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A Virtual Stroll Around the Walls of Chester
Chester's Visitors through the Ages: 61 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
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he 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
'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.”
Right: Chester Railway Station was built in 1848, designed in the Italianate style by Francis Thompson and built by the great civil engineering contractor Thomas Brassey, who was born near Chester in 1805. (By time of his death in 1870 he had built one mile in every 20 of railway in the world!) Its exterior looks much the same today, having been beautifully restored in 2008.
"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...
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."
James
Boswell,
9th Laird of Auchinleck (1740-1795) was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is best known for his biography of
of
Dr. Samuel
Johnson
(1709-84).
This
is
part
of
a
letter
to
Johnson,
dated
October
22nd
1779-
written
as
he
"passed
a
fortnight
in
mortal
felicity"
enjoying
the
company
of
a
"great
many
genteel
families"-
and
is
one
of
several
expressing
his
delight
in
Chester
and
its
feminine
society...
"We
got
to
Chester
about
midnight
on
Tuesday;
and
here
again
I
am
in
a
state
of
much
enjoyment
.
.
.
Chester
pleases
my
fancy
more
than
any
town
I
ever
saw.
I
told
a
very
pleasing
young
lady,
niece
to
one
of
the
Prebendaries,
at
whose
house
I
saw
her,
"I
have
come
to
Chester,
Madam,
I
cannot
tell
how;
and
far
less
can
I
tell
how
I
am
to
get
away
from
it."
How long I shall stay here, I cannot yet say. Do not think me too juvenile. I beg it of you, my dear Sir, to favour me with a letter while I am here, and add to tho happiness of a happy friend who is ever, with affectionate veneration,
Most sincerely yours, JAMES BOSWELL".
Dr. Johnson replied, "In the place where you are, there is much to be observed, and you will easily procure yourself skilful directors."
In
another
letter,
Boswell
says,
"I
was
quite
enchanted
at
Chester,
so
that
I
could
with
difficulty
quit
it".
In
1794,
Anna
Seward
wrote,
"With
the
odd
ancientry
of
Chester
we
were
much
amused,
it
renders
this
city
perfectly
unique."
G. H. Steele
visited
Chester
in
the
course
of
a
short
tour
of
Lancashire,
Cheshire
and
North
Wales.
Little
is
known
of
him,
except
that
he
was
born
in
Prenton
about
1791,
and
was
apparently
living
in
London
when
he
wrote
his
account
of
the
tour.
This
extract
is
dated
Tuesday,
18th
August
1818...
"We
then
reach
the
antient
city
of
Chester...
We
first
enter
this
city
by
Upper
Northgate
Street,
in
the
centre
of
which
we
pass
under
an
antient
gate
termed
Northgate
-having
three
others,
viz.,
Southgate
(?),
Eastgate
and
Westgate.
In
Eastgate
street
is
a
handsome
inn
called
the
Royal
hotel,
kept
by
G.
[Thomas]
Jackson...
We
stopt
at
the
White
Lion
in
Northgate
Street,
kept
by
W.
Tomlinson.
Close
to
the
door
of
this
inn
is
a
mile
stone,
182
miles
from
London.
Arrive
in
Chester
about
half
past
11
o'c.
a.m.
Close
to
the
White
Lion
is
Dickson's
Bank.
Went
to
view
the
antient
Cathedral.
The
interior
of
it
strikes
a
stranger
more
with
veneration
and
reverence
for
the
antiquity
of
its
sacred
walls
than
with
astonishment
and
admiration
which
can
only
be
excited
over
some
peculiar
grace
or
elegance
displayed
in
the
architecture.
This
Cathedral
has
little
to
boast
of
in
that
respect
being
remarkable
for
its
plainness...
In
Northgate
Street
is
the
Town
hall
and
the
Market
place,
both
of
which
are
close
to
the
White
Lion,
from
which
inn
I
left
about
half
past
12
o'c.
noon
per
Shrewsbury
coach
for
Wrexham,
having
remained
I
hour
and
a
half
at
Chester;
the
name
of
the
coach
is
Highflyer.
Just
beyond
the
city
on
the
road
to
Wrexham
we
passed
over
a
stone
bridge
built
ovor
the
Dee.
From
it
observed
the
Prison,
a
large
stone
building"
Thomas
De
Quincey,
the
'English
Opium
Eater',
frequently
came
to
Chester
to
'dry
out'
and
in
order
to
evade
creditors
and
officers
of
the
law.
His
mother
lived
in
a
house
known
as
the
'Priory',
situated
among
the
now-vanished
ancient
buildings
near
St.
