and the purchaser’s ambitions to own a unique, highly noticeable item that would surely draw the attention and comment of visitors.  Its style and themes make it unique in Chester.  Interestingly, it is thought that although is has the mark of Richard Richardson II on the base, it may have been purchased in London and the marked when it arrived in Chester.

 

Coconut standing cup made by George Lowe I, dating to c.1807-17. My photo. Catalogue no.59, p.94-96

One of the most curious of the objects in the gallery is a remarkable glossy black goblet-style cup with a silver rim and a silver stem and base.  The 11cm tall black “standing cup” is perhaps one of the more surprising objects in the Ridgway Silver Gallery in Chester’s Grosvenor Museum.  The glossy section of the cup, looking like opaque black glass, is actually half a coconut.  It relies for its visual impact not on ornate decoration, but on the quality and texture of its materials, the high polish, and its satisfyingly rounded profile.  It was made by George Lowe I, whose mark appears on the base, and dates to c.1807-17.  Lowe originally had a business on Watergate Street and in 1803 moved to new premises in Bridge Street. The Lowes passed the trade from father to son over six generations.  According to Peter Boughton’s catalogue (pages 94-6), the coconut was fastened to the stem with a single brass screw and washer.  As well as being decorative, the silver rim protects the brittle top of the coconut.  There is a letter “B” engraved on the opposite side of the rim, but it is not known today what this originally signified.

The Lowe family shop was on Bridge Street Row East, the second from the right in this 1820 print by George Bateman. Photograph on one of the interpretation boards in the Ridgway Gallery

Using coconuts to make novelty drinking vessels was not uncommon.  Once the fibres were removed from the exterior, they could be scraped to a  smooth surface and then polished to provide the high gloss seen here.  As coconut is not porous, and can be worked until very thin, it was perfect as an imaginative alternative to glass, with an unusual texture and appearance, providing an instant talking point.  Although records indicate that Lowe made other coconut cups, this is the sole survivor, but one of his other examples sold for £1 5s 0d (which equates, in the National Archives Currency Converter, to around £58.00 today).  Examples made by other manufacturers in Chester were recorded, with Boughton’s catalogue listing twenty four examples.

Coconut cup by Cornelis de Bye in 1598 in the Walters Museum (number 571046).  Source: Wikipedia

The earliest known record of a coconut cup dates from 1259, but the earliest surviving examples date from the 15th century, when coconut was thought to have magical, supernatural properties, and due to its rareness was a prestige material that made it a good partner for silver.  As shipping and trade made coconuts more accessible and prices came down, many more continued to be  made.  In Europe coconuts were commonly covered with ornament and scenes, much like carved wood, showing great skill, but opting for a completely different type of aesthetic preference.  The extravagant example to the right is by Cornelis de Bye, dating to 1598.  The inscription in Dutch, “Drunkenness is the root of all evil,” is accompanied by Old Testament scenes.

 

A highly ornate but diminutive item is a baby’s rattle combined with a whistle, bells and, before it was lost, a stick of coral on which the baby could chew, protruding from the socket at the base.  It was placed around the baby’s neck on a ribbon, both a toy and a teething device.  It was made by John Twemlow of Chester, in 1828-29.  Confined mainly to the home, it is equally impressive as an example of conspicuous wealth as the above cups.

 

 

St John the Baptist Hospital badge from 1682

Finally, one of my favourite object groups in the gallery is one about which I can find out very little information:  the large oval hospital badges, engraved with specific motifs and legends and often featuring skulls as reminders of human mortality.   Apologies for the photographs, which are the best of several attempts at photographing several of the badges.  Unfortunately there is no information about the badges in Boughton’s catalogue of the museum’s silver, because they were only loaned to the museum and are therefore not included.  If you have any additional information do get in touch.  Although hospital badges are very familiar from modern nursing, where they have been traditionally awarded to nursing staff for both professional achievements and for association with particular hospitals, the 17 to 18th century ones on display in the Ridgway Gallery were awarded not to nursing staff or hospital governors but to almsmen, those who lived in almshouses and other housing provided by hospitals and religious institutions, often sponsored by named benefactors.  Almsmen and almswomen were awarded places in almshouses on the basis of certain stringent criteria, and were then responsible for certain duties within the almshouses.  The hospital and its buildings were intentionally demolished during the Siege of Chester (1644-1646) to prevent them walls being used as cover by the Parliamentarians, following which Oliver Cromwell put its reconstruction into the hands of the newly founded Chester Corporation.  In 1714 the hospital buildings were ordered to be taken down and rebuilt, creating today’s Bluecoat Building and associated structures.

St John the Baptist Hospital badge by Thomas Maddock, 1736-37

On the examples in the Ridgway Gallery, the large oval almsmen badge disks, held onto clothing by use of a wooden attachment at the rear, commemorate benefactors who provided alms via the Hospital of St John in Chester, which was located outside the Northgate.  At least five of those on display from the 17th century have the name Richard Bird inscribed on them in large letters, the name of the benefactor, together with the year 1682. The 17th century ones date to 1682, whilst the one with the wooden backing also shown here was made by goldsmith Thomas Maddock (who was mayor in 1744-5) and dates to 1736-37.  The badges were made during a period of great change for the hospital and its dependents.

 

Walking into the Ridgway Silver Gallery can be a bit overwhelming due to the sheer amount of lighting, polished silver, reflective surfaces and luxuriant red backgrounds, and it can be difficult to know where to start, but the interpretation panels and labelling are excellent, Peter Boughton’s catalogue is provided on a shelf for perusal, and there are some fascinating individual objects.  From the elaborate and ornate to the elegantly minimalist there is something for everyone.

Visiting details are available on the Grosvenor Museum and Art Gallery here.

 

Sources:

The detailed Grosvenor Museum interpretation panels in the Ridgway Silver Gallery offer an excellent source of information.

Books and papers

Boughton, Peter 2000. Catalogue of Silver in the Grosvenor Museum.  Phillimore.

Ridgway, Maurice 1968.  Chester Goldsmiths from Early Times to 1726.  John Sherratt & Son Ltd

Stewart-Brown, R. 1926. The Hospital of St John at Chester. The Historic Society of Lancashire and Shire, vol. 78, 1926, p.66-106
https://www.hslc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/78-6-Stewart-Brown.pdf

Websites

Great British Life
Inside the historic almshouses in Chester and Nantwich, 25th February 2025, by Joanne Goodwin
https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/magazines/cheshire/24884488.inside-historic-almshouses-chester-nantwich/ 

 

Thomas Robinson two-handled silver cup

Sterling silver cup by Thomas Robinson, 1690-92, Boughton catalogue number 5. The base is chased with alternate alternate spiral fluting and gadrooning, with two ornate handles, but the upper part of the body is plain and shows off the reflective surface of the vessel. Cups like this were used for caudle, a spiced mixture of alcohol (wine, ale or brandy) and gruel.  The balance between un-ornamented surface and the gently sweeping decorative features has particular elegance.

Cheshire Proverbs 10: “Living at the best end of the pig trough”

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J.C. Bridge’s proverb 241 on page 93 is enjoyable as much for Bridge’s closing comment as it is for the content of the proverb itself:

Living at the best end of the pig-trough
“Shropshire farmers who lived well on beef and beer, used to say this of the Cheshire farmers, who had to be satisfied with buttermilk and potatoes.  Things have changed in this respect.”

Things certainly have changed in this respect, and had done so a long time before Bridge’s book was published.  Bridge was writing in 1917, but he was often referencing much earlier sayings that he was intending to preserve in his publication.  This proverb speaks eloquently of regional competition, and a distinct sense of superiority from the Shropshire side 🙂  The poor pig had always been compared unfavourably with cattle and sheep due to its preference for soggy, muddy conditions, leading to a perception of being dirty, and because of its voracious appetite.  They had undoubted value for their multiple large litters, omnivorous and virtually indiscriminate appetite enabling them to be fed on kitchen waste, and the high fat and protein value of their meat, making them a constant, if sometimes socially inferior, component of the diet from the Neolithic onwards.

There’s an excellent 6-page PDF available from the Tatton Hall website about early 20th century pig keeping on the estate, focusing on Isaac Davies, who went to work as Pigman on the Tatton
Estate with his family in 1906, which you can view and download here.

 

For a bit more information about pigs in Cheshire, and their role in the regional economy, see an earlier pig-related Cheshire proverb from Bridge, and a rather fun one:  Cheshire Proverbs 5: We shall live till we die if the pigs don’t eat us.”

 

Men knocking down acorns to feed swine, from the 14th century English Queen Mary Psalter, MS. Royal 2 B VII f.81v. Source: British Library via Wikipedia

 

For more about J.C. Bridge and this Cheshire Proverbs series,
see Cheshire Proverbs 1.

For the other proverbs in the series, click on the Cheshire Proverbs label
in the right hand margin, or see the end of the Archaeology, Heritage and Art page, where they are listed.

