Considering that Cheshire lies on the border of Wales, and bearing in
mind the frequent incursions made in early days by the inhabitants
of the Principality, we should expect to find in the county, or, at
any rate, in the portion opposed to these attacks, many fortified
buildings or castles. Such, however, is not the case. There are few
examples of ancient castles to attract the attention of the resident
or the traveller, and we have nothing approaching in size or interest
the magnificent pile of Warwick. That the borderland was guarded and
protected by numerous fortifications is quite true, but, as will be
seen, most of these have disappeared entirely, leaving behind them only
the name, with little or no traces above ground of the buildings which
once were there, and which played no unimportant part in the history,
not of the county only, but of the nation. It may be well to look at
these, with special reference to their origin and purpose as works of
defence.
Looking, then, at that part of Cheshire which is adjacent to Wales, we
shall find that a close and strong line of forts was established in
very early days. The estuary of the Dee formed a sufficient protection
in itself for the Wirral until Shotwick was reached, and as this place
at one time was not only a port of departure for Ireland, but also
afforded a landing for a crossing from Flintshire, it was natural that
it should be selected as a site of a castle. Then, following the course
of the Dee upwards, we have first, as was to be expected, a strong
castle at Chester, which also had the protection of its ancient walls.
Above the city, and on the other side of the river, there were castles
of varying size and construction at Dodleston, Aldford, Pulford,
Shocklach, Malpas, and Oldcastle. A second and inner line of defence
would be furnished by castles at Beeston, Maiden Castle on the Broxton
Hills, Newhall in Audlem parish, and Nantwich; whilst a third line, and
one protecting attacks from the Mersey and its tributary the Weaver,
included Runcorn, Halton, and Rocksavage, Frodsham and Northwich, with
Thelwall and Dunham Massey higher up still. It must not be supposed,
however, that all these date from the same period, or could always be
used at one and the same time to resist attacks. They are mentioned
thus as showing their disposition over the county.
[Illustration: Old Shotwick Castle.
(_Now destroyed._)
]
It will readily be understood that around these different spots, events
of great interest and of lasting consequence have centred, and that
they have witnessed many things which, if they could now be rescued
from oblivion, would add points of supreme importance to the memorials
of Old Cheshire. We can only here give very slight indications of their
history, but even these may not be without some result, especially
if it leads people to make further inquiries and investigations for
themselves. It may be well first to give some information as to those
which have entirely disappeared, and then to turn to those which are
still in evidence by the remains which exist. Shotwick must, from its
situation, already indicated, have been a position of considerable
importance. Although portions of it were standing in Leland’s time,
nothing but the mounds which mark its site are to be seen. Its walls
have all disappeared, though the ruins remained in 1622, and, according
to Lysons, “the stones were carried way to repair roads within the
memory of man”! It received several royal visitors. Henry II. is said
to have lodged here on his way to and from Ireland, and King Edward
I. was here in 1278. A plan and sketch of the castle are in the
British Museum in the Harleian MSS., from which it appears that it
was pentagonal in form, with several circular towers enclosing a lofty
square one. Of Dodleston, Aldford, and Pulford nothing but the sites
remain, though in the two former the earthworks, which include about
an acre in each case, are visible. The same may be said of Shocklach,
which was said to have been burnt by the Welsh in 1121. This occupied a
moated site near Castleton Bridge (deriving its name from the castle),
adjoining a small stream. Hanshall gives rough sketch-plans of all
these, and tells us that at Shocklach the keep was 22 feet in height.
It is more remarkable that we have no remains left of Malpas, though
the site of the keep is seen near the church, for here one of Hugh
Lupus’s Barons had his seat, and we might have imagined that some
portion of the building would have been preserved. Oldcastle, again, is
a name only. This also is in Malpas parish. The castle is said to have
been burnt by the Welsh at the same time that Shocklach was destroyed.
In 1565 not a vestige of its walls remained. On Oldcastle Heath the
Royalist forces were defeated in 1644.
Nantwich Castle was in ruins before the reign of Henry VII., when
the stones were removed and made use of for the purpose of enlarging
the south transept of the church, which was called Kingsley’s aisle.
Newhall was in the parish of Audlem and not far from Nantwich, and was
also destroyed by the Welsh, probably at the same time as Shocklach
and Oldcastle. Leland, in his _Itinerary_, speaks of “Newhaull Tower,
where there be motes and fair water.” Maiden Castle was an old
British fortification on the Broxton Hills, and defended the pass
between Bickerton Hill and Raw Head. It commanded a most extensive
and magnificent prospect. On the south-west side it was protected by
a precipice, whilst on the other side the earthworks formed a perfect
semi-circle, and outside this was a ditch 15 yards wide. The only
entrance was on the north side. The site is now covered by heather.