John's
Church.
De
Quincey
wrote
about
his
wanderings
near
the
river
Dee
in
his
great
Confessions
of
1821:
"The
streets
could
be
evaded
by
shaping
a
course
along
the
city
walls;
which
I
did,
and
descended
into
some
obscure
lane
that
brought
me
gradually
to
the
banks
of
the
river
Dee.
In
the
infancy
of
its
course
amongst
the
Denbighshire
mountains,
this
river,
famous
in
our
pre-Norman
history
for
the
earliest
parade
of
English
monarchy
(it
was
a
very
scenical
parade,
for
somewhere
along
this
reach
of
the
Dee,
Edgar,
the
first
sovereign
of
all
England,
was
rowed
by
nine
vassals
reguli)
-is
wild
and
picturesque,
and
even
below
my
mother's
Priory
it
wears
a
character
of
interest.
But,
a
mile
or
so
nearer
to
its
mouth,
when
leaving
Chester
for
Parkgate,
it
becomes
miserably
tame;
and
the
several
reaches
of
the
river
take
the
appearance
of
formal
canals.
On
the
right
bank
of
the
river
runs
an
artificial
mound,
called
The
Cop.
It
was,
I
believe,
originally
a
Danish
work;
and
certainly
its
name
is
Danish
(i.e.
Icelandic
or
Old
Danish)
and
the
same
from
which
is
derived
our
architectural
word
coping.
Upon
this
bank
I
was
walking
and
throwing
my
gaze
along
the
formal
vista
presented
by
the
river.
Some
trifle
of
anxiety
might
mingle
with
this
gaze
at
the
first,
lest
perhaps
Philistines
might
be
abroad...
but
I
have
generally
found
that,
if
you
are
in
quest
of
some
certain
escape
from
Philistines
of
whatsoever
class-
sheriff-officers,
bores,
no
matter
what-
the
surest
refuge
is
to
be
found
amongst
hedgerows
and
fields,
amongst
cows
and
sheep..."
He went on to describe, in quite a comical passage, his terror at encountering for the first time the tidal phenomenon known as the Bore of the Dee:
"An affectation to which only some few rivers here and there were liable... so ignorant was I that, until that moment, I had never heard of such a nervous affection in rivers. Subsequently I found that the neighbouring river Severn, a far more important stream, suffered at spring-tides the same kind of hysterics..."
Colonel Robert Browne McGregor was an officer of the 88th regiment Connaught Rangers and stationed at Chester Castle in 1825 when he penned the following elegy for the declining fortunes of the River Dee and once-great Port of Chester:
How oft in my youth with a pleasing emotion, Majestic and gay were the vessels adorning How proudly I gaz'd on thy port that was crowded How changed are thy prospects, thou once lovely river! Sweet stream- which the Druids in proud veneration I stand on thy banks, in their beauty degraded, |
This somewhat disparaging description of Chester appeared in the London press- and was later reprinted in the local- in October 1825. Its writer is unknown.
"Chester is a town which is full of tit-bits for an antiquarian palate, but exceedingly ill-provided with the agreeabilities of the present day. Its character of virtue it can never lose, but many of the outward signs are fast going into decay, and what between the pulling down of old houses and the blocking up of the Rows, none but the antiquarian of the true Church will soon be able to recognise it. So ably is the hand of time seconded by the work of man, that the Board of Ordnance have now cased in fine cut stone Caesar's Tower, as it was called, one of the most perfect and prominent objects in the town".
(This presumably refers to the refacing of the medieval Agricola Tower during Thomas Harrison's rebuilding of the Castle).
"The country in the neighbourhood, almost to the very walls, is beautiful in the extreme, but the first step within the gates gives the appearance of a doleful contrast which increases with every turn. The only place which appears to have been intended to unite the agreeable with the useful is the common jail. The inhabitants of that security are well clad, clean and comfortable, with well-flagged yards, while the streets are rudely paved with pointed stones and every ward has a snug flower garden before it.
There is no place of public amusement, but there is a capital bridge, and a rapid stream under it.
The great body of the people are strangely mixed up, of native English, stray Welsh, and imported Irish, and their voices, persons and language bear evidences of the ill-assorted compound. The Welsh is the most decided caste but Paddy has not been deficient, and, if one may judge by that distinctive attribute, a heavy heel, the fair sex are stamped with the marks of Milesian manufacture".
(After Milesius, legendary ancestor of the Irish people.)
