  lintshire
landowner Thomas
Pennant (1726-98)
was
a
distinguished
naturalist
and
travel
writer.
He
was
the
author
of A
Tour
in
Scotland (1771)
and
three Tours
in
Wales (1778-81)
His
first
Welsh
tour,
taking
in
Chester,
was
undertaken
in
1773.
Dr.
Johnson
called
Pennant
the
best
travel
writer
he
had
read...
"The
approach
to
the
city
is
over
a
very
narrow
and
dangerous
bridge,
of
seven
irregular
arches,
till
of
late
rendered
more
inconvenient
by
the
antient
gateways
at
each
end,
formerly
necessary
enough,
to
provent
the
inroads
of
my
countrymen,
who
often
carried
fire
and
sword
to
these
suburbs;
which
were
so
frequently
burnt,
as
to
be
called
by
the
Britons Tre-boeth,
or
the
burnt
town...
The
form
of
the
city
evinces
its
origin
to
have
been
Roman,
being
in
the
figure
of
their
camps;
with
four
gates;
four
principal
streets;
and
a
variety
of
lesser,
crossing
the
others
at
right
angles,
so
as
to
divide
the
whole
into
lesser
squares.
The
walls,
the
precincts
of
the
present
city,
mark
the
limits
of
the
antient.
No
part
of
the
old
walls
exist;
but
they
stood,
like
the
modern,
on
the
soft
freestone
rock,
high
above
the
circumjacent
country,
and
escarpes
on
every
front.
The
structure
of
the
four
principal
streets
is
without
parallel.
They
run
direct
from
east
to
west,
and
north
to
south;
and
were
excavated
out
of
the
earth,
and
sunk
many
feet
beneath
the
surface.
The
carriages
drive
far
below
the
level
of
the
kitchens,
on
a
line
with
ranges
of
shops;
over
which,
on
each
side
of
the
streets,
passengers
walk
from
end
to
end,
secure
from
wet
or
heat,
in
galleries
(or
rows,
as
they
are
called)
purloined
from
the
first
floor
of
each
house,
open
in
front
and
balustraded.
The
back-courts
of
all
these
houses
are
level
with
the
rows;
but
to
go
into
any
of
those
four
streets,
it
is
necessary
to
descend
a
flight
of
several
steps...
The
streets
were
once
considerably
deeper,
as
is
apparent
from
the
shops,
whose
floors
lie
far
below
the
present
pavement.
In
digging
foundations
for
houses,
the
Roman
pavement
is
often
discovered
at
the
depth
of
four
feet
beneath
the
modern.
The
lesser
streets
and
alleys,
which
run
into
the
principal
streets,
sloped
to
the
bottoms
of
the
latter,
as
is
particularly
visible
in
Lower
Bridge
Street;
but
these
are
destitute
of
the
galleries
or
rows...
 Near
the
Bridge-gate
is
one
ascent
to
the
city
walls;
which
are
the
only
entire
specimen
of
antient
fortification
now
in
Great
Britain.
They
are
a
mile
and
three
quarters,
and
a
hundred
and
one
yards
in
circumference;
and,
being
the
principal
walk
of
the
inhabitants,
are
kept
in
excellent
repair
by
certain
impost,
called
murage
duties,
collected
at
the
custom
house,
upon
all
goods
and
merchandize
brought
into
the
port
of
Chester
from
parts
beyond
the
seas,
belonging
to
persons
not
freemen
of
the
city.
The
castle
is
composed
of
two
parts,
an
upper
and
a
lower:
each
with
a
strong
gate,
defended
by
a
round
bastion
on
each
side,
with
a
ditch,
and
formerly
with
draw-bridges.
Within
the
precincts
of
the
upper
Ballium
are
to
be
seen
some
towers
of
Norman
architecture,
square,
with
square
projections
at
each
corner,
very
slightly
salient.
The
handsomest
is
that
called
Julius
Caesar's...
Left: The Gatehouse, Chester Castle by Moses Griffith (1747-1819).
