Choice Chester.

We had a day in Chester and decided to go on one of the many walks that are available. We have been to Chester before and hoped we would get a little more insight by going on the walk.

This place is known as God's Providence House. It was built in 1652. The last visit of the Black Death came to Chester in 1647/48 and around 2000 were killed. The story goes that the previous house on the site was the only one that escaped the Black Death and hence the 'God's Providence is mine inheritance'. The owner wished to demolish it in 1860 but there was uproar from the locals and it was refurbished, and much embelished. Some of the original timbers were used but the pargetting in the plaster work was also added

From the upper deck of the rows you get a good view of the cross. This is placed at the cross roads of the original Roman Fort road layout, and the the centre of the then town. The first cross originated in the 14th Century and was replaced in 1476. During the Civil War Chester was Royalist but when it fell to the Parliamentarians in 1646 it was broken up. Some of the pieces were rediscovered in the 19th Century and these parts were used when it was re-erected close to its old position in 1975. The new bit is the central column. The cross in Grade II Listed.

Like much of the 'Black and White' architecture in Chester it is not original and was added to maintain the character of the city in the Victorian age. The rows were built originally due to the slopes on either side and the desire not to waste space, although other reasons for them exist too. Most of them are not original buildings and the long runs of them have been broken up by infill buildings and alterations. They do make an attractive shopping experience but, like most places we pass through, but unexpectedly for a tourist rich town like Chester, there are many empty shops to be seen among them.

This is another of those buildings that went to great lengths to make it appear Tudor in origin but went too far. In fact it was built in 1889 as an Art Gallery for a David Sherratt, whose name you can see over the small centre arch on the rows level, along with 'Art Gallery', above the statue of the King. It is odd that the iscription 'To God my King my Country' as it was built during the reign of Queen Victoria? This may explain why the statue of the King is jammed in the niche. Apparently the statue was ordered sperartely from the building and it and the niche did not match in height. Expediance led to them chopping a bit off his legs so that he would just fit!

On the corner of the street is the Falcon Inn. This is just half of the original 13th Century House. The front of the building was once set up as the Rows further up the street but during the Civil War Sir Richard Grosvener the family to later become the Dukes of Westminster, moved into the town from they family seat in the country for safety. In 1643 he got permission to close it in as he he claimed that he needed the space for all his family and that when open the building was 'too moist'. It was much 'restored' in the 1800's and at one time was a Temperance Cocoa House. By the 1970's it was just about derelict but a trust was set up to protect it and between 1979 and it was restored to what you see today.

The East Gate Clock was erected to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1896. As you can see the date on the clock is 1897. The actual clock was paid for by a local solicitor and Freeman of the the City, Edward Evans-Lloyd and the tower by public subscription The clock was made by Joyce of Whitchurch and until 1975 sent  a technician every week to wind id it up and check it over. The inscriptions were made in cast iron in Coalbrookdale.

The Eastgate was the main entrance into the Roman Fort but this three arch gate was erected in 1768. Apparently the date set for the opening of the Eastgate Clock was 1897 but everything was not ready so they continued with the ceremony but substituted the real thing with a painted back cloth. This would explain the date of opening on the other face of the clock, (small inscription), as 1899!

The Kaleyard postern gate was looking lovely in the sunshine. The monks at the nearby Abbe, now the Cathedral, had a garden outside the walls of the town and had to walk a fair distance backwards and forwards to it each day. In 1275 the petitioned Edward I to be allowed to put a postern gate in the wall so that the journey was shortened. He eventually agreed with several conditions, one of which was that it had to be small in height so that a man on horse back had to dismount as a security thing. Another was that it had to be closed at nine o'clock every day. Right up to the present time a bell is rung just before nine to alert everybody that the gate is about to be shut.

Chester Cathedral is a beautiful building and in commone with many cathedrals and churches there have been many stages in its development. There may have been a Christian shrine here during Roman times. In 907 a Minster was founded and the remains of  Saint Werburgh were brought here. The Abbey was disbanded by Henry VIII but was reconsecrated in 1541 as a Cathedral for the new Church. There were great changes in the 16th Century and again in the 19th., but it is a joy to walk round and is on a manageable scale too.

In the Market Square, next to the Town Hall is the Westminster Coach and Motor Car Works. Unbelievably this is not a Listed Building! The site originally had two house on it that were built in 1773. At one time these became a school until taken over by Hewwitts Coach Works.

Hewwitts were taken over by J.A. Lawton in 1895. The original buildings suffered a fire in 1903 and again in 1910 and the site was rebuilt in 1914 with the current building that was closely modeled on the old building. It was a coach works, and continued as a motor car showroom until 1973. It was converted to the Central Library between 1981 and 1984 but retaining the frontage. Apparently the Library has moved out and it may well become a Market Hall in the future. Lawton's were coach builders that started in Liverpool but had factories in Chester, Manchester and Cricklewood. In WWI they mainly turned to constructing ambulances and fuselages for De Haviland DH4 aeroplanes.

The outstanding feature of the facade is the encaustic terracotta tiles. These were fabricated by the Ruabon Brick and Tile Works that was situated close to the Llangollen Canal. They created 'works of art' that can be seen on many buildings around the country to this day. From a distance this face looked like Stalin but it obviously isn't. However I can't match the face up with Joseph Alfred Lawton or any of the Duke's of Westminster, but I would love to know who it was.