Improvements

The wall at this point is pierced by a small postern or gateway. This was constructed as recently as 1883 after a considerable stretch of the inner face of this section collapsed and had to be rebuilt. During the course of this work, pieces of architecural decoration from demolished Roman buildings and inscribed tombstones and funerary monuments were discovered, mysteriously built into the core of the wall. When, four years later, in 1887, further repairs were carried out to the north wall in the vicinity of the Deanery Field, a great many similar finds were made. They range in date from around 70AD to the early third century and represent every type of citzen: soldiers and civilians, men and women, young and old- from France, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Turkey. The finest of them may be seen today in their own gallery at the Grosvenor Museum- one of the most important collections of Roman inscriptions and sculpture in north-west Europe.
This gateway through the walls leads to a newly-landscaped area that was, until very recently, occupied by an ugly building that had been used for purposes as diverse as rifle range, scout hut and shirt factory before being burnt out and sitting derelict for many years- a shameful blot in a sensitive setting.
The land was eventually acquired by the city council and funding obtained to improve the situation, with the results we can now see before us: a compact semi-circular arena with steps running down to the canal locks below, where the lower courses of the wall of the old building have been skilfully incorporated into the design.
If you enter and look at the inside of the city wall, you will see some complex and extremely impressive sections of the original Roman stones, dating from c.100AD. The gradual rising of the ground level over the centuries means that these courses would originally have been far higher and much of the Roman masonry remains buried below ground while later generations successively built on top of, or adjacent to, the older masonry, thus raising the wall to the present level.
The creation of a, more or less, level promenade along the wall's top during the eighteenth century also resulted in alterations in height, as some sections were reduced while others were raised- and occasionally completely rebuilt.

A cobbled ramp leads from here down to the canal towpath and Northgate Locks. The Chester Canal, which only went as far as Nantwich, was started in 1772 and this first section was opened three years later. It was a commercial flop and was in danger of closing when it was taken over by the larger Ellsmere Canal Company as part of an ambitious plan to unite the River Severn at Shrewsbury with the Rivers Dee and Mersey. The course across the Wirral to a junction with the Chester Canal at Tower Wharf opened in 1796- the junction itself opening a year later. There were originally five locks here, but these were reduced to three when the Wirral branch of the canal was added.

If you were to look down from the top of the cobbled slope where we now stand, you would until recently have noticed some wooden boards set into the towpath. These concealed a flight of stone steps which was provided for the use of horses in the event of their falling into the canal. The boards have been replaced with a metal cover as part of a recent, very welcome towpath restoration, but the emergency steps survive beneath.

Regaining the wall via the steps near Morgan's Mount, on our left- beyond the long strip of garden below- we see the deep cutting into which the canal has disappeared: the re-excavated original fosse of the Roman fortress.
Looking down Canning Street on the right, between the 1882 Eddington's Buildings and the much later, but still pleasing terrace of modern homes, King Charles' Court, we see the interesting variety of architectual styles and periods evident in the backs of the old houses in King Street. Laid out in Norman times, King Street was originally known as Barn Lane and linked Northgate Street with the Abbey of St. Werburgh's tithe barn, once situated in the Crofts in the northwestern corner of the city. This must have been a large building- the Abbey was richly endowed with many farms and thousands of acres of land. The recent archaeological dig at the Infirmary sought to find some trace of it, but with no success, and its site is now surmised to lie somewhere under the present Inner Ring Road.

Brewery
Moving on, we find ourselves peering through the windows of a modern office block, Centurion House, built in 1977 as the local branch of HM Customs and Excise, and inappropriate in scale and style for this attractive corner of the city. It stands on the site of the former Northgate Brewery- shown above- which closed down in 1969- and is currently the home of Cheshire's County Court. This situation, however, is due to change in the near future with the erection of a new court building in an absurdly-inappropriate location: the unexcavated half of Chester's Roman amphitheatre!

A mixture of wooden and metal barrels being filled from the great vat in which the beer was brewed in the Northgate Brewery's cellars sometime during the 1960s.

There seems to have once been a great number of inns in the short distance between here and the Northgate. One of these was the old Golden Falcon Inn, which was first recorded in 1704 and where, in 1741, the composer George Friderick Handel stayed. Prevented by bad weather from sailing for Ireland from the small port of Parkgate on the Wirral, he was forced to assemble a makeshift orchestra and chorus from the Cathedral and elsewhere to rehearse what would be, when he eventually arrived in Dublin, the first performance of his best-known work, Messiah.

