Chester is the county town of Cheshire, England. Situated on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, Chester is one of the best-preserved walled cities in the United Kingdom. It is the main settlement of the wider Chester City District, and has a total population of 80,121.
| Chester | |
|---|---|
| Population | Expression error: "80,121 (2001 Census)" must be numeric |
| OS grid reference | SJ405665 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CHESTER |
| Postcode district | CH |
| Dialling code | 01244 |
| Police | Cheshire |
| Fire | Cheshire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
- For the larger local government district, see Chester City (district).
Chester is perhaps most notable for its successive historic uses and occupations, and the subsequent variety of architectural monuments found within the settlement.
The patron saint of Chester is Saint Werburgh. The city's motto is 'Antiqui Colant Antiquum Dierum', which translates as 'Let the Ancients worship the Ancient of Days'. The adjective associated with the city is Cestrian.
Geography and administration
According to the 2001 census the population of the Chester urban area was 90,925, 80,121 of whom were identified as living in Chester, and the rest in Broughton or Saltney. This makes Chester the second largest settlement in Cheshire after Warrington, although Chester is a city and Warrington is not. The wider Chester City District has a population of around 120,000.
Suburbs of Chester include:
History
The history of Chester extends back nearly two millennia ago, covering all periods of British history in between then and the present day. The city of Chester was founded as a fort, known as Deva, by the Romans in AD 79, and named after the goddess of the River Dee.[citation needed] The city was the scene of battles between warring Welsh and Saxon kingdoms throughout the post-Roman years until the Saxons strengthened the fort against raiding Danes.
Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Chester came under the Earl of Chester. It became a centre of the defense against Welsh raiders and a launch point for raids on Ireland.
The city grew as a trading port until the power of the Port of Liverpool and "silting up" of the river overtook it. However the city did not decline and during the Georgian and Victorian periods was seen as a place of escape from the more industrial cities of Manchester and Liverpool.
Present day
A considerable amount of land in Chester is owned by Duke of Westminster who owns an estate - Eaton Hall - near the village of Eccleston. Grosvenor is the Duke's family name, which explains such features in the City such as the Grosvenor Bridge, the Grosvenor Hotel, and Grosvenor Park. Much of Chester's architecture dates from the Victorian era, with many of the buildings modelled on the Jacobean half timbered style of the medieval times being designed by John Douglas, who was employed by the Duke as his principal architect. He had a trademark of twisted chimneystacks, many of which can be seen on the buildings in the City centre. Douglas designed amongst other buildings the Grosvenor Hotel and the City Baths. In 1911, Douglas' protege and city architect James Strong designed the former fire station on the west side of Northgate Street. Another feature of all buildings belonging to the estate of Westminster is the 'Grey Diamonds'--a weaving pattern of grey bricks in the red brickwork laid out in a diamond formation. By 1945 two problems needed attention: first, affordable housing and second, traffic congestion. As a result vast areas of slums were cleared and in 1964 an inner by-pass ring road was built to direct traffic through and around the City centre. Large areas of open fields on the outskirts of the City were turned into residential areas in the 1950s and early 1960s producing, for instance, the suburb of Blacon.
In the late 1960s the City authorities realised that new developments were radically altering the look of the City centre. In 1968 Donald Insall published a report in collaboration with the City authorities and central government, which recommended preserving historic buildings and finding new uses for them, rather than simply tearing them down.
In 1969 the City Conservation Area was designated. Over the next 20 years the emphasis was placed on saving historic buildings, such as The Falcon Inn, Dutch Houses and Kings Buildings.
On January 13, 2002, Chester was granted Fairtrade City status. This status was renewed by the Fairtrade Foundation on August 20, 2003.
In August 2005 the council announced plans to demolish the police station, what some considered an unsightly edifice built in the 1960s. The building was demolished in late 2006-early 2007. However, the replacement building, a cylindrical glass hotel/cafe, has sparked some controversy. This is partially due to the large number of other glass structures planned within the city such as the new council offices.
The Northgate development will demolish the old Council Offices, which will move into a new building on an old car-park in Gorse Stacks. The proposed structure is unpopular with many of the older citizens of Chester, which led to a poem by local writer Gordon Emery in the Chester Standard dubbing it the 'Glass Slug', a name that has stuck.
Cestrians are often perceived (partly-jokingly) of being 'anti-Welsh' (although many have Welsh ancestors). This is exemplified by the fact that the Town Hall clock does not face west towards Wales (so as not to give the Welsh the "time of day"), and an archaic law which states any Cestrian may shoot a Welshman with a longbow if he loiters within the walls after sunset when the curfew bell chimes (although this law no-longer offers legal protection against prosecution for murder). However, many Cestrians work and shop in Wales, and Chester shares a radio station with Wrexham, Wales.