 

Half timbered magnificence – Little Moreton Hall near Congleton

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The Close oblique view from the Newcastle-Congleton road of the absurd half-timbered structure, crowned by an  unbroken length of gallery window like some fantastic elongated Chinese lantern, and toppling, if not positively  bending over the tranquil water of a moat, the whole an ancient pack of cards about to meet from the first puff of the wind its own reflection, is something which once seen can never be forgotten.
James Lees-Milne, “People and Places,” 1992

 

The half-timbered moated Little Moreton Hall shows to particular advantage against a blue sky, and with spring daffodils and violets dotted around its gardens, and a neatly clipped knot garden, it was looking particularly fresh and sparkling on Wednesday last week.  It seems more than a little miraculous that it is still standing, as parts of it tilt away from other parts, and there are bends and kinks where no building should have them.  But at the same time it is so beautifully cared for that it looks pristine, as though it was designed to be like that.  As the guide book says, it looks as though it is defying gravity.  The impression is misleading and it has taken many different phases of restoration work to keep the building in once, secure piece.

The visit to the house is self-guided and is split between the ground floor, entered on one side of the courtyard, and the first floor,  via the staircase opposite.  The house is entered via the bridge across the moat, which leads through the first set of buildings into the courtyard.  The courtyard itself is a multi-textured vista of architectural features, carvings, mouldings, decorative shapes and tiny panes of window glass known as quarries, all forming different, mind-bending geometric patterns.  There is so much to take in that it is difficult to know where to start looking.

The Tudor reigns produced a wide variety of architectural styles, and the half-timbered manor house was a particular feature of this part of the world, with good examples still remaining at, for example, Speke Hall in Liverpool, Pitchford Hall in Shropshire and the smaller Churche’s Mansion in Nantwich.  Today the oak timbers are usually painted black, but this was not how they would have appeared in the Tudor period, when the oak would have been allowed to fade to a silvery colour.  It was a Victorian idea that the timbers should be preserved that led to them being painted black.

The house was built and owned by the Moreton family who passed it down through generations until it was handed over to the National Trust in 1938.  The Moretons were not landed aristocrats, and seem to have been both farmers and property speculators, buying land when it became available (most notably after the Black Death of 1348 and the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII in the mid 1500s), accumulating some 1360 acres (550 hectares) by the mid-6th century, most of which they rented out.

The prosperity of the Moretons was reflected in many additions to the house as a much-valued status symbol.  Joan Beck in Tudor Cheshire comments that contemporary writers “wrote almost exclusively about the gentry and the farmers, for, with due respect to the nobility, these were the folk who mattered and who were responsible for all the improvements.  There was a remarkable amount of new building and, where houses remain, the style of architecture and the size corroborate the story of wealth spent in this tangible way.  This was an age of materialism.”   This prosperity lasted until they declared in favour of the Royalists during the Civil War in 1642, after which the house was no longer expanded and began to deteriorate.  Sadly there are only a few surviving records of the Moretons and their activities, most of them legal.

The Great Hall

Four members of the Moreton family were responsible for the establishment and development of the Hall from the early 16th century until the mid 17th century.  William Moreton I (d.1526) had married into the prominent local Brereton family, and it was he who began to build the house.  It was made up of timber frames that were pegged together.  Thin sections of wood linking the panels, which were plastered and whitewashed, and brick fireplaces and internal staircases helped to give the whole structure stability.

William Moreton II (c.1510-63) was responsible for the north-west wing, the porch and, later, adding a first floor and the twin bay niches in the courtyard.

John Moreton (c.1541-98 followed, and it was he who created the delightful paintings in the ground floor parlour and the chapel (with the text in English rather than liturgical Latin, a significant sign of the religious times).

The painted parlour

The painted parlour

The greyhound was part of the heraldry of the Moreton family

The greyhound was part of the heraldry of the Moreton family

William Moreton III’s (1574-1654) contributions were more prosaic, adding the brew and bake houses.  He seems to have lavished most of his income on members of his extended family.  He was arrested during the Civil War and although he was released, his estate was confiscated in 1643 to be used as occasional billeting for the Parliamentarian soldiers and horses.  With their finances in tatters and their home deteriorating, the house remained in the family, but they no longer lived there and chose instead to rent out it out.  In  the 18th and 19th centuries the house became an object of curiosity, visited like so many other distinctive and ruinous buildings by artists looking for romantic subjects.

The best way to understand each of the rooms in the house is to to buy a guide book. The current version is excellent, and provides much of the information in this post, but the previous edition by a different author is also very good as well.  However, there is one room that should be highlighted – the Long Gallery.

An inventory of 1601 suggests that it was build before that date.  A casual glance at it from the outside shows that it has a dog-leg part way along, implying that it has slumped.  The problems lie in the way in which it was built contrary to the convention of placing an upper room directly over the frame of the room below, ensuring that the existing structure provided the new level with as much support as possible.  The gallery, however, is much narrower than the room beneath, perhaps to give provide a greater impression of length.  The result is that it has no direct support and is additionally weighed down by the stone slabs that cover the roof.  Repairs began almost as soon as it was built.  In the 1890s iron tie-rods were added and in the late 1970s and 1990s steel was used to improve the structural stability.  It is a glorious feature, with panelling, decorative woodwork in the ceiling, cross beams and banks of windows with tiny quarries.  At each end is a painted plasterwork frieze showing excerpts from The Castle of Knowledge.

In the parlour off the Long Gallery is a striking and elaborate stone fireplace overmantel.  Appearances are deceptive here.  The fireplace is level, but the rest of the room is askew!  It shows Justice and Prudence, popular 17th century Protestant themes, flanking the central panel, which would have been brightly painted (much like Plas Mawr in Conwy today).  The coat of arms celebrates the marriage in 1329 of John de Morteon to Margaret, an heiress and daughter of John de Macclesfield.  The leaded quarries in here are particularly pretty, and there is one that contains a piece of 1642 graffiti.

The fireplace in the Great Parlour, showing the coat of arms of Elizabeth I

The fireplace in the Great Parlour, showing the coat of arms of Elizabeth I

The home farm was established at the same time as the house, just across the moat in a neighbouring field, complete with the surviving cruick barn, as well as structures that are now lost, including stables and a dovecot.  At the rear of the house the knot garden, based on a 17th century design and planted in 1972, is flanked by a gorgeous yew tunnel.  To the side of the house, tables and chairs provide a lovely location for café users (excellent coffee and a fab bacon bap).   A walkway follows the line of the towpath from one side of the bridge to the other.  The plants in the garden have been chosen to reflect Tudor choices – many of them not only ornamental but useful too.  I had never heard of skirret (a white fleshy root vegetable like parsnips, a favourite of Henry VIII.  I had also never come across tussey musseys – posies of flowers and herbs carried as protection against disease.  Wild strawberries were not merely delicious but were used to treat cuts and bruises.

There is a viewing platform beyond the moat, which provides a slightly elevated view (the photograph at  the very top of the post).  A shop sells National Trust products and has shelves full of second hand books (with proceeds going to charity).  This is a National Trust property, with plenty of parking.  Visitor details are on their website.

With many thanks to Helen for the great company on a day that was both satisfyingly cultural and, over coffee and a bacon bap, profoundly lazy 🙂

 

Little Moreton Hall by George Theaker, c.1886

Little Moreton Hall by George Theaker, c.1886

 

Sources:

Beck, Joan 1969. Tudor Cheshire. Volume Seven of a History of Cheshire.  Cheshire Community Council.

Stubbs, Susie 2015. Little Moreton Hall. The National Trust

Rowell, Christopher, revised by Jeremy Lake 1984. Little Moreton Hall. The National Trust

Hillforts and amazing views, and why is there an Egyptian temple on the top of Moel Famau?

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The Jubilee Tower

The Jubilee Tower

It was something of a surprise when I walked up to the top of Moel Famau during the week and found myself face to face with a building that was clearly based on an ancient Egyptian temple, the Grade II listed Jubilee Tower.  People talk about the views, the hillforts, the heather, the bilberries and the bird life, but no-one had mentioned that there was a rather unexpected slice of Egyptomania on the peak.  One would certainly, thankfully, not be permitted to build on a national beauty spot these days, but I suppose that it could be a lot worse, like the hideous, overpriced café on Snowdon.  The Jubilee Tower is not elegant, it is not authentic, and it is anything but pretty, but it did make me smile, and other walkers were clearly enjoying it too.  Heritage comes in various forms, some of them most unexpected.  The Egyptian Revival produced some splendid buildings and monuments, and although this one is not amongst the most accomplished, its location singles it out as a fairly remarkable example, a genuine curiosity.