Thirty years earlier, in 1711, the Duke of Ormonde, then lord-lieutenant of Ireland, stopped at the Falcon until the wind allowed him to proceed on his Journey from Parkgate to Ireland. On the morning when the Duke and his entourage were about to set out, one of the waiters at the inn ran after one of the duke's servants to demand payment for some articles he had omitted to discharge. The servant refused to pay, and the waiter, holding the horse's bridle, insisted on being paid before he would quit his hold. Upon this, the servant drew a pistol from his holsters, and shot the waiter dead on the spot. On the man being imprisoned, the Lord-lieutenant directed that if his servant was convicted, an express should immediately be sent to him so that he might apply to the King for his man's pardon.
The prisoner was tried and found guilty, and the Mayor being informed of the directions of the Lord-lieutenant, replied, "I will take care to save his Majesty and the Lord-lieutenant any further trouble in this matter" and gave orders that the man should be executed the day following his conviction.

The Duke of Cumberland stayed at the Golden Falcon in 1749, when he came to Chester to pursue his intrigue with Lady Henrietta, wife of the first Earl Grosvenor.

An even older inn, the White Bull, mentioned in 1642, was incorporated into the Golden Falcon in 1752. Assembly records show that a Row at the Hope and Anchor, four doors down from the Falcon, was enclosed in the early eighteenth century.

The inn was long in the hands of the Kenna family- and had been commonly referred to as Kenna's from at least 1711. The last of the family, Miss Catherine, died in 1770 but the inn had passed out of their hands by then- in 1763 it was acquired and partially rebuilt by George Smith, who also owned what was Chester's grandest coaching inn, the Golden Lion, which once stood where the entrance to the entrance to the Forum is now.
But the great days of the Falcon had passed away with the last of the Kenna family and, in spite of the improvements carried out by George Smith, custom diminished and the career of the inn as such came to an end and the premises were put to other uses. By 1772, this former Row had become a vinegar manufactory until George Eaton bought and eventually demolished all the properties on the site to build his brewery. His son, Peter Eaton expanded the business, altered the stables to take more fermenting vessels and sunk a 33 metre well. In 1849, he was given notice by the council to control the smoke coming from his furnaces. He served as Mayor of Chester in 1856-7.
No reference to the Falcon occurs in the 1782 directory and the building is then in the occupation of "John Tomlinson, surgeon". Thirteen years later, the premises are listed as in the occupancy of "Messrs, Tomlinson, Brewers, Northgate Street" and the doctor, presumably one of the owners, had moved to Bridge Street.

We have been informed that, around 1973- long after its demolition- the 'sitting room' from the Golden Falcon was re-erected in the beautiful Ness Gardens on the Wirral. It is said to be an interesting structure, roughly circular, which stands approximately 2-2.5 metres tall. Whether this is true- and, if so, where the old stones had lain during the intervening years- is anyone's guess...

A new brewery was built on the site in the 1850s. Eaton's Brewery eventually took over the Kelsterton and St. Winnifred's (Holywell) breweries and the company was bought out in 1864 by Henry Ford, Frederic Gunton and William Kelly, who formed the Northgate Brewing Company in 1889. They had 'bottling stores, wine and spirit vaults' at 7 Foregate Street and malt kilns on the east side of Lower Bridge Street and owned pubs throughout Cheshire and North Wales. The brewery was again taken over, in 1949, by Warrington-based Greenhall Whitley, who closed it down twenty years later and the buildings were demolished in 1971.

An advertisment in the Cheshire Observer of May 1882 stated "Northgate Brewery: March brewings of pale and mild ales and porter from one shilling per gallon". If only...

Northgate beer was evidently exported as well as being produced for local consumption. Reader Steve Jacobs kindly sent us this photograph of a Northgate Brewery bottle which he recently bought "in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, USA".

Archaeological investigation of the brewery site conducted in the early 1970s revealed evidence of Roman rampart buildings, an intervallum road that ran inside the wall and the foundations of barrack blocks.Also uncovered were many cellars and foundations dating from the14th to the 19th centuries.

Should you wander round to the main entrance of Centurion House, via Fireman's Square, you will see set into the pavement the attractive mosaic design- shown below- that was formerly set in the old brewery office doorway in Northgate Street. Fireman's Square, incidentally, is so-called because of its proximity to the ornate former fire station in Northgate Street- now home to a French restaurant- and the row of cottages still standing in the 'square' were erected in the 1920s to accomodate the firemen.

Looking over the other side, the long, low building nestling beneath the shelter of the wall on one side and suspended above the sheer drop to the canal on the other, is today a private residence but once served as a school- reader Charles Jones wrote to tell us that it was run by a Miss Smith and that his mother Dorothy, born 1919, had studied there. Before that, it served as a tollhouse from where monies were collected from those entering the town to conduct business and attend the fairs and markets. These tolls, known as murage, were used specifically for the upkeep of the city walls.

And so we arrive back at our starting point, the Northgate. We have walked just two miles, but have seen sights and heard stories from two thousand years of Chester's extraordinary history. I hope you found the experience stimulating and have enjoyed our brief time together.
I am constantly adding to the site- as time, money and inspiration allow- and would be very happy to receive your comments, suggestions and constructive criticism. Please bear in mind that my Virtual Stroll is very much a personal 'labour of love', designed to show you a little about how this remarkable city appears to me, warts and all, in these opening years of the twenty first century. It entertains no pretensions to being a definitive history of the City of Chester, excellent examples of which already exist for the benefit of those who wish to find out more. Particularly recommended are British History Online's A History of the County of Chester, Wikipedia's Chester pages and, hosted on our own site, Phil Jones' excellent Chester: the Fortress of Deva.