Chester is twinned with the French town of Sens, Loerrach in Germany, Lakewood, Colorado in the United States and Senigallia, Italy.
Culture
Shopping
The city is a popular shopping centre, with its unique 'Rows' or galleries (basically two levels of shops) which date from medieval times. The city is heavily populated by chain stores both in the centre and on retail parks to the west, and also features two indoor shopping centres, an indoor market and a department store, Browns of Chester, once known as 'the Harrods of the North', now absorbed by the Debenhams chain. There are two main indoor shopping centres: The Grosvenor Mall and the Forum (a reference to the City's Roman past). The Forum, which houses stores and the Chester Market, will be demolished in the Northgate Development scheme to make way for new shopping streets, a new indoor market, an enlarged library, a car park and bus station, and a performing arts centre.
Arts & Sport
The city has two cinemas and a theatre, the Gateway Theatre, and in the summer the city hosts the annual Chester Music Festival, the Chester Midsummer Watch Parade and the Chester Mystery Plays, the latter of which dates from medieval times. Numerous pubs and wine bars, some of which date from medieval times, populate the city. Chester also has some nightclubs, which are soon going to be added to by the development of two new clubs in the next eighteen months. Also to the east side of the city are the UK's largest zoological gardens, Chester Zoo. Chester has its own film society. The Gateway Theatre is due to be demolished at the end of 2006 as part of the city's Northgate Development. The Northgate Development will include a replacement arts centre, due to open in 2009. The Odeon Theatre is slated to close as a cinema and become a night-club, but this development has sparked some controversy.
The city features the Grosvenor Museum, which contains exhibitions about the city's Roman past as well as a reconstructed Georgian house. The Dewa Roman Experience, completely dedicated to the city's Roman heritage, is also based in the centre of the city, as is the Chester Heritage Centre and the Cheshire Military Museum.
The city has a football team, Chester City F.C., who play in the Saunders Honda Stadium; a national basketball team, the Chester Jets, who play in the city's Northgate Arena leisure centre; and a wheelchair basketball team, the Chester Wheelchair Jets [1]. Chester also boast a successful Hockey Club Chester HC who play at the County Officers' Club on Plas Newton Lane. Chester also has an American Football team, the Chester Romans, who are part of the British American Football League. They have been in existence since 1986.
The River Dee is also home to several rowing clubs, notably Grosvenor Rowing Club and Royal Chester Rowing Club, as well as two school clubs, 'King's Chester Rowing Club' and 'Queen's Park High Rowing Club'. The weir is regularly used by a number of local canoe and kayak clubs. Each July a charity raft race is held on the River Dee. Chester Golf Club can also be found near the banks of the Dee.
Music
Britpop band Mansun are probably the most famous band to come from Chester. Forming in 1995 and disbanding in 2003, their most recognised hit was 'Wide Open Space', which peaked at number 15 in the UK charts in 1996.
Russ Morgan, a member of notable house music band K-Klass, also hails from Chester.
Chester has a brass band that was formed in 1853. It was known as the Blue Coat Band and today as The City of Chester Band ([2]) It's a thriving 3rd section brass band with an active training band and still wears a blue jacketed uniform with an image of the famous Eastgate clock on the breast pocket.
Media
Chester's newspapers are the daily Chester Evening Leader, and the weekly Chester Chronicle. It also has various free publications: the free newspapers Chester Mail and Chester Standard, and the free monthly magazine called Chester's Choice. Dee 106.3 is the city's own radio station, with Wrexham's Marcher Sound and BBC Radio Merseyside also broadcasting locally. Chester is the city where Channel 4's soap-opera Hollyoaks is set (although most filming takes place around Liverpool).
Industry
The city's main industries are retail, tourism and financial services. Chester's main employer is MBNA Europe. There is also a large Shell oil refinery (in Ellesmere Port), several large financial firms including HBOS plc, M&S Money and also a chemical factory, operated by ICI to the north of Chester near Ellesmere Port. Just over the Welsh border to the west near the village of Broughton there is an aerospace factory (formerly British Aerospace), where the wings of Airbus aircraft, including the Airbus A380 super-jumbo are manufactured, and there are food processing plants to the north and west. The Iceland frozen food company is based in nearby Deeside.
Chester has its own university, the University of Chester, and a major hospital, the Countess of Chester Hospital, named after the late Diana, Princess of Wales and Countess of Chester.
Transport
Chester has a railway station to the North East of the city centre. Designed by Francis Thompson with an impressive Italianate frontage in 1848, the interior is currently somewhat dilapidated, having lost a roof in the Chester General rail crash. Trains go from here along the North Wales Coast Line, as well as to London Euston, Liverpool, Crewe, Manchester Piccadilly, Wrexham General and Shrewsbury. Chester Northgate station closed in 1969, was demolished and is now the site of the Northgate Arena leisure centre.