There was probably no building of any kind, the fortification being
composed entirely of mounds of earth. At Runcorn, according to the
chronicler Higden, a castle was founded in 915 by Ethelfleda, but of
this no remains are preserved. The rock on which it stood was called
the Castle Rock, and had evidently been used for purposes of defence. A
description derived from a resident was given in Hanshall’s _Cheshire_,
with a sketch of the Castle Rock and the supposed plan of the castle.
Its position at what is called Runcorn Gap was evidently a strong one.
A little later, that is in 920, Edward the Elder built a tower and
castle “at Thelwall,” so called, says Leycester, “from the stakes and
stumps cut from the trees, wherewith it was environed about as a wall;
and King Edward made it a garrison.” Nothing is now left to indicate
its position. On the Overton Hills at Frodsham, again, was a castle,
where it is supposed that Randle Blundeville, Earl of Chester, resided
in the early part of the thirteenth century, several of the charters
granted by him being signed at that place. In 1654 the castle, which
had probably been built on the foundations of the earlier building,
was completely destroyed, the dead body of the owner, Earl Rivers,
being discovered in the ruins. It is said that the building was of
stone, with walls of immense thickness, and in the Norman style of
architecture. A view of some small remains is to be found in Buck’s
_Antiquities_ in 1727. At Northwich, we learn from the Harleian MSS.,
there was “a very stronge castell on the top of a verie high hill.”
Here again the name only is left behind, that portion of the town where
it was situated being now called Castle Northwich, as it was once
known as Castleton. From old documents we gather that there was an old
castle at Dunham Massey before the present residence was built there:
for Walter of Coventry records that “Haimo de Masci held the castles
of Dunham and of Ullerwell.” In the description given by Dr. Ormerod
of the modern house in imitation of Italian architecture, we are told
that “it stood within gardens laid out in the stiff taste of the time,
and surrounded by an ample moat, in the angle of which is a _large
circular mound_ with a modern summer-house on the top of it.” It has
been suggested that, from its form and situation, the mound was “the
last relic of Haimo’s Castle, and, like similar mounds in the other
castles of Cheshire, the site of the Norman keep.”
We come now to consider the castles of which we have some remains.
Rocksavage Castle is not one of the ancient ones, for it was built by
Sir John Savage, who died in 1597. It cannot therefore claim anything
like the interest which attaches to the others. It was, in fact, a
mansion rather than a fortress, just as we have the title given to
other seats in the county, as Bolesworth Castle and Cholmondeley
Castle. It occupied, however, a striking position, and it is to be
regretted that so little of it now remains. It has been converted to
agricultural purposes, and the stones have doubtless been used in the
construction of other useful buildings. What was in 1640 described
as a magnificent fabric is now a shapeless ruin, with no trace of
its former glories. And glories it had, for in 1607 James I. and his
train were entertained here, and his Majesty killed a buck in Halton
Park. The property descended through the female line to the Marquis of
Cholmondeley, and gives the title to the eldest son, who is called Earl
Rocksavage.
Close to Rocksavage is Halton, which stands in an even more commanding
position, its very name being said to imply as much, as meaning a town
on a hill. The castle was probably built soon after the Conquest, as
the barony was given by Lupus, the second Earl of Chester, to his
cousin Nigel. Notwithstanding its situation, which rendered it a
strong and important military post, no great historical event can be
associated with it. The neighbourhood was indeed much infested with
gangs of robbers at an early period, and in the reign of Edward II.
these freebooters became so bold as actually to steal armour from the
castle itself.[4] Piers Plowman has the following as a proverb locally
allusive:--
“Thoro the pas of Haulton
Poverte might pass whith oute peril of robbinge.”
[4] From Hanshall’s _Cheshire_.
In the Civil Wars the castle was occasionally occupied by both parties,
and in August 1644 the Parliamentary forces were in possession.
Subsequently it became a prison for debtors for the honour of Halton.
But though no account has come down to us of the castle having ever
sustained a siege, it has interest for us from its connection with
royalty. “Old John of Gaunt, time-honoured Lancaster,” was Baron of
Halton, and when his son, Henry Bolingbroke, became King, the barony
passed to the Crown. The King has the title of Baron of Halton as well
as that of Duke of Lancaster. Three halmote courts were held here
yearly, and one is still held annually of which an account is given in
another paper in this volume. There are now few remains of the ancient
buildings. The Survey in Cromwell’s time describes them as being very
ruinous. The gate-house has been altered or rebuilt and is now the
Castle Inn, and is a picturesque building, and contains a room where
the courts for the honour are held. The honour had jurisdiction over
thirty-seven townships in Cheshire and over several in Lancashire. The
records of this court are preserved, and give interesting information,
whilst a paper read in 1858 by the late Mr. William Beamont of
Warrington before the Chester Archæological Society contained many
particulars as to the castle and its owners and its history.