On
the
sides
of
the
lower
court
stands
the
noble
room
called
Hugh
Lupus's
Hall,
in
which
the
courts
of
justice
for
the
county
are
held.
The
length
of
it
is
near
ninety-nine
feet;
the
breadth
forty-five;
the
height
very
aweful,
and
worthy
the
state
apartment
of
a
great
baron.
The
roof
supported
by
wood
work,
in
a
bold
style,
carved;
and
placed
on
tho
sides,
resting
on
stout
brackets...
The
county
jail
for
felons
and
debtors
is
the
last
place
to
bo
described.
I
can
do
little
more
than
confirm
the
account
of
it
by
the
humane
Howard.
Their
day-confinement
is
in
a
little
yard,
surrounded
on
all
sides
by
lofty
buildings,
impervious
to
the
air,
excepting
from
above,
and
ever
unvisited
by
the
purifying
rays
of
the
sun.
Their
nocturnal
apartment
are
in
cells
seven
feet
and
a
half
by
three
and
a
half,
ranged
on
one
side
by
a
sub
terraneous
dungeon;
in
each
of
which
are
often
lodged
three
or
four
persons.
The
whole
is
rendered
more
(wholesomely)
horrible,
by
being
pitched
over
three
or
four
times
in
the
year.
The
scanty
air
of
the
streight
prison-yard
is
to
travel
through
three
passages
to
arrive
at
them:
through
the
window
of
an
adjacent
room;
through
a
grate
in
the
floor
of
the
said
room
into
the
dungeon;
and
finally,
from
the
dungeon,
through
a
little
grate
above
the
door
of
each
of
their
kennels.
ln
such
places
as
these
are
the
innocent
and
the
guilty
permitted
to
be
lodged,
till
the
law
decides
their
fate.
I
am
sure
the
humane
keeper,
Mr.Thomas,
must
feel
many
a
pang
at
the
necessary
discharge
of
his
duty.
Mr.
Howard
compares
the
place
to
the
black-hole
at
Calcutta.
The
view
I
had
of
it,
assisted
to
raise
the
idea
of
a
much
worse
prison;
where,
No light, but rather darkness visible,
Served only to discover sights of woe.
...The present cathedral appears to have been built in the reigns of Henry VI, VII and VIII; but principally in those of the two last . . . The center beneath the great tower is much injured by a modern bell-loft, which conceals a crown-work of stone, that would have a good effect was the loft destroyed... The choir is very neat; and the Gothic tabernacle-work over the stalls carved in a light and elegant manner.
St. John's, which lies without the walls on the east side of the city, was once a collegiate church... when entire, [it] was a magnificent pile. The tower once stood in the center; but falling down in 1574, was never rebuilt. The chancel was probably demolished at the same time; at that end are still some fine arches, and other remains of antient chapels. Withinside are curious specimens of the clumsy strength of Saxon architecture, in the massy columns and round arches which support the body. The tower is now placed at the west end and has on one side the legend, represented by the figure of a man and a hind...
Tho
number
of
parishes
are
nine.
None
of
the
churches
are
remarkable,
excepting
those
of
St.
Peter's
and
Trinity,
distinguished
by
their
handsome
spires.
The
first
was
finished
in
1489;
when
the
parson
and
others
signalized
themselves
by
eating
part
of
a goose
on
it,
and
flinging
the
rest
into
the
four
streets.
 The
number
of
inhabitants,
including
the
suburbs
of
Boughton
and
Hanbridge,
are
estimated
to
be
fourteen
thousand
seven
hundred
and
thirteen.
The
houses
are
almost
entirely
situated
on
a dry
sand-stone
rock.
Whether
it
be
owing
to
that,
the
clearness
of
the
air,
and
the
purity
of
the
water,
it
is
certain
that
the
proportion
of
deaths
among
the
inhabitants
is
only
as
one
to
thirty-one;
whereas
I am
informed,
by
my
worthy
friend
Doctor
Haygarth
of
this
city,
that
in
Leeds,
one
in
twenty-one;
in
North
ampton
and
Shrewsbury,
one
in
twenty-six;
and
in
London,
one
in
twenty
and
three-fourths,
annually
pay
the
great
tribute
of
nature".