 

Map of Moel Famau footpaths

Map of Moel Famau footpaths, as well as the locations of Moel y Gaer and Foel Fenlli hillforts. Source: Nearly Uphill

Moel Famau, on the Clwydian Range, is lovely.  It is the highest peak on the Clwydians and a very popular destination for hikers and dog walkers alike.  I don’t really remember my first visit, so it was very much like visiting for the first time.  There are a number of different approaches to the peak. I went along the Bwlch Pen Barras road, a pass through the Clwydian Range where there are two official starting points with car parks.  one of which takes you through the coed (wood), but it was far too gloriously sunny to be under cover, which means that that the best starting point was the large amount of lay-by parking (which I believe is free) or the Bwlch Pen Barras car park (payment required) .  The What3Words address for the Bwlch Pen Barras car park is ///hobble.passwords.device.  You are already very high up at this point, with terrific views over the Vale of Clwyd before you even start, and the footpath that I took (the purple track at far left of the above map) provides superb views over the Vale of Clwyd.

The walk, along a wide, well maintained path, starts very gently and for the first 20 minutes or so is very easy.  It becomes much steeper for a fairly short section leading up to the peak, but people of all levels of fitness seemed to be tackling it, some stopping frequently for a breather.  It’s worth that last push because the 360º views are breathtaking.

 

 

If you climb up the steps to the top of the Egyptian Revival “temple” there are metal plaques explaining the building.  It turns out that what we see today is just the stump of a much more ambitious project, the Jubilee Tower, which included an obelisk.  It was designed by architect Thomas Harrison, and was built to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of George III in 1810, paid for by public subscription, with Flintshire magistrate Lord Kenyon laying the foundation stone in October of that year.  Harrison’s buildings in Chester are far less frivolous, with most of his work in the Neoclassical style, including the Grosvenor Bridge and the Propylaeum (monumental gateway) into Chester Castle and the Neoclassical building that is now owned by the university but was previously occupied by the council as its Shire Hall.  The building materials were taken up by horse and cart. The design of the obelisk was modified during construction, with a shorter and stumpier version being completed in about 1817 after a break in work due to financial difficulties and a dispute between Harrison and the builder. Unfortunately the obelisk soon started to deteriorate, and eventually collapsed in a storm in 1862.  The rest of the structure continued to decay until 1970 when it underwent restoration, and in 2013 it again required significant restoration work.  Here’s the Coflein description of the Jubilee Tower:

The Jubilee Tower in the Edwardian period

The Jubilee Tower in the Edwardian period. Source:  BBC News

The monument now survives as a battered plinth, 12-15m diameter, of roughly coursed rubble stone. Located on a mound which may be artificial. Each face has a central blind doorway of dressed stone, in simple Egyptian style, under a roll-moulded lintel; roughly hewn cornice or hoodmould.  Above these blind openings are broad rectangular panels of dressed freestone with roll-moulded surrounds. The corners of the monument have stone and concrete steps, starting from low square projections, which lead to the centre of the monument. Inside are the circular rubble stone footings of a former higher section of tower, 6m in diameter.  Around the outside of the monument is a renewed retaining wall 0.5-1m high, open at the corners. A plaque reads ‘Cefn Gwlad award 1970’, with Prince of Wales emblems.

The Egyptian Revival followed Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798.  He took with him over 100 specialists, the “savants,” amongst whom were artists and draughtsmen who recorded the ancient Egyptian temples.

One of the first and very popular books to publish these images was Dominique Vivant-Denon’s “Journeys in Upper and Lower Egypt” published in 1802.  Even before Jean-François Champollion’s translation of hieroglyphs in 1822, and over a century before Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922, Egypt had wriggled its way firmly into the British imagination.  Even so, I would love to have been at the meeting where plonking a pseudo-Egyptian monument on the top of a remote beauty spot in honour of the king’s jubilee was presented as a such a good idea that people invested in it.

 

Also on the top of the temple are plaques showing the names of the hills all around, with Cadair Idris and Snowdonia visible as silvery silhouettes through the slight haze, and the Moel Arthur hillfort next along on the Clwydian Range.

Looking northeast towards Prestatyn across Moel Arthur and Penycloddiau hillforts from the top of Jubilee Tower

Moel y Gaer hillfort

If you are a fan of the Iron Age this is a terrific walk.  The path passes Moel y Gaer, which sits on a spur of the hillside, and is a piece of absolute perfection.  It is not on a public footpath, but it is clearly visible from the main route up Moel Famau.  Its banks and ditches form an elegant tiara, and its position overlooking the Vale of Clwyd is superb.  Once you have reached the peak of Moel Famau, the hill housing the Moel Arthur hillfort is clearly visible, with Penycloddiau beyond.  Foel Fenlli is a walk in its own right, but it is an important part of the walk back down from Moel Famau, because its vast banks and ditches are clearly outlined against a bright sky, yelling its late prehistoric credentials, a far more aggressive and prominent statement than Moel y Gaer.

Impressive fortifications of Foel Fenlli

The impressive fortifications of Foel Fenlli, as seen from the Moel y Gaer path

Apart from the acres of dark brown heather and the bright spring green of the valley below, there is not a lot of plant life to see at this time of year, although it is very striking without a floral contribution.  The heather, dark chestnut brown and lifeless at this time of year, has been cut into a peculiar pattern of rectangles to encourage new growth, apparently for the benefit of wildlife.  There is not much in the way of shrubs and the trees in the wood are conifer plantations. There are plenty of birds of prey if you have equipped yourself with binoculars.  I look forward to visiting again when the heather is in flower in late summer, which should be stunning.

It is about a 40 minute walk up, although I forgot to take a note of the times in either direction and have the impression that it took me only about half an hour back down, with extra time added for pausing to enjoy the views and for lazy mellowing and exploring the monument at the top.  I am something of a route-marcher, so that needs to be taken into account.  You can walk on beyond Moel Famau in various directions on public footpaths.  Most obviously the path continues, in a much narrower form, across the Clwydian Range, which looks like an absolutely splendid option.  If you have the energy, you can walk to the village of Bodfari, in another pass through the Clwydian Range, whilst the Offa’s Dyke Trail goes all the way to Prestatyn.  In the opposite direction, you can follow the route over Foel Fenlli all the way to Chirk, skirting the dramatic Eglyseg Mountain and passing Castell Dinas Bran and the Pontcysyllte aqueduct.

It was one of those spring days when everyone looked as though they had been released from a cage, shedding winter like a bad memory.  Super.  To read more about the environment and archaeology of the Clwydian Range and Llantysilio Mountains see the PDF produced by the Heather and Hillforts project. 

 

Aerial view of the Clwydian Range. Coflein image 662395. Source: Coflein

 

The three official first days of spring: astronomical, meteorological and phenological

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Bryn Celli Ddu

Bryn Celli Ddu, southeast Anglesey

 

Bryn Celli Ddu

Plan of the Bryn Celli Ddu Neolithic tomb on Anglesey, by Steve Burrows, showing a section through the tomb and marking the line of the mid-summer solstice (typically on or around the 21st June), the longest day of the year, with the sun rising to filter through the passage, lighting up the chamber (see video at end). Image source: medievalheritage.eu

Today, 20th March 2026, is the Vernal Equinox which, astronomically speaking, is the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere.  As my birthday, which falls towards the end of March, is usually accompanied by wind, rain and, on one memorable day on the M25, a snow blizzard that stopped traffic in its tracks, it usually takes me a while to accept that the longed-for spring really has actually arrived, in whatever guise it chooses to present itself.  Fortunately, this year we have had some glorious spring days, two of which were spent with a happy heart at Little Moreton Hall and Moel Fammau, and the daffodils and hyacinths are fabulous.

Although there is plenty of evidence of archaeological sites being aligned to take advantage of specific astronomical events in Britain, particularly during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, most notoriously aligned to the mid-summer solstice, the phenological signs will have been of greater significance for the annual cyclical activities of hunters, farmers and traders, a period of evaluation and preparation following the completion of the winter’s work-streams.  Marking multi-textured passages and cycles of time at different scales would have been of critical importance for making decisions and minimizing risk in seasonal livelihood management, but it was clearly incorporated into more spiritual and funerary aspects of life.

Section of the Iron Age hillfort Moel y Gaer Rhosesmor, on the Clwydian Range in northeast Wales, showing the orientation of roundhouses in Phase 1, with the majority of entrances with porches facing to the southeast. Although this orientation could be due to avoidance of prevailing winds, or to permit views across to the main hillfort entrance, it has been suggested that southeast roundhouse entrances may have allowed early morning entry of the sun into the house, moving around the interior to mark the passage of time throughout the day. Image source: Guilbert 2018

I have been reading throughout the winter about Britain’s Iron Age and, as always with archaeology and early history, the sense of different perceptions and experiences of linear, cyclical and punctuated time all working in complex relationships with one another, has been striking.  The Iron Age does not provide as many hints about the ways in which communities connected with the cosmos as earlier periods, particularly in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age.  In spite of the lack of funerary and ceremonial data, however, in many parts of Iron Age Britain indications can be found that mark the passage of time.  The agricultural basis of its livelihoods and the ideological and religious ideas that flowed around seasonal variations suggest two of probably multiple temporal schemes, the cyclical arrival and departure of seasons and the more cumulative course of those cyclical seasons every successive year as one generation eventually succeeded the next.  More punctuated events are captured too, in the form of individual acts captured in the archaeological record, which themselves become part of how life was experienced.