[Illustration: Beeston Castle.]
Beeston Castle affords a most striking object to the traveller as he
journeys from Chester to Crewe. It stands on a rocky insulated hill,
rising in a regular and steep slope which terminates in a precipice.
It was built by Ralph Blundeville, sixth Earl of Chester, “after he
was come from the Holie Land,” and is of irregular form, with a wall
and eight round towers after the style introduced by the Crusaders.
The upper ward occupies something less than an acre. The outer court
includes a considerable space of ground, and is of an irregular shape,
with several round towers. The keep is surrounded with a deep ditch,
cut in the solid rock. The entrance was defended by two circular
towers, still remaining, and the moat was crossed by a drawbridge. The
approach under the gateway is very narrow, by rugged steps cut out
of the natural rock. In the inner court is the draw-well, perfect,
but now quite dry. It was emptied by directions of the late Lord
Tollemache, and found to be 366 feet in depth. It contained nothing
but rubbish, although stories were current of valuable treasures which
had in bygone times been hidden there. The position of the castle is
remarkable, and very similar to that of Edinburgh Castle, though the
plateau there is much more extensive. The precipitous rocks on three
sides seem to render it impregnable, but these cliffs were climbed by
Captain Sandford, a devoted Royalist, with eight of his firelocks, on
December 13, 1643. The castle bore its part in the Barons’ War. In
1237 Henry III., before possessing himself of the Earldom of Chester
on the death of John Scot, the last of the local Earls, seized on the
castle, together with that of Chester, and placed it in the hands of
Commissioners. In 1256 Prince Edward inspected the fortress, and put
it and the Castles of Chester, Dissard, Schotewyke, and Vaenor in the
charge of Fulco de Orreby, Justice of Chester. In 1264 the partisans
of Simon de Montfort took possession of it, but in the following year
it was recovered for the royal Earl. In 1399 King Richard III., just
before he was dethroned, made it the repository of his treasure, which
was subsequently transferred to Chester; but on Bolingbroke’s advance
it was abandoned by him. In 1406 the castle was given to the Duke of
York. Eighty years later Leland describes the fortress as being in a
state of ruin, and so it remained until the Civil Wars, when it was
put in a state of defence by a party of three hundred Roundheads in
February 1642. From this time, until it was dismantled after the siege
of Chester, it had many vicissitudes, falling into the hands of one
party or the other, as is set forth in another paper in this volume.
A contemporary writer gives the following description of its final
surrender to the Parliamentarians on 16th November 1645: “After having
sustained a siege of eighteen weeks, the garrison of fifty-six soldiers
was driven to the greatest extremity, and had to surrender. Neither
meat nor drink was found in the castle, but only a piece of turkey pie,
and a live peacock and peahen.” Sir William Brereton magnanimously made
a treaty with the brave Royalist Governor of the castle, “that he and
his men should be allowed to march from the castle with their arms,
colours flying and drums beating, with two cartloads of goods, and be
conducted with a convoy to guard them to Flint Castle. Twenty of the
soldiers laid down their arms and craved liberty to go to their own
homes, which was granted.” Such an incident as this must awaken many
memories as we gaze upon this ancient fortress. Now it rises up on its
rocky promontory out of a fertile and grassy plain, presenting in its
ruined walls a striking contrast to the scene below. A recent writer
has said of it: “Excepting Warwick Castle there is perhaps no more
interesting relic of feudal power in England than we behold in this
famous and far-seen ruin.”
[Illustration: Old Gateway, Chester Castle.
(_Now pulled down._)
]
We come last of all to the Castle of Chester. It is almost certain
that the site occupied by it was outside the walls of the original
Roman city, and may have been included in them either by later Roman
builders, or when the city was repaired, enlarged, and beautified by
that great builder, Ethelfleda, the daughter of King Alfred, in 907.
At any rate the erection of the first Castle of Chester may safely be
attributed to her. Though no trace of the work exists in Saxon masonry,
it is fairly certain that the inner or upper bailey stands upon the
earthworks thrown up by her, whilst the line of ditch that belonged to
the mound on which the flag-tower stood may still be discerned. In
1894 the late Mr. E. W. Cox was permitted by the commanding officer to
make a minute examination of the modern buildings on the west side of
the court. He satisfied himself that the lower storey of the flag-tower
still existed enclosed within modern work, and that this was indeed the
base of the Norman keep. This is the only evidence of Norman masonry
having been erected on the site, and Mr. Cox formed the opinion that
any other work of that period may have been of timber, often used by
those early builders, as proved at Montgomery, Shrewsbury, Deganwy,
and other places. We come now to the mediæval work, of which we have a
portion preserved to us in the Julian Tower, beside the walls on the
south and west. This tower is of three storeys, each room being vaulted
in stone, the centre one having been the chapel. This is about 16 feet
high, and the groins spring from slender pillars with capitals in the
style of the thirteenth century. James II. heard Mass in this chapel on
27th August 1687. The building has for some time been used for storage.