Right:
The
ruins
of St. John the Baptist's Church by
George
Cuitt
(1779-1854)
"I
do
not
recollect
any
thing
remarkable
on
the
outside
walls
which
has
been
unnoticed,
unless
it
be
the
Rood-eye,
and
the
adjacent
places.
The
Dee,
after
quitting
the
contracted
pass
at
the
bridge,
flows
beneath
an
incurvated
clayey
cliff,
and
washes
on
the
right
a
fine
and
extensive
meadow,
long
since
protected
against
its
ravages
by
a
lofty
dike...
At
one
end
of
the
Rood-eye
stands
the
House
of
lndustry;
a
large
and
useful
building,
founded
in
1757,
by
money
raised
by
the
city
on
life
annuities,
for
several
improvements
within
its
liberties.
Here
the
indigent
are
provided
for
in
a
fit
manner,
and
to
the
great
ease
of
the
parishes;
which
are
relieved
from
the
burden
of
a
numerous
poor,
who
are
too
idle
to
work,
and
too
proud
to
enter
into
this
comfortable
Asylum...
A
little
beyond
this
building
are
the
quays,
cranes,
warehouses,
and
other
requisites
for
carrying
on
the
naval
trade
of
the
city.
These
are
opposite
to
the
Water-gate;
and
have
been
much
improved
of
late
years,
and
the
intervening
space
filled
with
a
neat
street.
Ships
of
350
tons
burden
can
now
reach
the
quays,
where
the
spring-tides
rise
at
a
medium
fifteen
feet:
the
neap-tides,
eight...
There
was
lately
a
very
fair
prospect
of
adding
much
to
the
trade
of
the
city,
by
an
inland
navigation,
which
was
begun
with
great
spirit
a
few
years
ago.
It
was
to
run
through
the
county
beneath
Beeston
castle,
and
to
terminate
near
Middlewich.
Another
branch
was
to
extend
to
Namptwich.
One
mouth
opens
into
the
Dee,
below
the
water-tower.
A
fine
bason
is
formed,
into
which
the
boats
are
to
descend,
by
means
of
five
successive
locks,
beneath
the
northern
walls
of
the
city,
cut
in
the
live
rock.
A
few
miles
of
this
design
are
completed:
but,
by
an
unhappy
miscalculation
of
expence,
and
by
unforeseen
difficulties
occurring
in
the
execution,
such
enormous
charges
were
incurred,
as
to
put
a
stop
for
the
present
to
all
proceedings...
The
idea
of
a
canal
along
the
dead
flat
between
Chester
and
Ince
has
been
long
since
conceived,
by
persons
very
conversant
in
the
nature
of
the
trade
of
this
city.
One
mouth
might
have
opened
into
the
Dee
in
tho
place
of
the
present;
another
near
Ince,
which
would
create
a
ready
inter
course
with
Liverpool,
the
Weever,
and
the
salt-works
and
great
dairies
on
that
river;
with
Warrington,
and
with
the
flourishing
town
of
Manchester,
and
a
numerous
set
of
places
within
reach
of
the
Mersey,
and
of
the
canal
belonging
to
that
useful
Peer,
the
duke
of
Bridgewater,
to
which
the
greatest
of
our
inland
navigations
is
connected.
This
litt le
cut
the
city
might,
and
still
may,
enjoy
unenvied,
unrivalled;
and,
what
is
a
material
consideration,
the
distance
is
trifling
(seven
miles),
the
excpences
small,
and
the
profits
to
the
undertakers
great..."
The edition of the Cheshire Sheaf of February 1881 contained the following strange anecdote regarding Thomas Pennant,
Pennant, the eminent traveller, had a great aversion to wigs, which also transferred to their wearers.