 

Iron Age Roundhouse conceptualizations

Alternative theories of roundhouse use by Parker Pearson and Sharpies 1999: “Interpretations of the use of space in British Iron Age roundhouses: (a) Fitzpatrick’s sunwise scheme (Fitzpatrick 1994); (b) an extension of Fitzpatrick’s scheme in the light of wheelhouse layout; (c) the sunwise pattern of movement within the house, including the metaphor of the human life cycle round the house; (d) the organization of seniority around the central hearth).” Source: Parker Pearson and Sharpies 1999, image drawn by Adrian Chadwick)

Farming Year Cunliffe 2005 p419

The farming year: a reconst5rcution based on evidence from settlements at Iron Age Danebury and region. Source: Cunliffe 2005, p.419, fig.16.5

There are three ways of defining seasons that are officially recognized as valid measurements of seasonal episodes:  astronomical, meteorological and phenological.  The technical, astronomical measurement of the seasons, based on and solstices.  The equinoxes are the times of year when the sun appears directly over the equator, resulting in nearly equal proportions of day to night, and during the March equinox the sun appears to rise precisely in the east.

Where astronomical seasons are based on the strict observation of the arrival of equinoxes and solstices, meteorological seasons simply divide the year into four handy chunks of three months each, with  spring occupying March, April and May.  This means that whilst astronomical spring begins on 20th March, meteorological spring starts even earlier, on the 1st March, which seems ridiculously counter-intuitive, given that many of us are still shuddering from February’s machinations in spite of some of the pioneering courage of the brave early spring bulbs.

Phenological seasons are far more a matter of the senses, based on the observation of the natural world, with new shoots and bright new leaves accompanying bluebells, camellias and early blossom to give a finger-in-the-air impression of seasonal transformation.  This year my early-flowering dwarf daffodils, crocuses and dwarf irises were even earlier than usual, arriving at the same time as the snowdrops in mid February, but all of them looked a little self-conscious and rather put out, surrounded by the decaying brown stems of last summer’s offerings, left as they were to shelter insect life.  Spring felt more present when the camellias came into flower, and the rest of the daffodils decided to join their tiny relatives. The feeling that spring has or has not arrived is a phenological response to the eventual arrival of spring, and in the past had a direct impact on how people responded in every aspect of their lives.

It is interesting (and rather a relief) that even today in the modern west, where so many aspects of our existence are so standardized, regulated and thoroughly systematized we have three officially recognized ways of marking seasonal transitions, acknowledging their essentially liminal character.

 

 

The orientation of Iron Age roundhouses, showing that the majority are orientated between the east and southeast. Source: Oswald 1997

Sources:

Books and papers:

Cunliffe, Barry 2005 (4th edition). Iron Age Communities in Britain. Routledge

Fitzpatrick, A., 1994. Outside in: the structure of an Early Iron Age house at Dunston Park, Thatcham, Berkshire. In Fitzpatrick and Morris (eds.), p.68-72.

Fitzpatrick, A. and E. Morris (eds.) 1994. The Iron Age in Wessex: Recent Work. Trust for Wessex
Archaeology.

Guilbert, Graeme. 2018.  Historical Excavation and Survey of Hillforts in Wales: some critical issues.  Internet Archaeology 48. https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue48/3/toc.html 

Oswald, A., 1997. A doorway on the past: practical and mystic concerns in the orientation of roundhouse doorways. In Gwilt, A. and Haselgrove, C. (eds.), Reconstructing Iron Age Societies: New Approaches to the British Iron Age. Oxbow Monograph 71, p.87-95

Parker Pearson, Mike 1999. Food, Sex and Death: Cosmologies in the British Iron Age
with Particular Reference to East Yorkshire. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 9:1, p.43-69

Parker Pearson, Mike and N. Sharpies, with J. Mulville and H. Smith, 1999. Between Land and Sea: Excavations at Dun Vulan. Sheffield Academic Press

Websites:

Met Office
Understanding equinoxes and solstices
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/learn-about/weather/seasons/equinox-and-solstice

RCAHMW
Anglesey’s Neolithic tomb with a solar secret: ‘Here Comes the Sun’!
https://rcahmw.gov.uk/angleseys-neolithic-tomb-with-a-solar-secret-here-comes-the-sun/

Royal Museums Greenwich
What and when is the Autumn equinox?
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/time/what-when-autumnal-equinox?_gl=1*1hixw7w*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTExMTQ1NTc1LjE3NzEwNzc4NDY.*_ga_4MH5VEZTEK*czE3NzEwNzc4NDYkbzEkZzEkdDE3NzEwNzc5NTgkajE3JGwwJGgw*_ga_7JJ3J5DBF6*czE3NzEwNzc4NDYkbzEkZzEkdDE3NzEwNzc5NTgkajE3JGwwJGgw

 

The Great Pyramid in the Giza suburb of Cairo

It is not much of a surprise that the pyramids of Egypt, together with the later obelisks, were pointing unambiguously at the sun, whatever the time of year.

 

Walking the history of Chester’s canals, from the river Dee to Boughton #2 – The Walk

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This post has been divided into two. Part 1, already posted here, looks at some of the history of the Chester city canals, in brief. Part 2 is a mainly photographic account following a walk along the canals from the point where the river Dee connects to the canal network to just beyond Tarvin Bridge.  Part of this was once the Chester Canal, which then became the Ellesmere and Chester Canal, as two different systems joined up with the rest of the canal network, and finally became the Shropshire Union Canal, the name by which it is known today.

Map of the first part of the canal route

Map of the first part of the canal route. The start point is marked by the red dot.  The rest of the route follows the canal as far as the Chester Boughton Hall Cricket Club

Map of the entire route from the Dee to Chester Boughton Hall Cricket Club

Map of the entire route, with the orange arrows showing the route from the Dee to Chester Boughton Hall Cricket Club. The pink arrows are the route I took from the Little Roodee car park to the start of the canal.  The darker purple arrow marks the arch beneath the railway viaduct that continues the river walk.

Detail of Tollemache Terrace

The walk begins at the point where the canal meets the river Dee, at the red dot (What3Words ///golf.finishing.upset).  It follows the tiny section of the old Chester Canal around the corner into the Dee Branch, which was created to allow access from the Wirral Line to the Dee.  The walk then crosses the roving-bridge with views up along the Wirral Line, across to the boatyard and down Tower Wharf Basin towards the main line of the canal to the east.  The walk then proceeds between Tower Wharf Basin and the Dee Branch, round the corner into the turning basin and along the rest of the canal, without any additional complications.  You can, of course, do as much or as little as you like. There is much more to see than included here – it’s a terrific walk.  I went as far as the Chester Boughton Hall Cricket Club, and the photographs go that far, but of course you can walk on as far as Wolverhampton if you have the time and stamina!

The return route is slightly different.  I parked in the long-term Little Roodee car park, which is under the city walls, so on the return route along the canal walked up onto the city walls (What3Words ///gone.dome.paths) and followed the walls back to the car park.

Map of the return route via the city walls

The slightly different return leg of the route, which leaves the main line of the canal and goes up on to the city walls looking down on the canal before heading, still on the city walls, towards the Little Roodee long term car park

There is plenty of parking in Chester, but I chose to park in the Little Roodee (What3Words ///helps.going.budget) because I was not sure how long I would take, and this is a long-term fixed-fee car park.  In the event, with plenty of stops to take photographs, it took around two and a half hours in total, two hours out (with lots of stops to take photos) and then an hour back to the Little Roodee via the City Walls, coming off the canal and walking above it from near to the King Charles Tower.  There are plenty of places to stop for drinks and a bite to eat.

The starting point

The starting point, where the canal tips water into the river Dee. The lock gates are long vanished, buy you can see where they once were.

The two main points to make at the beginning of the walk at the lock between the canal network into the Dee are that 1) this is obviously derelict and no longer usable, meaning that the canal network is now divorced from the river; and 2) this is one of the earliest parts of the Chester system, a legacy of the first Chester Canal, which went from Chester to Nantwich.  The connection with the river authorities had not been agreed before work began on the canal, and it took a number of years before the essential link between the Port of Chester and the Chester Canal were negotiated.

The walk continues over the road, from where this photograph was taken. Note that the canal passes under the road bridge.  Although this is now a fixed bridge, it was once a swing bridge to allow vessels of all heights to enter and leave the canal system.

Over the road (cross with care as it is on a blind corner) you continue along the canal, staying to its left.  This is the final set of locks as you come from the west and south, or the first as you begin to proceed up the canal system towards Nantwich, the source of the water.

Beginning to explore the Chester leg of the canal system

Beginning to explore the Chester leg of the canal system

On your left is a housing development with retail at its base.  This marks the site of the old Dee Basin which is where, after coming down a flight of five locks, narrowboats and wide barges would enter a holding area to await the tide.