"Jaunting cars, those most Irish and most convenient of one-horse vehicles, are numerous and very genteel moreover. But the most Irish concerns in Chester are the low, common public houses- the windows stuck full of red bills, the doors wide open to the street, and a crowd of ragged fellows, dram-drinking at the counters. When Chester was a garrison town, it was a gay and lively place, but politics have completely upset it.
The coach proprietors of Chester, aware of the disagreeabilities, afford strangers every every facility for quitting it. A steam boat goes to the mouth of the Dee and lands you on the Welsh coast for 9d; a coach from Liverpool to Oswestry through Chester takes you the whole way, 46 miles, for 3s 6d; and coaches from Chester to Liverpool, including the steam boat passage, 2s. Beware of the inns. Tea for one, "nothing with it", 2s; breakfast, a chop and one egg, 2s 6d."
Washington Irving (1783-1859), the American short story writer, essayist, poet, travel book writer, biographer, and columnist- best remembered today for his stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, in which the schoolmaster Ichabold Crane meets with a headless horseman, and Rip Van Winkle, about a man who falls asleep for 20 years- visited Chester around 1825 and recalled,
"I shall never forget the delight I felt on first seeing a May-pole. It was on the banks of the Dee, close by the picturesque old bridge that stretches across the river from the quaint little city of Chester. I had already been carried back into former days by the antiquities of that venerable place... the May-pole on the margin of that poetic stream completed the illusion. My fancy adorned it with wreaths of flowers and peopled the green bank with all the dancing revelry of May-day. The mere sight of this May-pole gave a glow to my feelings and spread a charm over the country for the rest of the day".
The composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47) made his first visit to England in 1829 and in September of that year stayed with the family of Mr John Taylor at Coed Ddu near Mold. Before arriving there, he paid a visit to Chester, which he described in a letter to his father, "A bright scene presented itself; the broad town walls made a promenade round the town and there I saw a girl's school marching along which I followed with my sketch book. The girls looked very pretty, the distance very blue, the houses and towers in the foreground dark grey".
George
Borrow
(1803-1881),
linguist,
traveller
and
writer was born in Norfolk. His father was a soldier and moved throughout the British Isles taking his young son with him. His early apprenticeship to a solicitor suggested that a career in law was likely but Borrow took to literature and moved to London, notably editing Celebrated Trials and Remarkable Cases of Criminal Jurisprudence (1825).
Suffering not for the first or last time from manic depression, Borrow left London after about a year and began a lifelong pilgrimage around first England and then the continent (France, Germany, Spain, Russia and further east). Along the way, he made every effort to study the languages he came across and while in Spain and Russia he acted as an agent for the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Settling down in Oulton Broad, Suffolk and marrying a moneyed widow, Borrow began to write, documenting his experiences upon his travels. The Zincali, or an Account of the Gypsies in Spain (1841) and The Bible in Spain (1843) gave the author instantaneous success. His novel Lavengro (1851) is considered to be his masterwork, but The Romany Rye (1857) is also well regarded.
Here is an extract from chapter 68 of Lavengro, in which his characters discuss Chester Castle:
"Would you have me go to Chester and work there now? I don’t like the thoughts of it. If I go to Chester and work there, I can’t be my own man; I must work under a master, and perhaps he and I should quarrel, and when I quarrel I am apt to hit folks, and those that hit folks are sometimes sent to prison; I don’t like the thought either of going to Chester or to Chester prison. What do you think I could earn at Chester?"
Tinker:"A matter of eleven shillings a week, if anybody would employ you, which I don’t think they would with those hands of yours. But whether they would or not, if you are of a quarrelsome nature you must not go to Chester; you would be in the castle in no time".
In 1854, Borrow embarked upon a walking tour of Wales- in whose language he had, remarkably,
become fluent as a young man. He recorded his experiences in his book Wild
Wales
(1862). Here he describes the commencement of his journey in Chester...
"On
arriving
at
Chester
at
which
place
we
intended
to
spend
two
or
three
days,
we
put
up
at
an
old-fashioned
inn
in
Northgate
Street,
(
probably
the Pied
Bull)
to
which
we
had
been
recommended;
my
wife
and
daughter
ordered
tea
and
its
accompaniments,
and
I
ordered
ale,
and
that
which
always
should
accompany
it,
cheese.
"The
ale
I
shall
find
bad".
said
I;
Chester
ale
had
a
villainous
character
in
the
time
of
old
Sion
Tudor,
who
made
a
first-rate
englyn
upon
it,
and
it
has
scarcely
improved
since;
"but
I
shall
have
a
treat
in
the
cheese,
Cheshire
cheese
has
always
been
reckoned
excellent,
and
now
that
I
am
in
the
capital
of
the
cheese
country,
of
course
I
shall
have
some
of
the
very
prime."