Bus transport in the city is provided by the council owned and operated ChesterBus (formerly Chester City Transport) as well as First Group and Arriva. There is to be a new bus exchange built in the city as well as a new coach station.
The city is also a hub for major roads, including the M53 from Liverpool, the M56 towards Manchester, and the A55 which runs along the North Wales coast to Holyhead.and tha A483 to Wrexham
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chester had an extensive tram network from Saltney in the west at the Welsh border to Chester General station, Tarvin Road and Great Boughton in the North West. This network featured the narrowest gauge trams (3'6) in mainland Britain, due to an act of Parliament which deemed that they must be "The least obstructive possible". The tramway was established in 1871 by Chester Tramways Corporation. At first, the tramway was horse-drawn, although this was replaced by overhead-wired electric in 1903. The tramway was closed like most others in the UK in February, 1930. The only remains are small areas of uncovered track inside the bus depot, a few tram wire supports attached to buildings on Eastgate/Foregate Street and a wire support.
Recent Discoveries
Between 14 May 2007 and 6th July 2007 excavations were carried out in Grosvernor Park. The main aim being to find Cholomondeley's lost Mansion, that was demolished in 1867.
A number of interesting finds have come to light including : - Plaster work from the mansion ceiling. - Civil War musket balls - Clay Tobacco Pipes (17th - 18th Century) - Clay Tobacco Pipe waster clay from manufacture - A base of a small Roman Statue of Venus - A Roman votive offering in the form of a lead axe head
A Saxon cross dating to the 10th /11th Century has been unearthed by archaeologists in Tarvin (5.5 Miles from Chester). The find is very rare and was found in a civil war trench. The Saxon cross may have been broken up before the assault of Chester in 1645 by the Parliamentary garrison.
The Past Uncovered Chester Archaeology Newsletter February 2007 ISSN 1364-324x June 2007 ISSN 1364-324x http://www.chester.gov.uk/PDF/Newsl_Feb07_A4.pdf
Famous Cestrians
- Russ Abbot Actor, Musician
- Emily Booth Actress
- Jeff Green Comedian
- Thomas Brassey Civil Engineer, railway contractor
- Sir Adrian Boult Orchestral Conductor
- Daniel Craig Actor
- Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor Duke of Westminster
- Randolph Caldecott Artist and Illustrator
- William De Morgan Potter
- Doug Ellis Former chairman of Aston Villa Football Club
- Thomas Heaton Footballer
- A. S. Hornby Lexicographer
- Hugh Lloyd Actor
- Eveleigh Moore-Dutton Conservative Politician
- Danny Murphy Footballer
- Michael Owen Footballer
- Ronald Pickup Actor
- Basil Radford Actor
- David Roberts, Inventor of the caterpillar track
- L. T. C. Rolt Biographer, Engineer, Canal enthusiast, Writer
- Alex Sanderson Rugby Union player
- Beatrice Tinsley Cosmologist
- Anthony Thwaite Poet
- Beth Tweddle World Champion Gymnast
- Helen Willetts Weather Forecast Presenter, former international Badminton Player
- Mansun Successful Britpop band who scored a number one album in 1997
Gallery of images
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Upper Bridge Street, Chester (2002). -
Dutch House, Bridge Street, Chester (2007).
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The Cross, Chester (2007).
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St Michael's Heritage Centre, Bridge Street, Chester (2007).
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Grosvenor Shopping Mall, Bridge Street, Chester (2007).
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Curzon Park in Summer (2007). -
View of the Roodee and Curzon Park (2007).
Further reading
- Bernard Wall, Tales of Chester ISBN 1-870708-72-5
- Albert Edward 'Jim' Marshall Myths and Legends of Chester (1986)ISBN 0-951178-30-x
- H.V. Morton In Search of England (1929)
- G.W. Place, The Rise and Fall of Parkgate, Passenger Port for Ireland (1994).
- Gordon Emery, Curious Chester (1999) ISBN 1-872265-94-4
- Gordon Emery, Chester Inside Out (1998) ISBN 1-872265-92-8
- Gordon Emery, The Chester Guide(2003) ISBN 1-872265-89-8
- ed Gordon Emery, The Old Chester Canal ISBN 1-872265-88-X
- Gordon Emery, Chester Electric Lighting Station (2002) ISBN 1-872265-48-0
- Roy Wilding, Miller of Dee (1997) ISBN 1-872265-95-2
- Roy Wilding Death in Chester (2003) ISBN 1-872265-44-8
- PR Lewis, Disaster on the Dee: Robert Stephenson's Nemesis of 1847, Tempus Publishing (2007) ISBN 978 0 7524 4266 2
External links