The former Dee Basin

The former Dee Basin

 

The former Dee Basin

The former Dee Basin, shown on signage in the Tower Wharf Basin

When the Chester Canal was first built this was a tidal basin, but when the Chester Canal and the Ellesmere Canal merged, the water level was controlled by locks.  Continuing on, and staying left of the modern lift bridge, the bridge ahead of you leads you into the opening of the so-called Dee branch and on to Tower Wharf and the heart of the Chester canal system.   To proceed, do not go under the bridge (the footpath ends here) but go up the flight of steps to its left, turn right and cross the road and enter the Tower Wharf basin via the white gates.  On your right is the main line and Tower Wharf.  On your left, at a much lower level, is the Dee Branch, a requirement after the Wirral Line was added by the Ellesmere Canal (see an explanation of this in Part 1).  A lock was added to allow access to this lower section that flows out to the former Dee Basin and the river lock.

The Dee Branch

The Dee branch, with the main line up the bank at a higher level.

Tower Wharf basin

Tower Wharf basin

 

Telford's Warehouse

Telford’s Warehouse

There are some terrific features to look out for in the Tower Wharf Basin.  When the Wirral Line was built a new boatyard was added with a graving dock, both still in situ, and the boatyard not only survives but has been in continuous use since it was built.  Immediately on your right, at the far southern end of the basin, is a late 18th century building called Telford’s Warehouse (now a pub), designed by Thomas Telford with the open arches allowing vessels to load and unload under cover.  Running along the side of the Dee branch is an attractive row of Victorian brick-built terraced housing on Whipcord Lane, post-dating the canal.

Straight ahead is what is known as Taylor’s Boatyard after a former owner, complete with the graving dock.  The graving dock is a dry dock into which ships can be floated, and then the lock emptied so that hulls can be worked on.  Sadly it is surrounded, for safety reasons, by ugly metal fencing, but it is a lovely feature.  The boatyard lies beyond.

Looking down from the roving-bridge into the graving dock

Attractive iron column in the graving dock

In 1802 business in the Basin had not only picked up but was doing so well that its capacity was considerably over-stretched and a new basin was required, named North Basin, which was surrounded by more warehousing.  An absolutely delightful roving-bridge or snake/turnover bridge connects Tower Wharf with North Basin, an innovation that allowed horses pulling boats to cross the canal without being unhooked from the vessel.

North Basin

North Basin

The roving bridge

The roving bridge

If you have crossed the bridge, re-cross it to return to the central section of the basin, between the Tower Wharf Basin and the Dee Branch and retrace your steps.  Instead of going back up to the road where you entered, go under the bridge, following the towpath.  From here on, the route simply follows the towpath.  There are too many sights and sites to describe in detail, but here are some of the most interesting features contemporary with the working canal, with links to more information where I have found it.

As you leave the Tower Wharf Basin complex, you walk under the railway bridge and turn left into a section known as the Turning Basin, made particularly wide to enable horse-drawn vessels to negotiate the sharp turn into the basin.  There is a turning hook on the wall just under the Raymond Street Bridge that was also there to help vessels make the turn.  If you look up to the south (or your right, heading out along the canal) note that the canal follows the line of the city walls.

Looking back at the turning basin at the entrance to Tower Wharf Basin

The other end of the basin, leading to the locks

The other end of the basin, leading to the locks

Before the Ellesmere Canal Company introduced the Wirral Branch, there used to five locks that went all the way up to the Dee Basin, which has now largely been filled in and used for modern housing.  When the new branch was added, the bottom two locks were demolished and the canal diverted north.  The three remaining locks are still fully functional today and allow vessels to navigate a 33ft (10m) drop/rise.  At the top of the locks is a square house with a prominently overhanging roof eave, again one of Telford’s designs.  At this point today the canal runs under the St Martin’s Way ring road before carrying on along the foot of the northern stretch of the city walls.

After passing a row of modern house on your left you will notice two bridges overhead, the first tiny.  This is the somewhat battered-looking Grade II listed Bridge of Sighs, probably built in the 18th century. Although it is named after the magnificent one in Venice, the similarity lies in the fact that both were used for carrying prisoners, in this case from the prison to the chapel in the Bluecoast School to receive their last rites prior to execution.  The next bridge carries Upper Northgate Street over the canal, some sdfdsf ft / sdfsd m above.

 

The tiny Bridge of Sighs over the canal, followed by the Northgate Street bridge

Bridge of Sighs

Bridge of Sighs, Chester, shown from Upper Northgate Street

Triassic sandstone through which the canal was cut

Triassic sandstone through which the canal was cut, allegedly following the line of a Roman ditch

The canal passes the King Charles Tower as the canal and city walls part company, the canal briefly heading southeast and then due east.

 

The back of the Memorial Chapel next to Abakhan on Gorse Stacks

The back of the Penri Chapel next to Abakhan on Gorse Stacks. The Iceland on Frodsham Street is on the right

Looking back to the city walls and the King Charles tower above the canal. It is at this point on the reverse leg of the walk that there is a path up to the walls, which leads back to the Little Roodee car park.

 

Signage at Cow Lane Bridge

 

 

Queen's Place

Queen’s Place

 

This unexpected structure at the end of Queen’s Place is just a facade with no building behind it, the remnant of a lecture hall once attached to the 1777 Independent Chapel

The original Griffiths Corn Mill is now the Mill Hotel and Spa

The original Griffiths Corn Mill is now the Mill Hotel and Spa

Footbridge

Covered footbridge linking two parts of the hotel, with the Hoole water tower beyond

 

Steam Mill

The Grade II-listed Steam Mill building was built in 1786 as one of Britain’s first steam-powered flour mills. The listing details can be found on the Historic England website

This canalside building near the Union Canal Bridge is in a very sorry state.

This was a busy area, with industrial and commercial enterprises moving in to take advantage of the proximity of the canal.  There are a number of very fine buildings to spot here, and if you follow Stuart Shuttleworth’s walk (see video below) he takes you into some of the surrounding streets to explore some of the relevant buildings behind the canal.

Union Canal Bridge. Details are available on the Grace’s Guide industrial history website.

One of the protective iron uprights on the Union Bridge stonework, with rope markings from the barges pulled by horses

City Road Bridge (1863) by J. Mowle and Co.

Replica Spitfire, apparently once used as a raft

Replica Spitfire, apparently once used in a raft race

Old Harker's Arms

Looking back to the Old Harker’s Arms

 

Moxy Hotel with Waitrose beyond

The Chester leadworks shot tower. Information about the works and the tower on the Historic England website

Signage along the canal showing original photograph of the leadworks

Sign on the edge of the canal, and in front of a building site for “luxury retirement apartments”

Wharton Court

Wharton Court

Hoole Lane Bridge, 123A

Hoole Lane Bridge, 123A

Hoole Lane Lock

Hoole Lane Lock

Hoole Lane Lock

Hoole Lane Mission Hall. Information at Hoole History and Heritage Society

Tollemache Terrace

Tollemache Terrace

Chemistry Lock and sluice, Grade II listed. More information on the Historic England website

Towards the Bridge Inn (the white building)

Towards the Bridge Inn (the white building)

Tarvin Lock

Tarvin Bridge Lock

Chester and Boughton Hall Cricket Club

The view of the canal as it moves out of Chester towards Waverton and beyond

 

Starting the return leg of the walk at Tarvin Bridge Lock, next to the cricket club

Walking back into Chester, past the Boughton water tower.  See details on the Historic England website.

The point on the towpath at which I walked up to the flight of steps to go up to the city walls and turn right to return to the car park.

 

Sources

The full list of sources are in Part 1

 

Walking the history of Chester’s canals, from the river Dee to Boughton #1 – Short History

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This post is divided into two. Part 1 (this part) looks in brief at some of the history of the Chester city canals, mainly to untangle the complicated story of what is happening at the Tower Wharf Basin, where the Chester and Ellesmere Canals came together.  Part 2 is a mainly photographic account of the walk along the canals from the river Dee to the Chester Boughton Hall Cricket Club, just beyond Tarvin Bridge.

The pink arrows are my route from the Little Roodee car park to the start of the canal. The orange arrows are the route taken from the start of the canal at the river Dee to Chester Boughton Hall Cricket Club. Details of the walk are in Part 2.

Cow Lane Bridge 1880s

Cow Lane Bridge in the 1880s. Source: chesterwallsinfo

This post begins with a short description of the history of the Shropshire Union Canal, describes why the intersections just beyond the Northgate staircase lock is so complicated, and goes on to describe the walk.

The Shropshire Union Canal runs today from the Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal at Ellesmere Port, to Autherley Junction near Wolverhampton on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal over a distance of 66.5 miles (107km).  Because it runs beyond the city walls, only making its presence felt to tourists where it crosses Northgate and along the base of the city walls, it does not feature on the city’s usual tourist routes.  Unlike Chester’s well known medieval, Georgian and Victorian architectural attractions, the canal is more directly a component part of the city’s industrial past, but is just as essential in the city’s story.