Well,
the
tea,
loaf
and
butter
made
their
appearance,
and
with
them
my
cheese
and
ale.
To
my
horror
the
cheese
had
much
the
appearance
of
soap
of
the
commonest
kind,
which
indeed
I
found
it
much
resembled
in
taste,
on
putting
a
small
portion
into
my
mouth.
"Ah,"
said
I,
after
I
had
opened
the
window
and
ejected
the
half
masticated
morsel
into
the
street,
"those
who
wish
to
regale
on
good
Cheshire
cheese
must
not
come
to
Chester,
no
more
than
those
who
wish
to
drink
first
rate
coffee
must
go
to
Mocha.
1'll
now
see
whether
he
ale
is
drinkable,"
so
I
took
a
little
of
the
ale
into
my
mouth,
and
instantly
going
to
the
window,
spirted
it
out
after
the
cheese.
"Of
a
surety,"
said
I,
"Chester
ale
must
be
of
much
the
same
quality
as
it
was
in
the
time
of
Sion
Tudor,
who
spoke
of
it
to
the
following
effect:
"Chester ale, Chester ale! I could ne'er get it down,
'Tis made of ground-ivy, of dirt, and of bran,
'Tis as thick as a river below a huge town !
'Tis not lap for a dog, far less drink for a man..."
"Upon
the whole we found ourselves very comfortable in the old-fashioned inn, which
was kept by a nice old-fashioned gentlewoman, with the assistance of three servants,
namely, a "boots" and two strapping chamber maids, one of which was a Welsh girl,
with whom I soon scraped acquaintance, not, I assure the reader, for the sake
of the pretty Welsh eyes she carried in her head, but for the sake of the pretty
Welsh tongue which she carried in her mouth, from which I confess occasionally
proceeded sounds which, however pretty, I was quite unable to understand...
On the morning after our arrival we went out together, and walked up and down
several streets; my wife and daughter, however, soon leaving me to go into a shop,
I strolled about by myself. Chester is an ancient town with walls and gates, a
prison called a castle, built on the site of an ancient keep, an unpretending-looking
red sandstone cathedral, two or three handsome churches, several good streets,
and certain curious places called rows. The Chester row is a broad arched stone
gallery running parallel with the street within the facades of the houses; it
is partly open on the side of the street, and just one story above it. Within
the rows, of which there are three or four, are shops, every shop being on that
side which is farthest from the street. All the best shops in Chester are to be
found in the rows. These rows, to which you ascend by stairs up narrow passages,
were originally built for the security of the wares of the principal merchants
against the Welsh. Should the mountaineers break into the town, as they frequently
did, they might rifle some of the common shops, where their booty would be slight,
but those which contained the more costly articles would be beyond their reach;
for at the first alarm the doors of the passages, up which the stairs led, would
be closed, and all access to the upper streets cut off, from the open arches of
which missiles of all kinds, kept ready for such occasions, could be discharged
upon the intruders, who would be soon glad to beat a retreat. These rows and the
walls are certainly the most remarkable memorials of old times which Chester has
to boast of."
"Upon the walls it is possible to make the whole compass of the city, there being a good but narrow walk upon them. The northern wall abuts upon a frightful ravine, at the bottom which there is a canal. From the western one there is a noble view of the Welsh hills."
( You may read Borrow's conversation with a local regarding the name of one of
those hills by going here)
One final Borrow quote, upon a subject close to his heart, that of good ale:
"Oh, genial and gladdening is the power of good ale, the true and proper drink of Englishmen! He is not deserving of the name of Englishman who speaketh against ale, that is good ale... and yet there are beings, calling themselves Englishmen, who say that it is a sin to drink a cup of ale... and exclaim, ‘The man is evidently a bad man, for behold, by his own confession, he is not only fond of ale himself, but is in the habit of tempting other people with it.’ Alas! alas! what a number of silly individuals there are in this world".
(Lavengro: chapter 68)
• You may be interested to learn that the entire text of Wild Wales is freely available to read and download here.
Thomas Hughes (1826-1890) was a man after our own hearts as he was the author, in 1856, of the Stranger's Handbook to Chester, a guide to our city which set the style for numerous later publications and to which we have frequently resorted during the research for our own Chester Virtual Stroll.
Born in Chester, he attended the King's School, which was then housed in the old monk's refectory in the Cathedral.
