On the blog, the heritage posts will cover topics from early prehistory to the present day.  Most of these posts will be straightforward attempts to accurately represent different aspects of the area’s prehistory and history.   There is a hyperlinked index at the end of this page to all the posts about heritage and history, that have appeared on the blog, as well as links to the Cheshire Proverbs series.

As a prehistorian, I am particularly looking forward to finding out more about the local prehistory.  Having excavated for a number of seasons in Chester many years ago, I am also looking into more about the Roman activity in rural areas around Chester. Sites, monuments and buildings of all types and ages will eventually find their way onto the blog.  A steady obsession with 19th Century long distance shipping will doubtless find an outlet here as well, via the former port of Chester and (yes, I know it’s a stretch) Birkenhead and Liverpool.

I will certainly find myself covering a very large geographical area, including sites, buildings and landmarks that are immediately local, others that are further afield, and a number of destinations that can only be reached, realistically, by dedicating a morning, afternoon or entire day.

I would very much like to incorporate local research into homes, buildings and families.  If you have anything you would like to talk about contributing, it would be super to hear from you.

To make the site more navigable I add links below in chronological order, from prehistory to the present, to act as a table of contents for the heritage posts on the blog page, so that those interested in particular time periods will be able to follow the story in a logical  sequence.  Below that is a list of the ongoing Cheshire Proverb series.

Posts in roughly chronological order (by historical date)

A Touch of Rome #1:  Background to Roman Chester and the Roman road network
A Touch of Rome #2:  A walk along Watling Street West, the Roman road from Chester passing through Aldford and just east of Churton en route to Whitchurch

The Rossett Roman Villa #1:  What is a Roman villa and who lived in them? 
The Rossett Roman Villa #2:  Background to the Rossett Roman villa excavation
The Rossett Roman Villa #3:   The 2021 excavation’s excellen  Open Day

Exhibition overview: Hidden Holt – The Story of a Roman Site.  An exhibition at Wrexham Museum about the Roman tile and pottery works at Holt by the river Dee

The Shocklach motte-and-bailey castles at Castleton, southeast of Farndon dating to c.1100.

Valle Crucis #1 – An introduction to Valle Crucis Abbey 1201 near Llangollen 
Valle Crucis #2 – How the Valle Crucis abbey buildings were used

Beeston Castle #1 – Ranulf III’s 1220 castle: Who was Ranulf?
Beeston Castle #2  – The walk, the castle, the visit

The Talbot hound in Churton-by-Aldford, first appearing on the  Grosvenor family coat of arms in 1597

The Bishop Bennet Way: Who was Bishop Bennet and why do we travel his Way? (18th Century)

A visit to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct near Llangollen – Thomas Telford’s 1805 iron trough 126ft over the Dee

Thomas Telford and William Hazledine’s Eaton Hall Estate “Iron Bridge” at Aldford, 1824

The 1854 turnpike from Chester to Worthenbury via Churton, with a branch to Farndon – Part 1, Background
The 1854 turnpike from Chester to Worthenbury via Churton, with a branch to Farndon – Part 2, The Turnpike

A late 19th Century bottle found in my garden:  The Chester Lion Brewery Co., 1846-1902

Another late 19th Century bottle from my garden:  J.F. Edisbury and Co,, Pharmacy.

Fragment of a late 19th Century Codd-neck bottle found in my garden

The 1858 Barnston Memorial to Roger Barnson, who died in the Indian Mutiny of 1857

The 1898 mileposts between Farndon, Churton, Aldford and Huntington
Two more of the 1898 mileposts located

Churton commercial residents listed in the late 19th and early 20th Century Postal Directories, with relevant gravestones in Farndon and Aldford churchyard cemeteries

Comparing an early 1900s Churton postcard with a 1911 map and a modern photograph.  Spot the difference 🙂

Willow pattern china from my garden, date uncertain, with a history of the design

Object Histories in my Garden series

(in order of discovery, not in chronological order)

#1 – A late 19th Century bottle found in my garden:  The Chester Lion Brewery Co., 1846-1902

#2 – Another late 19th Century bottle from my garden:  J.F. Edisbury and Co,, Pharmacy.

#3 – The head of a small curly-headed top-hatted figurine

#4 – A Dinky Toy Sepcat Jaguar in my garden, late 1970s

#5 – Fragment of a late 19th Century Codd-neck bottle found in my garden

#6 – A piece of a 19th century / early 20th century  Hamilton / Torpedo bottle in my garden

#7 – Willow pattern china from my garden, probably early-mid 20th Century, with a history of the design

 

Cheshire Proverbs Series

Link to the entire series, as it develops.  Alternatively, here is a complete list of the proverbs one by one (ongoing):

• Cheshire Proverbs 1 – Old Proverbs are the Children of Truth – Introduction to the series
• Cheshire Proverbs 2 – Holt Lions, Farndon Bears, Churton Greyhounds and Alford Hares
• Cheshire Proverbs 3 – To grin like a Cheshire cat chewing green gravel
• Cheshire Proverbs 4 – When the daughter is stolen, shut the Pepper Gate
• Cheshire Proverbs 5 – We shall live till we die if the pigs don’t eat us