The history of the Shropshire Union Canal

During the 18th century civil engineer James Brindley (1716-1772) was responsible for building over 365 miles of canals.  Brindely realized that any inland waterway network would need to connect to all the great navigable rivers that connected to the sea, including the Thames, the Mersey, the Severn and the Trent, incorporating other important navigable rivers like the the Avon and the Dee.  The network was a sprawling affair, but it revolutionized transport, avoiding roads that would become mired and impassable in winter, as well as unnavigable sections of rivers, and the riverine problems of tides, drought and flood.  Water into and out of the canal system was regulated and therefore predictable, and allowed year-round transport.  The advantages became very clear very quickly, and manufacturing and trading businesses began to locate themselves at critical points on the canal network.  Eagerness to invest in infrastructure resulted in a canal boom in the mid to late 1700s.  Each new section of canal required an Act of Parliament, subject to Royal Assent, and Act after Act was passed as the network expanded.

The Chester Canal. Source: Shearing 1985, p.150

The  execution of the canal project for Chester was deeply flawed.  Jumping on the canal bandwagon, entrepreneurs and investors envisaged a money-making venture that would bring Shropshire and Cheshire into the mainstream trade network with Birmingham, the nation’s canal hub and centre of industry, via a junction at Middlewich with the 1777 Trent and Mersey Canal.  Unfortunately, the builders of the Chester Canal did not have agreements in place to connect their new Chester Canal either to the Trent and Mersey Canal, which denied them permission to build a junction, or with the River Dee Company, which also put barriers in their way leading to several years of negotiation before a satisfactory solution was reached.  The Chester Canal, opening in 1779, was not built to Middlewich, where it had been planned for the Chester to join the Trent and Mersey, and instead stopped at Nantwich, segregated from the rest of the national canal network.  With little traffic carrying low-value cargoes, as well as a packet boat service, the canal was a fairly substantial failure.  In 1787 the Beeston staircase locks collapsed and there were insufficient funds to pay for repairs.  The Chester Canal hovered on the verge of bankruptcy.

The complex arrangement of the Ellesmere Canal

The complex arrangement of the Ellesmere Canal and its branches is shown as thin blue winding lines. The thick blue line from Chester is the Dee. The yellow lines are roads. Click to see a bigger version. Source: Wikipedia

If it had not been for the 1791 Ellesmere Canal project, the Chester Canal would not have managed to limp on much longer.  The proposal for sections of canal to link the Mersey at Netherpool (now Ellesmere Port) to both the river Dee at Chester and the Severn at Shrewsbury was ambitious, but attracted sufficient support for a surveyor to be hired and possible routes to be explored.  The Ellesmere Canal proposal was presented to parliament and received its Royal Assent in April 1793.   Although shortages in funding prevented the realization of the full vision, shown right, Chester was at last brought into the national canal network. Part of this necessitated the addition of a new branch of canal from Chester to Ellesmere Port, which connected with the Chester Canal in what is now the Tower Wharf Basin.  The two companies merged in 1813, becoming the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Companh.  In 1833 the Middlewich branch was added, as the Chester Canal company had originally planned, and was connected to the rest of the network via the Trent and Mersey.

Hunter 1782 map with canal

Hunter 1782 map with the canal before the basins were added for the Wirral Line

These changes required major infrastructure changes in Chester itself that are still clearly visible today.  Starting from the former interface between the river and the canal, just off Sealand Road, the derelict remains of the river-canal lock are clearly visible as industrial archaeology.  The gates have long gone and this section of the lock and the branch that once lead into the Dee Basin, along Tower Road on the map below, on its way to the Dee Branch, is full of aquatic plant life.  As you walk along towards the Dee Branch, rounding the corner and passing under the bridge, you find yourself in the basin complex, the Ellesmere Canal Company’s solution to how best to incorporate the Wirral Line north to Ellesmere Port.  However before the Ellesmere Canal Company was involved, the Chester Canal simply ran straight ahead, running directly along the Dee Basin into a set of five staircase locks before heading east towards Boughton.

Canal and River Trust map of the basin and wharves, showing the complex arrangement of locks and basins required to incorporate the Wirral branch of the canal to Ellesmere Port.

 

Map from the 1858 Roberts Chester Guide

Map from the 1858 Roberts Chester Guide, showing the big Dee Basin at the far end where locks connected it to the Dee. Click image to enlarge

The set of basins and wharves that became necessary when the Chester Canal was incorporated into the Ellesmere Canal Company’s plans capture the fascinating history of how the area’s canal system was forced to evolve.  Three different sections of the canal are involved in this complex arrangement, shown above.  The earliest of these phases belongs to the original Chester Canal, which begins at the river Dee and once headed straight along into a series of five locks that climbed the hill to the dramatic sandstone cut and onwards to Hoole and Boughton before turning south to Christleton and beyond.  The second phase is the Ellesmere Canal Company’s civil engineering work to incorporate the new “Wirral Line,” which headed in a roughly northerly direction out of Chester.  This now chopped off the Chester Canal at the base of the locks, demolishing two of the five locks, to create the Tower Wharf Basin.  The new arrangement cut off the canal from the river, meaning that another section of canal, called the Dee Branch, had to be created parallel to the main basin and accessed via a lock, to allow vessels to travel between the main line, the Wirral line and the Dee.  It is not an elegant solution, but it worked.  The rest of the canal is very straight forward as you walk towards Hoole, Boughton and beyond.  The historical interest in those sections of the canal is more about the bridges and the flanking architecture that grew up around the canal.

The docks at Ellesmere Port during the 19th century

The docks and wharves at Ellesmere Port during the 19th century, from the Ellesmere Port canal museum archives

In 1846 the decision was made to bring together the various canal and railway interests together under one umbrella organization, the Shropshire Union Railways and Canals Company, providing the different sections of canal from Ellesmere Port to Wolverhampton with a single name:  the Shropshire Union Canal.  In 1894 the Manchester Ship Canal opened, and the Ellesmere Port access to the Mersey was now via the new shipping channel.

In spite of canalization of the Dee in the 1730s was intended to make the rapidly silting river navigable and to make Chester competitive once again with Liverpool, but in spite of these measures silting continued and the river became impractical for serious commercial shipping and shipbuilding, particularly in the face of Liverpool’s rapid expansion.  The last ships were built on the Dee in the early 20th century, ending a centuries old industry, and the connection between the Shropshire Union and the river went out of use.

Chester Railway Station

Chester Railway Station 1848. Source: Hoole History and Heritage Society

The railway came to Chester in 1840, picking up some of the slack, but Chester’s days as a centre for trade and industry were over and the main financial opportunity that the railway brought was tourism.  The canal, however, continued to be used as part of the canal network, connecting to maritime trade via the Mersey.  Eventually, as rail replaced the canals, many of them became derelict, only reviving as leisure resources in the later 20th century.

The canal attracted many businesses along its edges, and today the canal preserves a considerable amount of commercial and industrial heritage, adding a welcome extra dimension to Chester’s historic legacy.  The canal network today is used for pleasure, mainly in the form of cruising, walking and cycling.  It still covers a vast region of England and Wales and is managed by a mixture of state organizations and by both regional and local charities.

Schematic map showing how Chester relates to the canal network

Schematic map showing how Chester relates to the canal network today. Source: Swanley Bridge Marina

As canals have become attractive for residential development, new housing has also been erected, some developments more sympathetic than others, but all interesting.  The mixture is captured in the walk in Part 2. Apart from a few isolated examples, most of the warehousing that once flanked the basins and the canal has long gone, replaced by modern apartments, including student accommodation and retail outlets.

The Dee no longer connects to the canal network.  The lock between the river and the Dee Branch of the canal, lying just over Sealand Road, is completely derelict.  One of the locks further along is padlocked shut. The old swing bridge that had allowed vessels to interrupt road traffic to enter the canal network was replaced by the fixed road bridge in the 1960s.   Today the leg of the Dee branch of the canal running parallel to the Basin, once used for access to the river, is used for mooring privately owned narrowboats.

Signage at the canal basin showing information about Telford's Warehouse

Signage at the canal basin showing information about Telford’s Warehouse

I have kept this history brief, merely to introduce the walk.  Rather than reinventing the wheel, please see the Sources below, which contain much more information.  The three video links also provide an excellent overview, between them, of the canal, its history, and some of the buildings and businesses associated with it.  The first is by John Herson, one of whose guided canal walks I have done and thoroughly enjoyed, which focuses on Tower Wharf, the Canal Basin and the relationship of the canal with the Dee.  The second is by Stuart Shuttleworth and looks at the main line of the canal as it passes through Chester.  Together they form a brilliant introduction to the subject, showing the key places to visit.  At the end, underneath Sources, there is another video by “Pastfinder,” which is longer and explores what remains today in more depth, walking and talking at the same time, making it quite easy to retrace his footsteps.  There are some fascinating additional pieces of information in this.

John Herson:

Stuart Shuttleworth:

 

Sources:

A lot of information is contained in the two videos above and the one at the end of the post.