Once, in the presence of the Mayor of Chester, who wore a powdered wig, he got very excited and nervous and angrily made some strong remarks about the Mayor to a companion. At last, losing all control over his feelings, he rushed
at the Mayor, pulled off his wig and ran away with it out of the house, waving it aloft as he went. The Mayor followed, to the amusement of the populace; and this curious race was afterwards known as "the Mayor and Mr Pennant's tour through Chester".
He did the same thing on a second social occasion in Chester, as recorded in Walpoliana, No, 169, vol. 1: "Dining once at Chester with an officer who wore a wig, Mr. Pennant became half seas over; and another friend that was in company carefully placed himself between Pennant and the wig, to prevent mischief. After much patience, and many a wistful look, Pennant started up, seized the wig, and threw it into the fire. It was in flames in a moment, and so was the officer, who ran to his sword. Downstairs ran Pennant, and the officer after him, through the streets of Chester. But Pennant escaped, from superior knowledge of topography".
The Sheaf remarked upon these tales, "If these anecdotes be true it would only be another example of a strong mind having a weak spot." It was certainly true that, in 1776, when he sat before the great Gainsborough to have his portrait painted, he chose, much against the fashion of the time, to appear wigless.
  The Rev John
Wesley, tireless
preacher and traveller and
the
father
of
Methodism
was
a
frequent
visitor
to
Chester. One
of
the
earliest
nonconformist
places
of
worship in Britain,
the (now vanished)
'Octagon
Chapel'
was
built
here
in
1764.
Previous
to
its
erection,
Wesley
was
happy
to
preach
in
the
open
air,
as
he recorded here
in
June
1752:
"Saturday, 20th- I
rode
into
Chester
and
preached
at
six,
in
the
accustomed
place
(Love
street,
off
Foregate
street)
a
little
without
the
gates,
near St.
John's
church. One single man, a poor alehouse keeper, seemed disgusted, spoke a harmless word, and ran away with all speed. All the rest behaved with the utmost seriousness while I declared “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Left: 19th century view of the Phoenix Tower and Shropshire Union Canal
"Mon.
22nd.-
We walked round the walls of the city, which are something more than a mile and three quarters in circumference. But there are many vacant spaces within the walls, many gardens, and a good deal of pasture ground; I believe Newcastle-upon-Tyne, within the walls, contains at least a third more houses than Chester.
The greatest convenience here is what they call “the Rows”; that is covered galleries which run through the main streets on each side, from east to west and from north to south; by which means one may walk both clean and dry in any weather, from one end of the city to the other.
I preached at six in the evening in the square to a vast multitude, rich and poor. The far greater part, the gentry in particular, were seriously and deeply attentive; though a few of the rabble, most of them drunk, labored much to make a disturbance. One might already perceive a great increase of earnestness in the generality of the hearers."
Two
hundred
years
after
the
event,
Wesley's
presence
in
Chester
was
commemorated
by
a
plaque
on
the
Methodist
Church
in
St.
John
Street
inscribed: "Near
this
spot
on
June
20th
1752,
the
Rev
John
Wesley
MA
preached
on
the
occasion
of
the
first
of
his
many
visits
to
this
city.
'O
let
me
commend
my
Saviour
to
you'
Erected
by
the
Methodists
of
Chester
1952"
You can freely download and read the whole of John Wesley's Journal here.
The Rev William Cole was a Cambridge antiquary who visited Tarporley and Chester in 1755. In a letter to a friend he wrote,
"Thank God, I have passed over some of the most detestable roads in England on my way from Torporley to this City (approx 10 miles), and have found no inconvenience by the jolting: the roads throughout Cheshire are all paved; and some of them so worn and rugged that it is hardly safe, much less easy, to pass over them. I had a scruple of conscience which brought me to Chester; for, as I had personally visited every other Cathedral Church in England, and being within ten miles of this, I could not with a safe conscience leave Cheshire without paying my devotions at the Shrine of St. Werburga.