Later in life, he became a governor of the school and founder of its old boys' association. He was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, served as Sheriff of Chester and also as warden of the venerable St. John's Church, which was hisplace of worship for 30 years. His home was The Mount, a picturesque old house raised upon an embankment which formerly stood in St. Werburgh Street opposite the Cathedral and Music Hall. Just before it was demolished, he commissioned a picture of it from eminent local landscape artist Louise Raynor. (The site is today occupied by St. Werburgh's Row, built in 1935 and designed by Maxwell Ayerton, who was also the architect of the now-demolished Wembley Stadium, with its world-famous twin towers). His humble grave may, with some difficulty, be found in thick undergrowth in Chester's remarkable Overleigh Cemetery.
Perhaps better known outside Chester is another Thomas Hughes (1822-1896) who, a year after his namesake had pubished his Stranger's Guide, issued a novel which remains familiar today (or, perhaps, the classic film later made of it)- Tom Brown's Schooldays, written when he was 35.
Born in Berkshire, he attended Rugby School under its famous Head, Dr. Arnold, and later became a barrister, a Liberal MP and then, in 1882 he came to Chester at the age of 60 as a circuit judge. He had a grand turretted house built at 20 Dee Hills Park, overlooking the river, where he lived from 1885 until his death in 1896. His fine house (illustrated right) remains with us today, a familiar sight to walkers on the Meadows.
Printed
in
the
US
Boston
Mirror
in
June
1848
was
an
account
of
a
visit
to
Chester
by
one
C. M. Kirkland.
Here
are
some
extracts...
"The
aspect
presented
on
entering
is
simply
that
of
an
old,
illbuilt,
narrow-streeted
town,
with
houses
leaning
over
the
pathway;
windows
of
every
conceivable
irregularity
of
size,
shape
and
position;
people
looking
quaint
enough
to
be
in
keeping
with
these
surroundings;
and
a
general
air
of
"the
world
forgetting
by
the
world
forgot"
about
it,
curious
enough
to
one
fresh
from
the
bustle
of
New
York.
The wall is not very obvious until one is absolutely upon it, for it is so hemmed
in, both inside and out, by houses, that it is only by chance that it appears
in its true character. The top is flagged, and kept beautifully clean and accessible
by numerous flights of steps, and furnishes one of the most beautiful walks
imaginable. The prospect from it is magnificent- on every side stretches England's
fairest and richest expanse of hill and dale; old towers, picturesque and overgrown
with ivy and wallflower, peep out here and there; in the background, far to
the south-west, lie the Welsh mountains, hoary in distance, all about your very
feet the crumbling walls of ancient churches, and the great cathedral, which
looks almost as old as the mountains. It is not reckoned among the fine ones
of England, but to us, fresh from staring new churches, it was very attractive.
The outside looked as if time would not spare it much longer; the stones are
so worn away by the weather that the outline is not only an undulating one,
but scalloped, to borrow a word from the dressmaker... One is apt to
suspect a painter of exaggerating in his outlines, but Chester cathedral would
lose nothing of romantic interest if represented by the daguerrotype.
It is really strange to see how the vicinity of true and noble antiquity puts
to shame all modern erections. We could find no other reason for the almost
contempt with which Eaton Hall- much sought after by travellers- inspired
us. This show-place, the principal seat of the Marquis of Westminister, looked
quite like a gothic toy of cardboard, after Chester... We wondered at the taste
which could erect a modern gothic villa almost under the walls of Chester.
As you walk the streets, you see how romance was born in England. Instead of
great staring rows of houses, in the plan of whose fronts all shadow is excluded
as if it were death, we have upper stories projecting over the street and deep
recesses with only a railing in front where the families appear, at their various
occupations. It is as if the whole second storey were drawn back some ten or
twelve feet, leaving a shaded parlour without a front...
We do not expect to find any portion of England more characteristic and interesting
than Chester. It breathes of feudal times, and is enveloped in associations
of romance and poetry...
To
be
sent
to
West
Chester
is
a
proverb
quoted
in
Notes
and
Queries
in
1851:
"Passing
through
a
village
only
six
miles
from
London
last
week,
I
heard
a
mother
saying
to
a
child,
'If
you
are
not
a
good
girl
I
will
send
you
to
West
Chester.'"
Chester
was
commonly
known
as
West
Chester
during
the
18th
and
early
19th
centuries.
To
be
sent
hence
in
earlier
times
was
to
be
sent
into
banishment
i.e.
into
Ireland.
Nathaniel
Hawthorne,
author
and
US
consul
in
Liverpool,
visited
Chester
in
1853
and
said
"I
must
go
again
and
again
to
Chester,
for
I
suppose
there
is
no
more
curious
place
in
the
world."