Other sources of information are as follows:

Books and papers

Carrington, Peter 1994. English Heritage Book of Chester.  Batsford / English Heritage

Martin, Richard 2018. Ships of the Chester Rivers.  Shipbuilding on the Dee from Chester to the Point of Ayr 1800-1942. Bridge Books

Mosse, J., David Lobband and Judith Pile 2023 (9th edition).  Collins Nicholson Waterways Guide 4. Four Counties and the Welsh Canals.  HarperCollins

Nicholson, R. 1989 (4th edition). Nicholson/Ordnance Survey Guide to the Waterways 2: Central. Robert Nicholson Publications and Ordnance Survey

Shearing, Edwin A. 1985. Chester Canal Projects: Part I. Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society. Vol XXVIII, no.3, November 1984. p.98-103

Shearing, Edwin A. 1985. Chester Canal Projects: Part II. Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society. Vol XXVIII, no.4, March 1985. p.146-154

Ward, Simon 2013 (2nd edition). Chester. A History. The History Press

Websites

Canal and River Trust
Welcome to Chester. Escape the city on this tranquil waterway (PDF)
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/document/0z8YCnXdfYHg_am-LmUGSg/p22Wl115w_dWrQTRa-XYJd5Q5nl2UR6N17EY2G1JFyc/aHR0cHM6Ly9jcnRwcm9kY21zdWtzMDEuYmxvYi5jb3JlLndpbmRvd3MubmV0L2RvY3VtZW50Lw/0192bddd-4001-76ad-a95b-0ad3662ccdcc.pdf

Canal Routes
Chester Canal History
https://www.canalroutes.net/Chester-Canal.html
Chester Canal Route
https://www.canalroutes.net/Shropshire-Union-Canal.html#Chester-Canal-Route
Ellesmere Canal – Wirral Line
https://www.canalroutes.net/Shropshire-Union-Canal.html#Ellesmere-Canal-Wirral-Line
Shropshire Union Canal
https://www.canalroutes.net/Shropshire-Union-Canal.html

Cheshire West and Cheshire
Chester Canal Conservation Area Character Appraisal Ellesmere Port to Nantwich (PDF)
https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/documents/planning-and-building-consultancy/total-environment/conservation-and-design/conservation-area-appraisals/canal-conservation-area-elesmere-port-to-nantwich-latest-version-261118.pdf
Chester Characterization Study
https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/your-council/policies-and-performance/council-plans-policies-and-strategies/planning-policy/chester-characterisation-study

chesterwalls.info
Photographs of the Chester Canal Old and New, parts 1-5
https://chesterwalls.info/gallery/canalgallery.html

Chesterwiki
(with a lot of adverts interspersed)
Canalside
https://chester.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Canalside
Canal and Boatyard
https://chester.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Canal_and_Boatyard

Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History
James Brindley
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/James_Brindley
William Jessop
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/William_Jessop

Heritage Chester
Bite-Sized Wonder – The Lead Shot Tower
YouTube video

Historic England
Bridge of Sighs, Upper Northgate Street
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1375967
Telfords Warehouse, Raymond Street
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1375919?section=official-list-entry

Inland Waterways Association, Chester and Merseyside Branch
Chester Heritage Port Designation Document (PDF)
https://70cf2f03-3eb2-43c8-889f-b8f841fc3757.usrfiles.com/ugd/70cf2f_64e6633c34b9420f8c06a368857d1a42.pdf

UK Waterways Guide
Map of the Shropshire Union Canal
https://www.ukwaterwaysguide.co.uk/map/shropshire-union-canal/all-branches

“Pastfinder”:

A sunny spring canal walk south from Waverton to Golden Nook Bridge

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Waverton to Golden Nook Bridge

Waverton to Golden Nook Bridge

In late October last year I took advantage of a beautiful sunny day to walk the towpath along the Shropshire Union canal from Waverton towards Chester, which I posted about here.  A couple of days ago the sky was clear and the sun was out, so I grabbed my rucksack and some damp-proof footwear (needed, as it was distinctly soggy underfoot) and headed out to do the section of the canal between Waverton and the wonderfully named Golden Nook Bridge, near the village of Hargrave, to its south. It took about an hour and a quarter each way at a brisk pace, stopping to take photos and chat to other walkers.  It was a rewarding walk, even at this time of year when there were only a few signs of spring beginning to make its mark.  Because of the season, the light meant that the walk provided two different experiences, there and back, with a silvery, ethereal light on the way out and a much more colourful walk on the return leg.  The birdsong was particularly lovely, and I have added a 36-second video at the end that was done purely to catch something of that sound.  I was lucky enough to see a kingfisher, a flash of bright orange as it settled on a branch followed by a flash of bright, electric blue as it took off.  It was too fast for me to photograph, but an absolute treat to see.

Waverton is just off the A41, so very easy to reach.The car park is quite small, with a capacity for about 20 cars, but at 11am there were only a few other cars parked up.  The What3Words address for the car park is ///fingertip.snored.deals.

To start the walk walk from the car park to the canal, just a few steps away, and turn right, heading south.  During the first couple of minutes the canal passes homes on the other side of the canal.  There is a section where it passes a golf course on the opposite side, but it is soon a very rural route with open fields flanking the canal.  Long Lane suddenly appears to the right as you walk south, the quiet stretch of road running parallel to the canal.  Shortly after this, official moorings begin on the other side of the canal, with a line of narrow boats and small cruising boats as far as the eye could see.  I stopped at Golden Nook Bridge and turned back, but the moorings presumably continue all the way to Tattenhall Marina.

St Peter's Church, Waverton

St Peter’s Church, Waverton

In total, there and back, the walk took about 2 1/2 – 3 hours, all on the flat.  Unlike the section towards Chester this part of the towpath is not metalled, and can be very uneven underfoot with tree roots and stones poking through.  It was also quite muddy after several weeks of rainfall.

 

View from Golden Nook Bridge and beyond to the sandstone ridge

View from Golden Nook Bridge and beyond to the sandstone ridge

 

Golden Nook Bridge, looking from the south and returning towards Waverton

Golden Nook Bridge, looking from the south and returning towards Waverton

 

36 seconds of birdsong from one of the canal bridges, taken on my smartphone.  There is a little interference from the breeze, but you can hear the birds giving forth wonderfully.

 

 

 

Metal detecting in a field near Churton, West Cheshire

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Button with an emblem of a crown at the top, little stars flanking it and elsewhere around the circuit, and text at the base

Button with an emblem of a crown at the top, little stars flanking it and elsewhere around the circuit, and text at the base

Not only have I never done any metal detecting myself, but I have never seen it being carried out either.  I was lucky enough to have my first exposure to this activity with Rob Jones, famous in these parts for finding the superb Roman lead ingot near Rossett, now in the Wrexham Museum, which lead to the discovery of the Rossett Villa (being excavated late this year by DigVentures after initial work was completed at the site in 2021).  With Helen Anderson, who organized the day with Rob and very kindly invited me along, we met at the field near Churton which is owned by Helen’s family, so we had no problem with obtaining permission.  Rob did all the hard work, whilst Helen and I basked in the sunshine, diligently dry-brushing the thick red earth off anything that Rob found, irrespective of how old or recent it might be.

The other side of the button above

Rob Jones in situ at the field, very kindly agreeing to pose!

Rob has been a metal detectorist since 1996, and in 2020 was awarded the The Searcher Magazine‘s ‘Most Significant Find Wales’ award for his discovery of the Rossett Roman ingot.  He works closely with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, reporting all his finds so that they can be included in the PAS database, and (with luck) helping to identify previously unidentified sites.  He has worked as an on-site expert with archaeological projects at, for example, the Rossett villa and Basingwerk Abbey in Holywell, supplementing archaeological survey and excavation activities and helping to identify potentially rewarding places to investigate.

The field near Churton was naturally less promising than either, not having been home to either Roman or Medieval buildings, but it had the merit of being virgin territory, never having been built on or investigated before.  Although under ridge and furrow in the Middle Ages, it has been largely unused for the last few decades.  We had no real idea what the field might reveal, but it turned out to be a right old mix, even though the field was, in Rob’s terms fairly “quiet.”

17th century musket and pistol balls

17th century musket and pistol balls

  • We were all delighted by two lead musket balls and a smaller pistol ball (above), probably dating to the 17th century, all of them found in one small patch of the field in quick succession.  Even though they are small, the little spheres are noticeably heavy in the palm of the hand. Both the local churches in Farndon and Holt, on opposite sides of the river, both named for St Chad, have musket ball shots in the masonry due to the offensives of the opposing forces that used the churches as their bases.  I have posted about both – the post on the Grade-II* St Chad’s in Farndon (5 minutes down the road from Churton) here, and the one on the Grade-1 listed St Chad’s in Holt here.
  • A very intriguing object was what appeared to be a very small pouch, with holes at the top, perhaps for attaching to clothing. It would be good to know more about what this was used for.
  • One of the most entertaining of the finds was a piece of a toy gun, nicely made and originally painted blue, with the words RUSTLER GEM clearly visible.
  • A small button with four holes, the shape of a flying saucer, was surrounded by lettering, the bottom half of which clearly states “Chester,” with the rest too worn to be read, apart from a possible M. at the start (an initial?) and a clear DY at the end, perhaps preceded by an E.  A brief lurch around the Internet suggests that these are typical on suits and waistcoats of the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries, and are marked with the name of the tailor.
  • Another button with a metal loop has a crown engraved on the loop side, together with other emblems and some indecipherable text, and  is perfectly plain on the other.
  • A broken pair of cufflinks, with only one face remaining, was rather charming, and a piece of thimble was the sort of thing that only an experienced detectorist would have recognized.
  • The oldest coin we found was a penny dating to 1861, and there was also a 2003 five pence piece!

