Another road trip! We travelled about 1 1/2 hours to the city of Chester, England, known for its Roman roots. Emma and Hayley joined us for sightseeing during the day, but would return home in the evening for work.
5.96 miles, some rain, some sun, 54 degrees, humidity 80%.
Richard’s ReLive video for the day is here: https://www.relive.com/view/vmqXJe2VKoO
We have a quick check-in at our hotel for this evening. Zoom in and you can see the fancy-dressed guests ready to leave for the races.
The hotel is slightly outside the city walls. We follow the canal that opened in 1779.
As we were driving to Chester in a downpour, it occurred to me that we had not picked up our raincoats from the closet at Simon’s house. What a thing to leave! We make a quick stop and now have two new raincoats.
We meet up with Emma and Hayley for a quick picnic lunch before heading to the cathedral.
The Cathedral was first founded as a Benedictine Abbey in 1092 by Hugh D’Avranches, known as Hugh Lupus (the Wolf), William the Conqueror’s nephew and the first Norman Earl of Chester. Over the next 400 years the building was extended and altered. The monastery changed in 1539 when King Henry VIII made his dissolution of all monasteries, and in 1541 the old monastery became the Cathedral of the Diocese of Chester.
This is another pilgrimage route to Santiago.
St. Werburgh is in the lower right of this stained glass window. She is the patron saint of Chester.
The Quire stalls date from about 1380. Some woodwork was added during the Victorian restoration.
We booked a city tour to get an introduction to Chester sites.
Our guide, Colleen, described the unique architecture of row shops from the 1270’s. The first level of shops is a few steps down below street level, and usually was workshops. The next level of shops in this covered gallery was a few steps up and often catered to higher level of customers. This double-tiered streetscape is an ancient urban design unique to the city of Chester.
The unique black and white decorations led to the city nickname the “Black and White City.”
The plague devastated the town of Chester. In this house, no one died, so they recognized their blessing on the front: “God’s providence is mine inheritance.”
Chester was a Royalist stronghold in the civil war and Charles I took refuge in the city. Even though the Royalists were finally defeated after a two-year siege, this house still paid homage to Charles. They ordered a statue of Charles I to be installed, but did not measure properly and it was too big for the niche. It was fixed by shortening his statue’s legs.
The 3 km of city walls date to Roman times. Chester streets still follow the layout from Roman times.
This clock on the city walls commemorates the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s reign. One side of the clock was not finished in time, so it is dated two years later, in 1899.
The Roman ampitheather is just outside the city walls. This is what has survived of the second amphitheater that had four entrances, stairwells and could accommodate about 7000 people to view wild beast fights, public executions, and gladiatorial combats.
The River Dee was crossed by the medieval Old Dee Bridge from the 14th century built from local red sandstone. It features seven arches and stands on the site of older Roman and Norman bridges.
The Town Hall opened in 1869. There is a tower with a clock facing the cathedral, but the clock on the backside has not been finished and still has no hands. Our guide said it was the English who refused to tell the Welsh people the time.
We missed the opening hours of St. John the Baptist Church that is outside the city walls. It was founded in 689 by Ethelred, King of Mercia, and was the first Chester Cathedral, then later a parish church. In 1581, Queen Elizabeth I granted the church to the parishioners, and some parts were rebuilt after KingvEdward VI’s commissioners had started to demolish it. Parishioners decided to reduce the size of the church, building a new east wall, and leaving portions to fall into ruins.
In the Middle Ages, the church was a magnificent structure, twice the length of the building today. When St. John’s became a parish church in 1581, the East end of the building was abandoned and has stood as a ruin ever since.
We had another wonderful day together and after dinner, bid goodbye to Emma and Hayley to return home.
10 Responses
Every day is filled with so many wonderful sights. There is so much historic architecture to enjoy. That is one of the things we have always enjoyed in our European travels. We don’t get to see beautiful churches here like they have in Europe. Sounds like you’re still getting rain though your pictures aren’t showing it that much. Keep an eye on that new rain gear. Dan and Wendy
Simon is a wonderful tour guide and he always makes sure we have places to go and interesting things to see. We are seeing some rain most days but we’re making the best of it. The boot driers have only been used once.
Simon’s mum, Helene, picked up our raincoats from his house and mailed them to us in Wales! Now we have an extra—you can never have too much rain gear!
What a fascinating city Chester is!! And so ancient. Over the years I have seen many photos you have taken of the cathedrals (and churches) you visited on your journey, but these photos of the cathedral in Chester are awesome! How could they have built such an intricate arch-filled cathedral in those days? Reminds me of Ken Follet’s book, and you probably think the same.
So you’re in England. How clever of you to time being in England at the same time as DJT! You must be thrilled…do travel to London so you can get a glimpse of him! NOT!
Chester was wonderful and it helped to have a guide to describe the architecture and give us some funny stories. I wish I had a bit more time in the Cathedral and could have taken a tour, but we just ran out of time. Perhaps there will be another visit there someday!
Oh my, the Cathedral is absolutely stunning! You are so lucky to see such beautiful things. I feel so happy to see all your photos and the lovely people you are visiting.
We are really enjoying our trip. I hope you are enjoying your cruise as well—we always enjoy your pictures!
Kathy, be careful with your comments about DJT. You might get banned from “commenting” on the internet! (Been watching too much CNN tonight!) Think this is a good time to be traveling.
This is a wonderful time to be traveling and enjoying the sights. It reminds us that there have always been good and bad times in history.
What an interesting city! Thanks for sharing it with us. Appreciated the cathedral . We just got back from our vacation, and we wanted to enjoy your travels.
Thanks for following along. We hope to hear about Canada when we return.