Celebrated
author
of
Moby
Dick,
Herman
Melville
visited
while
staying
with
Hawthorne
in
1856
and
partook
of
a
"very
comfortable
meal"
upstairs
in
the
Rows
in
"an
antique
room
fronting
onto
the
street...
with
a
good
fire"
and
some
"Bass's
ale."
Melville's
little-known
early
novel
Redburn
(1849)
vividly
recalls
his
experiences
as
a
boy
sailor
thirty
years
earlier
during
a
voyage
from
New
York
to
Liverpool
(a
few
miles
from
Chester)
and
of
his
wanderings
through
the
town
during
the
weeks
his
ship,
the
Highlander,
was
berthed
there.
You
can
read
his
fascinating
description
of
Prince's
Dock
Here.
Charles Kingsley (1819-1875). In 1869 the good people of Chester received news of the Devil coming to town. Moreover, he was booked for a long stay! There was understandably some consternation. The Devil had assumed an earthly guise- that of Charles Kingsley, known to us as the author of The Water Babies but in his time he was the 'Red Canon' of the mid-Victorian era- a Christian Socialist, Chartist supporter, friend of trade unions and similar heretical ideas.
Kingsley preached such incendiary ideals as universal brotherhood, equality for women, giving all your worldly wealth to the poor, and so forth, which was all very well in church on a Sunday, but was felt to be a bit impractical for daily life - not to say downright dangerous!
The author of these high-flown principles had begun his career as a radical-minded crowd-puller with fiery speeches and a series of pamphlets on the political themes of the day. He had become a leading light in the Chartist movement and was always in the van of their marches and demonstrations. His rousing speeches at their rallies had alarmed the upper classes with nightmare visions of the revolutionary mobs surging up the Mall and a guillotine in Trafalgar Square.
As the Chartist campaign quietened, Kingsley had advanced his position in the Church of England. While still sponsoring minority causes, he had also turned to literature and began to make a name for himself as an author, producing in 1850 his first novel Alton Locke, followed in 1851 by Yeast, both dealing with contemporary social problems in a forthright way. In Hypatia (1853) he had dealt with the highly intellectual subject of early Christianity in conflict with Greek philosophy at Alexandria. In 1855 had come the very different Westward Ho!, that rousing adventure of Elizabethans on the Spanish Main. In 1863, there appeared what is probably his best known title, The Water Babies, and in 1866 Hereward the Wake, a tale of Saxons versus their Norman overlords in medieval England. In between these works he continued to write for publications such as Christian Socialist and Politics for the People.
The surprising thing was, that with all his revolutionary writings, Kingsley was well received at Court, being Chaplain to the Queen and tutor to the Prince of Wales. In 1860 he was appointed to the Professorship of Modern History at Cambridge, which he held until 1870.
Such then, was the firebrand who now descended upon peaceful Chester. But the natives need not have worried. Like many rebels, Kingsley's fire had cooled to a mere glow with the passing years, and the slow realisation that life and humanity are infinitely more complex than they appear in the bright light of youthful idealism. Literature and scientific studies were now his priority. He was to spend his three years in Chester very happily. As his wife Mary commented: "My husband likes his cathedral services, especially the twice daily ones. He feels his soul at anchor in those two hours. Afterwards he can take refuge in the Chapter and Library Room when we are likely to be invaded at the Residence. There he is safe from the eager parties of Americans whose first desire, after disembarking at Liverpool, is to move inland in search of the oldest thing they can find, ie, the Cathedral."
He himself later remarked of his time in Chester "I do love this place and people and long to be back (in Abbey Square) for our Spring residence".
Kingsley's sermons drew large congregations, and soon, when people discovered that he did not sprout a pair of horns after all, they grew to love him. Although he was to spend only three months of each of the three years in Chester, his impact on the community was considerable.
Keenly interested in the sciences and in cultural activities, he decided to raise money for the City Library by starting evening classes in botany. Advertised at 3d for the evening, the idea attracted 40 young people of both sexes. The presence of women, however, alarmed Kingsley. Although he had in the past supported women's rights, he did not favour the idea that both sexes should learn together. As he said: "The presence of young ladies might prove too strong a counter attraction. Let Mr John Price take the ladies. He is the nicest man and should have the nicest pupils."
Soon the two classes had grown, and Kingsley was leading parties of more than a hundred out into the countryside for fieldwork. Eventually a special train was hired for a full day out to places of interest further afield. All the students, even from different social classes, travelled together, returning at the end of the summer's day "refreshed, inspired, with nosegays of wild flowers and happy thoughts of God's earth and of their fellow creatures."