The Rustler after cleaning

Rustler Gem

The other side of the Rustler Gem

The pouch with two holes at the top, function unknown.

 

Top left is the half cufflink. Bottom right is the piece of thimble.

Other bits and pieces were a mixture of broken bits of modern equipment and pieces that were  largely unidentifiable but, as they were found, each piece was welcomed back into the world with equal enthusiasm, brushed free of damp earth, photographed and bagged up for further examination.  There was almost nothing else other than metal, although we did poke around in the holes made, and kicked out all the available mole hills to see if there was anything non-metallic.  It was remnant, random stuff of everyday life, but no less rewarding for that.

 

The other side of the cufflink, showing the lightly ornamented face

The four-holed button showing “Chester” at the bottom and indecipherable text at the top, possibly a tailor’s name, apparently beginning with an M. and ending with DY (perhaps preceded by an E).

Many sincere thanks to Rob for taking the time to spend the day with us, and also for showing us how a metal detector functions, with different fittings available to improve sensitivity, and how a separate pointer probe helps to focus in on the object that the detector has identified after the hole has been dug.  Rob even has a special customized spade for making small holes, not unlike a long-handled bulb planter but far more robust. The metal detector is a far more subtle piece of equipment than I had anticipated, and it was an education to see it in action.  And many thanks to Helen for inviting me!  Truly fascinating, and such a fun and mellow day.

 

 

 

A Roman altar from Boughton, Chester, in the grounds of Eaton Hall

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Roman objects at Eaton Hall

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The building that houses the Roman altar at Eaton Hall

The building that houses the Roman altar at Eaton Hall

Eaton Hall is part of the Duke of Westminster’s estate 4.2miles / 6.7km to the south of Chester.  It was very common for wealthy families to feature ancient Egyptian and Roman objects on their estates from the 18th century onwards.  Many of these were imported from overseas, but the cobbled-together display of a Roman altar in a small custom-built structure, flanked by two columns, are thought to have come from no further afield than Boughton, on the eastern outskirts of Chester, Roman Deva.

The gardens are only open to the public for three days a year for charity, and tickets tend to sell out very quickly, so this is not the easiest of the local Roman monumental works to visit, although others are on display in the Grosvenor Museum in Chester.

The Minerva shrine, Chester

The Minerva shrine, Edgar’s Field, Handbridge, Chester

The Roman army had arrived in Chester, Deva, in around AD 74 and, with a requirement for a base on the Anglo-Welsh border area, settled on Chester as a suitable and obvious location.  The river Dee had connections both south towards Wales and northeast via the Dee estuary to the sea, and was defensible.  An earlier Iron Age settlement found during excavations at the Roman amphitheatre indicate that the Roman incomers were not the first to appreciate this location.  The first fortress, built in around AD 76, was an earthen bank with a wooden palisade, gateways and interval towers, only being converted to stone from c.AD 100.  As it grew, the new army base included the usual architectural and administrative collection of a headquarter building, officers’ accommodation, barracks, baths and storage, as well as the elite and unique ‘elliptical building’.   Most of the stone for the new town was quarried locally from red sandstone bedrock, at least some of it derived from Edgar’s Field, on the south bank of the Dee at Handbridge, where a shrine to the goddess Minerva, protector of craftsmen, was carved directly into a red sandstone outcrop.  Beyond the walls were a parade ground, the amphitheatre to its south and, eventually, a civilian settlement (canabae legionis), which inevitably grew up to take advantage of the new population.

It is probable that the altars and tombstones were made by indigenous craftsmen who came to these settlements to take advantage of the disposable income available from both the residents of the Roman town and their fellow settlers.

Julian Baum’s reconstruction of the fortress at Chester and the outer buildings in the mid 3rd Century

Julian Baum’s wonderfully evocative reconstruction of the fortress at Chester and the outer buildings in the mid 3rd Century, with the road leading away from the amphitheatre towards the bottom right, heading out east towards Boughton (copyright Julian Baum, used with permission)

Altars, demonstrating piety towards a particular deity or spirit, could be purchased by Roman citizens for personal worship, or could be donated to public areas.  A specific request for help would be based on a deity’s particular skillset or virtues.  Gods and spirits of place all had different characteristics and were associated with specific roles and functions. Sometimes altars were offered in hope of good fortune or as thanks, a form of obligation in return for a certain request being granted.   Rituals accompanied by offerings took place at such altars to appeal to, appease, or thank a given deity.  Such altars expressed a relationship between whoever erected the altar (a person, family or community), and the deity whose influence had been requested.

Inscriptions carved in Latin onto Chester altars and gravestones have provided considerable information about their owners and the wide range of places from where those owners originated, as well as providing insights about the deities that their purchasers had considered most relevant and helpful to their personal hopes and ambitions, both in life and the afterlife.

All known Roman inscriptions are recorded on the Roman Inscriptions of Britain website (https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/about/about-rib-online) itself based on the earlier printed volumes.  The information about the altar in this short article comes from the Roman Inscriptions of Britain website.  The official designation of the Boughton altar on the Roman Inscriptions of Britain website is RIB 460, and is classified as a “private possession.”  The altar was found in 1821 in a field at the north end of what is now Cherry Road, near Boughton Cross, and about 1.8km east of The Cross, in Chester.

The altar is just under 120cm tall, 61cm wide and 50m deep.  It is undated.  There is an inscription on the front and back, but nothing on the sides. It stands on a pedestal, also original. The front is slightly damaged, but the front and back both read

Nymphis
et
Fontibus
leg(io) XX
V(aleria) V(ictrix)

Illustration of the inscription.

Illustration of the RIB 460 inscription. Source: Roman Inscriptions in Britain.

The Roman translation, as provided by the Roman Inscriptions of Britain page reads:  To the Nymphs and Fountains the Twentieth Legion Valeria Victrix.  In other words, the Twentieth Legion Valeria Victrix set this up to the nymphs and fountains.  It seems probable that the altar was built to commemorate guardians of the natural springs in the Boughton area, which probably supplied Deva with its water. The Romans had a particular affinity with natural springs, and often dedicated monuments to them.  The best known in Britain is the dedication to Sulis-Minerva at the Roman baths in Bath, Sulis being the indigenous deity with whom the Roman Minerva was associated.  The Eaton hall altar was not dedicated to a particular deity, simply venerating the more ephemeral but equally important and much-valued spirits of the place.

The springs in Boughton, 1.5km (1 mile) east of the city, which were fed by an aquifer sealed between two layers of boulder clay, were delivered to Chester by an aqueduct and pipes.  One route entered Chester along the line of Foregate Street and the other ran to its south, feeding the cisterns for the bath-house boilers near the southeast corner of the fortress.  David Mason estimates that in a 24 hour period, the military consumed some 2.370,000 litres (521,337 gallons) of water.

 

Roman altars at the Grosvenor Museum, Chester

Roman altars at the Grosvenor Museum, Chester

The Boughton altar is now housed in a structure referred to as “the loggia,” located in an open grassy area lying between the formal gardens, and is roofed and open-fronted. It was presumably designed to loosely emulate a very small Roman temple. Two original Roman columns flank the loggia and, within it and protected from the outside world by railings, is a Roman altar made of red sandstone.  The loggia protects the altar from the elements, and it appears to be in relatively good condition.

Although the Eaton Hall altar is not the easiest to visit, there are some excellent examples of both altars and gravestones in the Grosvenor Museum in Chester, which can be visited throughout the year.

 

Sources:

Books and Papers

Carrington, Peter 1994. The English Heritage Book of Chester.  Batsford / English Heritage

Mason, David, J.P.  2001, 2007 (2nd edition). Roman Chester. City of the Eagles. Tempus Publishing

Websites

Based in Churton
An impressive exhibit of decorated Roman tombstones in Chester’s Grosvenor Museum
https://basedinchurton.co.uk/2022/07/04/an-impressive-exhibit-of-decorated-roman-tombstones-in-chesters-grosvenor-museum/
Eaton Hall Gardens Charity Open Days 2022
https://basedinchurton.co.uk/2022/06/28/eaton-hall-gardens-charity-open-days-2022/

Grosvenor Museum
https://grosvenormuseum.westcheshiremuseums.co.uk/

Roman Inscriptions In Britain
RIB 460 (Eaton Hall)
https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/460