Some years ago traces of sacred paintings were found on the walls, but
they have now entirely disappeared. A plan and sketch of the castle,
made in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, is in the British Museum. This
gives us in the lower court the noble hall called Hugh Lupus’ Hall,
which was taken down about the year 1790. It was 90 feet long by 45 in
breadth, and the roof was supported by woodwork carved in a bold style
and resting on brackets. Adjoining this was the Exchequer, said to have
been the Parliament House of the Earls of Chester. All these and the
other buildings were swept away, and their place taken by the Assize
Courts and County Buildings in the Grecian style of architecture. On
either side of the square are now the quarters for the soldiers, a
depôt of the Cheshire Regiment being quartered here. The County Prison,
erected at the same time on the ground below between the castle and
the river, has been removed. Although the remains of the old castle
are so slight, we are able from early drawings and prints to gather
what it was like, and can thus form some idea of the loss, from a
picturesque point of view at any rate, which the city sustained when it
was deemed necessary to erect the present buildings.
But although the ancient buildings have gone, we may still call to mind
some of the many historic scenes which have been enacted on the spot.
We may picture to ourselves the warrior princess Ethelfleda, Alfred’s
daughter, resolved that Waste Chester should be a waste Chester no
longer, raising up from the old ruinous heaps new fortifications,
and enclosing within them a wider area, and erecting here within the
re-arranged walls the earliest fort or castle. We can recall the
stirring times of the Norman Earls, when the castle, much strengthened
from the simple fort of Ethelfleda’s time, was a valuable bulwark
and rallying-point, especially in the frequent inroads of the Welsh.
Here, too, Henry II. must have spent some time, when he was putting
the Flintshire castles in order, before he set sail for Ireland from
Shotwick. King John was in Chester, and presumably at the castle, in
1212, and left the city “an outlaw to all Christendom,” to fight his
rebellious barons. Chester and its castle played a prominent part in
the stirring times that followed, and could tell of visits paid by
Henry III. and Simon Montfort and others. Henry took over the earldom,
the succession of the Norman earls having failed, which ever since has
been a royal appanage. Edward I., first as Prince and afterwards as
King, was here again and again; and with his Queen Eleanor attended
a service of thanksgiving for his subjugation of Wales on May 26,
1293. In 1301 the castle was the scene of a grand ceremony, when the
formal homage of the freeholders of Wales was paid to Prince Edward of
Carnarvon, who was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester at the
famous Parliament of Lincoln. Richard II. was here in 1394 on his way
to Ireland, and again in 1396 when he granted Charter 22, and in the
following year was a prisoner, and was lodged in the donjon in the
tower over the great outer gateway of the castle opposite Gloverstone,
before he signed his abdication. It would, however, be impossible in
the space at our disposal to give a list, much less an account, of all
the royal visits paid to this historic place, or a description of the
notable events which have transpired here. The castle opened its gates
to receive both Henry VI. and Henry VII. and their Queens; whilst of
the Stuarts, James I., Charles I., and James II. in their turn came to
the place, and some of these visits were historical. Our late Queen,
whose statue, erected as a memorial of her Jubilee, adorns the Castle
Square, passed its entrance in October 1832, when she accompanied her
mother the Duchess of Kent, and as Princess Victoria opened the new
Grosvenor Bridge over the Dee.
Then, the Shire Hall, within the castle enclosure, was the place
where the Parliament of the Principality met, and we can imagine the
proceedings which went on there, when the affairs of the county were
discussed and managed. For we must remember that it was only in the
reign of Henry VIII., in 1543, that the county received summons to send
two knights and the city two citizens to Parliament. Until that time
the county was an independent jurisdiction. His predecessor, Henry
VII., had separated the City from the county, under the title of “The
County and City of Chester,” so that the city is a county in itself.
Curiously enough, the castle is not in the city but in the county; and
some amusement might be caused by a statement of the difficulties which
have sometimes arisen through conflicting police jurisdiction. Chester
Castle, then, though but little is left of its ancient buildings, may
awaken memories in the minds of the men of Cheshire and of England
generally. They may acknowledge that it has witnessed many stirring
scenes, and that it has taken its share in the defence of our country,
and in that long line of memorable events which have made England what
she is, and her children proud of bearing the name of Englishmen.