These classes led to the formation of Chester Natural History Society, which met in its member's homes until the Grosvenor Museum was built. The Society shared in the museum's management, held classes and lectures and contributed the natural history gallery. The splendid Grosvenor Museum continues to thrive today, these duties now being the responsibility of the city council. A marble bust of its founder can be seen today in the entrance to the Natural Sciences Gallery.
The time came when Kingsley had to write to the Society's Secretary that "the programme of your Society for the year makes me at once proud and envious. For now I have to tell you that I have just accepted the vacant stall at Westminster, and shall in a week or two be Canon of Chester no longer. Had I been an old bachelor, I would never have left Chester. Shall we go up Hope Mountain, or the Halkin together again, with all those dear, courteous, sensible people? My eyes filled with tears when I think of it."
It was the Prime Minister, William Gladstone who recommended him for Westminster, and he was never to return to Chester.
In 1873 he published Town Geology, a work based upon his many tours of Chester with his students, and in 1874 came his final work, Prose Idylls. One of his most evocative poems spelling his love for the countryside goes:
| Leave to Robert Browning Beggers, fleas and vines; Leave to Squeamish Ruskin Popish Apennines, Dirty stones of Venice And his gas lamps seven; We've the stones of Snowdon And the lamps of Heaven. |
Always of a highly nervous temperament, his over-exertion resulted in repeated failures of health, and he died in 1875 at the age of 56. Though hot-tempered and combative, he was a man of singularly noble character. His type of religion, cheerful and robust, was described as 'muscular Christianity'. Strenuous, eager, and keen in feeling, he was not either a profoundly learned, or perhaps very impartial, historian, but all his writings are marked by a bracing and manly atmosphere, intense sympathy, and great descriptive power. His poem, The Sands of Dee (from his first novel, Alton Locke) captured the melancoly atmosphere of the treacherous deserted flats and wastes of shifting sands where once Chester's mighty river flowed:
| Oh Mary, go and call the cattle home, And call the cattle home, And call the cattle home Across the sands of Dee; The western wind was wild and dank with foam, And all along went she. The western tide crept up along the sand, And o'er and o'er the sand, And round and round the sand, As far as eye could see. The rolling mist came down and hid the land: And never home came she. |
Oh! is it weed, or fish, or floating hair- A tress of golden hair, A drowned maidens hair Above the nets at sea? Was never a salmon yet that shone so fair Among the stakes on Dee. They rowed her in across the rolling foam The cruel crawling foam, The cruel hungry foam, To her grave beside the sea; But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle home Across the sands of Dee. |
Canon Kingsley was a vehement opponent of Chester Races. He described racegoers as "knaves and black fools", prone to wriggle out of their responsibilities with far-fetched excuses. Aiming his attack at the 'young men of Chester', the good Canon put forward some interesting opinions on the evils of betting, a means, he contended, of procuring money out if a neighbour's ignorance, "If you and he bet on any event, you think that your horse will win; he thinks his will, or he knows the winner. In plain English, you think that you know more about the matter and try to take advantage of his ignorance".
Lewis
Carroll
(Charles
Lutwidge
Dodson: 1832-1898)
was
born
at
the parsonage in Daresbury,
a
few
miles
from
Chester,
in
1832.
Familiar
to
us
all
is
this
scene
from
his
immortal
Alice
in
Wonderland
published
in
1865:
"Please
would
you
tell
me'
said
Alice
a
little
timidly,
for
she
was
not
quite
sure
whether
it
was
good
manners
for
her
to
speak
first,
'why
your
cat
grins
like
that?'
'It's
a
Cheshire
cat'
said
the
Duchess;
'and
that's
why.'
'I
didn't
know
that
Cheshire
cats
always
grinned;
in
fact,
I
didn't
know
that
cats
could grin.'
'They
all
can,'
said
the
Duchess;
'and
most
of
'em
do".
We
all
imagine
this
Cheshire
cat
to
be
an
invention
of
Carroll's
fertile
imagination,
but
it
is
mentioned
in
Kingsley's
Water
Babies, published
two
years
earlier
in
1863:
"The
otter
grew
so
proud
that
she
turned
head
over
heels
twice,
and
then
stood
upright
half
out
of
the
water,
grinning
like
a
Cheshire
cat".
The
Wordsworth
Dictionary
of
Proverbs lists
at
least
two
earlier
examples:
in
Peter Pindar's Pair of Lyric Epistles of
1795
we
have,
"Yet,
if
successful,
thou
wilt
be
adored-
Lo,
like
a
Cheshire
cat
our
Court
will
grin!"