My stay, however, will be the shorter in this Pilgrimage, as the Races begin here next Monday; and the City then will be so crowded that it will not be very easy for one in my unwieldy situation (he had injured his leg some time before) to pass pleasantly my time among people whose whole ideas are centred in that article of Horse-racing. Indeed, this seems to be the Capital of that noble diversion... the the conversation of the Gentry turns wholly upon betts at Horse-races and Cock-fighting; and the lower class of people seem to be as eager after it as their betters; and was I to reckon up all the Matches I have heard since I have been in this County Palatine, I should be much out of breath.
The Cathedral here is but a small and mean building of a reddish sandy stone, which, decaying by weather, makes it have a poor appearance on the outside: but the City is very lage and has much opulence in its look; and the Rows, as they are called, make it have a very odd and singular aspect; very different from all others I ever saw: for all the houses either stand upon pillars in front, or have steps or galleries from one to another; so that you walk dry under them in the very worst of weather: and, indeed, this is a climate that requires it; for since I have been in Cheshire, it has not refrained from raining some part of the day for almost the whole time".
An extract from the diary of Elizabeth, wife of the First Duke of Northumberland, who was on his way to Ireland to take up the post of Lord Lieutenant in 1763:
"Arrived in Chester. The Invalids were under Arms, the City Companies had their colours flying, the crowd in the windows, balconies amd streets was immense and on a high scaffold, hung with carpeting, was the Mayor and Corporation. The Recorder made from thence a speech to my Lord who was forced to answer it out of the post chaise. The Rows in this city are both ugly and inconvenient, they are level with the one pair of stairs, windows which floor they make dark, and beneath are neither rooms nor shops but vaults and warehouses. It is said that they were once level with the streets and are now so with the back yards, but in an incursion of the Welch they were obliged to cut down the streets to their present level. It stands on the River Dee over which is a bridge of 12 arches. it is said to contain 12,000 inhabitants and to have been founded by the Romans. The houses are old and in general of timber.
In the afternoon my Lord and the Gentlemen went to the Town Hall to partake of a collation where the Prince of Wales' health was drank by the title of The Earl of Chester and we all went after to the ball. I can't say much for the ladies, they were neither well dressed nor handsome, except a Miss Baldwin who was really pretty.We left Chester the next morning and I hear cannot help observe that we were not ask'd charity by a single beggar.."
 In 1769 The Third Viscount Grimston journeyed through Wales and Cheshire. Here are some extracts from his diary..
"15th Oct. The ride from Wrexham is exceeding flat. When you enter Cheshire, before that, at the distance of four miles a noble prospect of the country opens itself to your view and gives a great idea of the fertility and richness of the soil. Thus we left the mountains of Wales and once again entered England.
16th Oct. Chester was formerly a colony of the Romans in which their famous Twentieth Legion was quartered. It was afterwards granted to Hugh Lupus by William the Conquerer whose nephew he was. The fortifications have been very strong and are still kept up, which affords on the top of the walls a very pleasant and dry walk.
There are four (actually eight) churches besides a cathedral, which is supposed to be one of the oldest in England. Near this is a famous chapter house, which is admired for the beauty of the gothic architecture. Under this building lie the ashes of some of the Earls Palatine of Chester.
The Castle, now almost a ruin, was formerly a palace to the Earls of Chester, where they assembled their parliaments and enacted laws independent of the Kings of England. It has yet a garrison always kept in it. Hugh Lupus it is supposed raised this building.
The Exchange is a neat building. Over it is the city hall, a well contrived court of judicature. The bishop's palace is a modern building and very elegant. The See is but indifferent, it was divided by Henry VIII from Lichfield anno domini 1541.
The bridge over the Dee, which washes the town, is high and strong built, which is absolutely necessary on account of the force of the stream.
The rows or piazzas, first formed in that manner the better to oppose any enemy that entered the town, run along the side of the streets before all the houses, and have a very particular appearance; the upper story of each building projects into the street, which makes this covered way. The great use of it now is to keep those that walk free from the rain. The shops are all held under these covered ways, and do not appear to the open street.
