Chester City Wall

In the civil parish of Chester. In the historic county of Cheshire (Modern Authority of Cheshire, 1974 county of Cheshire).

Follow Roman line on two sides,extending to the river elsewhere. Largely complete, though much altered; the gates and most of the towers have vanished. Murage granted 1249 and others suggest a concentration of effort in late C13 and early C14.
The present circuit of the City Walls is nearly two miles long and consists of four gates and several towers, all linked by a red sandstone wall. The north and east walls follow the original Roman foundations, which still remain in some cases, but the south and west walls were extended in the medieval period to include the castle to the south. The extension to the medieval walls must have taken place before 1121, as the Ship Gate is mentioned in the confirmation charter of St. Werburgh’s Abbey. The present walls follow roughly the area of the medieval walled town, although most of the material above walk level is C18 or C19. The wall was probably originally defended by battlements to the outside, while the interior was protected by timber rails mounted on stone projections, which can still be seen at the Kaleyard gate. The north and east sides of the city wall were also protected by a ditch, which ran from Pemberton’s parlour to just beyond the Newgate. Beyond this stretch, the slope of the ground was relied upon for protection. The repair and upkeep of the walls was a costly business, and was paid for by ‘murage’, a toll upon certain goods entering the city. The damage caused by the Civil War swept away much of the medieval work, and the walls were repaired during the reign of Queen Anne. In the C17 and C18 the ditches were filled in and the walls repaired, the medieval gates being replaced. The walls continued to be rebuilt and repaired so that the wall-walk could be maintained as a promenade. Most of the walls visible above ground level today are C18 or C19. (Cheshire HER)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 470119 and others)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ402661

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 69073
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 3007/2/0 and others 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://www.chesterwalls.info/
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/117/chesterwalls.htm
    http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/adv_reference.asp?imageUID=73284
    http://www.matthewpemmott.co.uk/2008/11/chester-city-gates-chester.html
    http://www.matthewpemmott.co.uk/2008/11/chesters-city-wall-towers-chester.html
    http://www.chester.gov.uk/tourism_and_leisure-1/heritage_trails/chester_city_walls_trail.aspx
• Books
  • Ward, S., 2009, Chester: a history (Chichester: Phillimore)
    Lewis, C.P. and Thacker, A.T. (eds), 2005, VCH Cheshire Vol5 Pt2 p213-25 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=57326
    Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p18, 23, 29, 40, 46-8, 50, 60, 65-6, 93, 95, 108, 118, 126, 130, 144, 151, 153, 167, 171, 179, 182, 186, 192-3, 216, 231-2, 234, 236-7, 239-41, 246-7, 269, 277
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern) p15-16
    LeQuesne, C. and Strickland, T.J., 1999, Excavations at Chester: the Roman and later defences, part 1. Investigations 1978-1990 (Chester: Chester City Council/Gifford and Partners)
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p14-16
    Carrington, P., 1994, English Heritage Book of Chester (London: English Heritage/Batsford)
    Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p92-116
    Cullen, P.W. and Hordern, R., 1986, Castles of Cheshire (Crossbow Books) p5,16,17
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p70
    Harris B, 1979, Bartholomew City Guides: Chester (Edinburgh) p94-95
    Barley, M.W., 1975, 'Town Defences in England and Wales after 1066' in Barley (ed) Medieval Towns in England and Wales (CBA research reports) pp57-71 plan p62
    Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p202-3
    Pevsner, Nikolaus and Edward Hubbard, 1971, The Buildings of England: Cheshire (Harmondsworth)
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p238-9
    Simpson, Frank, 1910, The Walls of Chester
    Ormerod, G., 1882 [2edn], History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol1 p355-6
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p123-6
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol1 p37-8 http://books.google.com/books?id=D01LAAAAMAAJ
    Broster, John., 1821, A Walk round the Walls and City of Chester (Chester)
• Journal Articles
  • Ward, S., 1985, ‘Recent work on the medieval city wall of Chester' Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society Vol68 p79-84
    Ward, S., 1983, ‘Chester: the city walls II' Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin Vol9 p49
    Alldridge, N.J., 1981, 'Aspects of the topography of early medieval Chester' Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society Vol64 p5-31
    Stickland, T.J., 1981, 'City Wall, engineering yard near the Northgate, Chester' Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin Vol7 p42
    Alebon, P.H., Davey, P.J. and Robinson, D.J., 1976, 'The Eastgate, Chester, 1972' Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society Vol59 p37-49
    Mason, 1976, Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society Vol59 p14-23
    [Davey], 1973, Medieval Archaeology Vol17 p166 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    Lawson, P.H. and Smith, J.T., 1958, Journal of the Chester and North Wales Architectural Archaeological and Historic Society Vol45 p24
    Renn, 1958, Journal of the Chester and North Wales Architectural Archaeological and Historic Society Vol45 p54-60
    1937, Archaeological Journal Vol94 p303-4
    Simpson, 1910, Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol65 p330-1
    Numerous other articles published are concerned with Roman origins of the lower courses of the wall.
• Guidebooks
  • Whimperley, A. & Murphy, D., 1977, The Walls of Chester: a Guided Tour (Dalesman)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • CPR (1247-1258) p49; (1281-1291) p344; (1292-1301) p310; p482; (1327-1330) p455; (1389-1392) p502 [murage grant]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain [http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities8.htm]
    William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/shropseng.html#ches7]