(Peter Pindar was a pseudonym of John Wolcot, or Wolcott, who died in 1819)- and
also
in
Scott's
Family
Letters of
1855:
"Ever
since
the
Polts
have
grinned
at
me
like
so
many
Cheshire
cats".
The
Cheshire
Cat
is
known
to
go
back
much
further
in
time
and
is,
curiously,
associated
with
the
making
of
Cheshire
cheese.
It
is
recorded
that
part
of
the
process
would
involve
cutting
the
cheese
into
what
looked
like
the
smile
of
a
cat-
hence
the
'grin'
of
the
Cheshire
Cat- and, perhaps even an explanation for the expression, 'cheesy grin'...
This
website
will
tell
you
all
you
want
to
know
about
Lewis
Carroll's
birthplace
and
the
village
of
Daresbury.
• Many years before the 'Alice' stories were given life, cats gave rise to more than a little trouble in the famous streets of Chester.
In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte was firmly banished to St. Helena. A large number of what was known as 'genteel families' plus a contingent of the British Army were detailed to accompany him. King George III's minister, somewhat distressed by the infestation of rats on the isle, decided firm steps were necessary to eradicate the menace and to this purpose it was agreed to purchase as many cats and kittens as could be delivered in the time allotted before sailing. Consequently, handbills were circulated throughout the land and on the streets of Chester. These are the rates advertised for the aquisition of said felines:
16/- for an athletic fully grown Tom.
l0/- for an adult female puss.
2/6 for every kitten.
Three days later, at the appointed time and place, there converged a great multitude, all carrying sacks containing squirming, shrieking felines, nearly 3,000 in all. Soon the gathering was so numerous it was difficult to move, tempers flared, fights broke out and sacks were dropped, disgorging the hissing, scratching contents onto the streets of Chester.
The citizens watching from their windows, who were at first bemused by this event now suddenly found themselves under siege by a plague of cats- followed by, in many cases, the canine population of the city- through the windows, along the balconies, across the drawing rooms, shattering in a million pieces china and glass and leaving a wake of total destruction.
Retribution was swift, however, and soon no cat was safe- wherever puss was seen, reprisals were taken. The engagement lasted for hours until finally the moggies took rout. A few managed to escape, but for most a watery grave was to be their ignominious end, and the next day more than 500 were counted floating in the River Dee.
Dr Oliver Wendell Holmes was an American physician and professor who also achieved fame as a writer. During his lifetime, he was one of the best regarded poets of the 19th century and is considered a member of the Fireside Poets. He made a tour of Europe in 1886-7 during which he visited Chester. His memories of the trip, One Hundreds Days in Europe, included the following...
"Americans know Chester better than most other old towns in England because they so frequently stop there on their way from Liverpool to London. It has a mouldy old Cathedral, an old wall partly Roman, and strange old houses with overhanging upper floors, which make sheltered sidewalks and dark basements. When one sees an old house in New England with the second floor projecting a foot or two beyond the wall of the ground floor, country boys will tell him that "them haouses was built so th't folks upstairs could shoot Injins when they was tryin' to get threew th' door or int' th' winder". There are plenty of such houses all over England, where there are no "Injins" to shoot....
The walk round the old wall of Chester is wonderfully interesting and beautiful. At one part it overlooks a wide level field, over which the annual races are run. I noticed that here, as elsewhere, the short grass was starred with daisies. They are not considered in place in a well-kept lawn. But remembering the Cuckoo Song in Love's Labour's Lost, "When daisies pied.. do paint the meadows with delight". It was hard to look at them as unwelcome intruders.
The old Cathedral seemed to me particularly mouldy, and in fact too high-flavoured with antiquity. I could not help comparing some of the ancient cathedrals and abbey churches to so many old cheeses. They have a tough grey rind and a rich interior, which find food and lodging for numerous tenants who live and die under their shelter and shadow- lonely servitors, some of them portly dignitaries and others humble holy ministers of religion, many, I doubt not, larvae of angels who will get their wings by and by. It is a shame to carry the comparison so far but it is natural enough; for Cheshire cheeses are among the first things we think of as we enter that section of the country and this venerable Cathedral is the first that greets the eyes of great numbers of Americans".
Holmes went on the describe and reflect upon what he saw at the Grosvenor's seat of Eaton Hall. he considered "the vast marble palace... disheartening and uninviting" but was most interested in the stables and horses...
On
to
more
Nineteenth Century
traveller's
tales
of
Chester...
Chester's
Visitors
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