Sights and cities / Chester

Chester’s beautiful historic city centre is surrounded by a two mile ring of medieval and Roman walls and the city centre has a high concentration of beautiful Tudor and Victorian buildings.

This most delightful of cities was originally built by the Romans to control the native tribes in North Wales and northern Britain. The layout of Chester still follows the Roman pattern, and the Roman defensive walls create a pleasant walk around the old city centre.

Roman remains abound in Chester - near Newgate you can visit a reconstructed Roman Garden, and a hypocaust, or central heating system. The Amphitheatre at Chester was the largest permanent amphitheatre in Britain, seating 7,000 people for entertainment spectacles. Today you can sit in one of those seats and imagine the gladiatorial combats unfolding on the floor of the amphitheatre before you.

Chester was abandoned when the Romans left in the 5th century, but the Anglo-Saxons resettled the town and in the early 10th century. Though the Roman heritage of Chester is attractive, it is as a medieval city that Chester is most known to visitors.

The city abounds in medieval architecture and beautiful half-timbered buildings. The most famous of these is the complex known as "The Rows", a series of covered galleries above street-level shops lining Watergate, Eastgate, and Bridge Street. The layout of The Rows dates back to the 13th century.

Turning from wood to stone, another medieval building worth visiting is Chester Cathedra, originally built as an abbey church for a Benedictine monastery. A Saxon church here was founded at the start of the 10th century as a resting place for the bones of St. Werburgh, which had been brought from Hanbury, Staffordshire, in 875 to protect them from Danish attack. Throughout the medieval period the tomb of St. Werburgh was a popular pilgrimage centre.

The Benedictines rebuilt that earlier church and lived here for 500 years until disbanded by Henry VIII in 1540. The abbey church then became Chester Cathedral. Within the Cathedral you can still see traces of the earlier monastic settlement, as well as lovely architectural features such as the 13th century Chapter House, with a cupboard of intricate medieval ironwork.

A much-photographed Chester landmark is the Eastgate Clock, built in 1897 to mark the Silver Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Its intricate iron framework, designed by architect John Douglas, is a marvel of ornate Victorian style.

There is much more to visit at Chester - the award-winning Grosvenor Museum, which includes a reconstruction of a Georgian Period House, and the Toy Museum, featuring the world's largest collection of Matchbox toys, are just two popular attractions. Chester has the 2nd largest zoo in the United Kingdom. Visitors can take boat trips on the River Dee or attend any of the regular horse race meeting held here through the summer at the Roodee race Course.