Chester is a very large and opulent town, beautified with many good buildings.
At the distance of three miles is Lord Grosvenor's seat, Eaton; the house small, situated in a good park, which Mr. Brown has attempted to improve. Near this is Beeston Castle, built by the famous Hugh Lupus, on the edge of a precipice. The forest is noted for plenty of red deer.
Danced this evening with Miss B... "
The following, from the pen of the famed Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-84), was not included in any collected edition of his works, but was printed independently in 1816, under the editorship of R. Duppa, LL.B. It was entitled A Diary of a Journey into North Wales in the year 1774. He and his party arrived in Chester on July 26th of that year:
"In the afternoon we came to West-Chester; (my father went to the fair, when I had the small-pox.) We walked round the Walls, which are complete, and contain one mile three quarters, and one hundred and one yards; within them are many gardens : they are very high, and two may walk very commodiously side by side. On the inside is a rail. There are towers from space to space, not very frequent, and, I think, not all complete.
July 27th. We staid at Chester, and saw the Cathedral, which is not of the first rank. The Castle, (in one of the rooms the Assizes are held) and the refectory of the old Abbey, of which part is a Grammar School. The master seemed glad to see me. The cloister is very solemn; over it are chambers in which the singing men live.
In one part of the street was a subterranean arch, very strongly built [? one of the crypts]; in another, what they called, I believe rightly, a Roman Hypocaust. The Hypooaust is of a triangular figure, supported by thirty-two pillars, two feet ten inches and a half high, and about eighteen inches distant from each other. Upon each is a tile, eighteen inches square, as if designed for a capital; and over them a perforated tile, two feet square. Such are continued over all the pillars. Above these are two layers; one of coarse mortar, mixed with small red gravel, about three inches thick; and the other of finer materials, between four and five inches thick 5 these seem to have been the floor of the room above. The pillars stand on a mortar-floor, spread over the rock.
On the south side, between the middle pillars, is the vent for the smoke, about six inches square, which is at present open to the height of sixteen inches. There is also an ante-chamber, exactly of the same extent with the Hypocaust, with an opening in the middle into it. This is sunk nearly two feet below the level of the former, and is of the same rectangular figure; so that both together are an exact square. This was the room allotted for the slaves who attended to heat the place; the other was the receptacle of the fuel designed to heat the room above, the concamerata sudatis, or sweating chamber; where people were seated either in niches, or on benches, placed one above the other, during the time of the operation. Such was the object of the Hypocaust; for there were others of different forms, tor the purpose of heating the water destined for the use of the bathers.
Chester has many curiosities."
In his 1785 work An Account of the Musical Performances... in Commemoration of Handel the English music historian Charles Burney (1726-1814) related the following anecdote about the great composer:
"When Handel travelled through Chester, on his way to Ireland, this year, 1741 (to give the first performance of Messiah), I was at the Public School in that city and very well remember seeing him smoke a pipe, over a dish of coffee, at the Exchange Coffee House; for being extremely curious to see so extraordinary a man, I watched him narrowly as long as he remained in Chester, which, on account of the wind being unfavourable for his embarking at Parkgate, was several days. During this time, he applied to Mr. Baker, the Organist, my first music master, to know whether there were any choirmen in the cathedral who could sing at sight, as he wished to prove some books that had been hastily transcribed, by trying the choruses which he intended to perform in Ireland. Mr. Baker mentioned some of the most likely singers then in Chester, and, among the rest, a printer the name of Janson, who had a good bass voice and was one of the best musicians in the choir.
A time was fixed for this private rehearsal at the Golden Falcon (in Northgate Street), where Handel was quartered; but, alas! on trial of the chorus in the Messiah, 'And with his stripes we are healed,' poor Janson, after repeated attempts, failed so egregiously, that Handel let loose his great bear upon him; and after swearing in four or five languages, cried out in broken English, "You shcauntrel [scoundrel]! tit not you dell me dat you could sing at soite [sight]?"
Janson : "Yes, sir, and so I can, but not at first sight." |