I have always provided the site freely, as a gift to you, dear readers. I am, however, finding it increasingly difficult to both feed the kids & pay the bills and find the time to keep the Virtual Stroll and its associated galleries anywhere near as up to date as I'd like (there are hundreds of new pictures and stories waiting to go online even now!) So, if you are in a position to offer even a small donation, provide sponsorship or would like to advertise your business on this, we think the finest of Chester's websites, go here for details...

Next time for real?
If you found this Virtual Stroll stimulating and are planning to visit Chester (or you live here already!) you may be interested in our real guided walks.
We can give your party a quick introductory tour of the city centre or conduct lengthy and detailed study walks, depending upon your requirements- and any sized party can be accomodated. (We can offer this service to those visiting the great city of Liverpool too). Go here to find out more or contact us to discuss your needs!
You are welcome to print this text and bring it with you- I'm sure, together with a decent map, it will prove a more helpful and entertaining companion than the numerous brief 'tourist guides' currently available locally- and for free!

Curiousities from Chester's History no. 28

• 1826 Chester Waterworks established, and the intake removed to Barrel Well Hill in Boughton, where by means of a powerful steam engine and double-force pumps, water was supplied to the city. The Old Dee Bridge was widened and a footpath incorporated, at a cost of £1500. Farmers paid 2/6d per load for manure recovered from the city streets. 'Brown's of Chester' in Eastgate Street was refaced with columns in the Doric style. April 26th. Execution of Abraham Stone for a robbery near Cow Lane Bridge under circumstances of great violence. The apparatus for the execution was moved from the east to the west end of the City Gaol, where, Hemingway reported, "These melancholy spectacles have ever since been exhibited". October: The first stone of the new bridge laid by the late Marquis of Westminister, attended by the Bishop, clergy, the Corporation and a vast number of citzens. World's first railway tunnel built as part of Liverpool-Manchester railway
  1828 July 24th and 25th. Excessive fall of rain and hail, which did immense injury to the city and neighbourhood. About fifteen yards of the city wall, between Abbey Street and the Phoenix Tower fell down "with a terrible crash, the earth having been completely excavated and washed away by the descending torrents". Vast quantities of hay and other agricultural produce were swept down the Dee, many cattle were drowned on the sands and the roads out of the city were completely inundated. Brown's of Chester trading
  1829 Sept 26th. Executions: Joseph Woodhouse, for the rape of his own daughter, and Joseph Henshall, for firing at a keeper while poaching. Cheshire County lunatic asylum opened
  1830 George IV died, William IV succeeded. St. Paul's, Boughton was built and the Infirmary was enlarged.
  1831 An average of 26 coaches daily left Chester for distant parts of the Kingdom. The ancient Shipgate was taken down and re-erected in the garden of Mr H. Finchett Maddocks in Abbey Street. It was later moved again to Grosvenor Park, where it may still be seen today. Hemingway's acclaimed 'History of the City of Chester' was published. Population of Chester: 21,363. Population of Britain: 13.9 million; Population of US: 12.8 million
  1832 Jan 7th. Paganini played at the Theatre Royal. Oct 14th: The Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria visit the city and Eaton Hall. The Princess opened the new Grosvenor Bridge. A small earthquake was felt in the neighbourhood. The 'Cholera Morbus' prevalent; the pandemic began in India around 1826, spread from Russia into Europe and reached Chester- and as far north as Scotland- by this year
  1833 Abolition of slavery throughout British Empire 1834 A remarkable fish, the Squalus Vulgaris or 'Angel Fish', was caught off Connah's Quay. Disastrous fire in Houses of Parliament. The Spanish Inquisition, which began during the 13th century, finally suppressed
  1835 The earliest negative photograph taken by William Henry Fox Talbot. Halley's Comet reappears
• 1836 The 'Great Trek': Boer farmers emigrate away from British rule in South Africa; found Natal, Transvaal and Orange Free State
  
  On to Curiousities from Chester's History no. 29
  
  

• Read what previous visitors to our Chester Virtual Stroll have had to say • Here's a growing list of Chester and many other links you may find useful • Images of Chester & Liverpool- old and new- people and many other subjects, as well as details of photographic and digital services are all at The Black & White Picture Place • Phil Jones' strirring story of our city through the ages- Chester: the Fortress of Deva Top of Page | Site Front Door | Site Index | The Chester Gallery | Chester Walls Stroll Introduction | Route Map Introduction to Chester | St. Martin's Gate | Back to the Northgate | Visitors Through the Ages | Visitors Letters