A WALK THROUGH THE CITY.
IT is our purpose now to conduct the tourist through the city, that we
may point out, in detail, the various objects of interest which claim his
attentive inspection. But before commencing our perambulations through
the principal streets, we will here introduce a few remarks on that
unique feature which constitutes the distinguishing attraction of
Chester, and has given it universal celebrity.
THE ROWS.
Very curious are these old arcades, which are as interesting to the
antiquarian as they are convenient for a quiet lounge to ladies and
others engaged in shopping. They occupy the greatest part of both sides
of Eastgate-street, and the upper parts of both sides of Watergate-street
and Bridge-street. Those in Northgate-street are more irregular, only
one side, commonly called Shoemakers’-row, being used as a regular
thoroughfare. Their appearance, both interior and exterior, is extremely
singular. They form a gallery, occupying the front floor of each house,
parallel with the streets below, and are approached by flights of steps,
placed at convenient distances, in addition to those by which they are
entered and quitted at each end. The passenger walks over the shops on a
level with the street, and under the first floor of the dwelling-houses;
and thus two lines of shops are erected in one front. The rows are kept
in excellent repair, and form the chief promenade of the citizens. To
strangers they cannot fail to prove an object of curiosity. The shops in
the rows are generally considered the best situations for retail traders;
but those on the southern side of Eastgate-street and the eastern side of
Bridge-street have a decided preference. Shops let here at high rents,
and are in never-failing request; and there are no parts of the city
which have undergone such rapid or extensive improvements.
In the sixteenth century the rows appear not to have exceeded 6 feet in
height and 10 in width, with clumsy wooden rails towards the street, and
large oaken pillars, supporting transverse beams and brackets, on which
rested the houses over head, formed of wood and plaster, so far
overhanging the street, that in some places the upper floors of opposite
houses nearly met. Nearly the whole of the buildings of this description
are now taken down; and in rebuilding care has been taken to raise and
widen the rows, and to place iron railings towards the street in place of
the wooden posts formerly used. The shops in the rows present a very
different appearance to that of about sixty years ago; then, as Hemingway
says, “the fronts were all _open_ to the row in two or three
compartments, according to their size; and at night were closed by large
hanging shutters fixed on hinges, and fastened in the daytime by hooks to
the ceiling of the row.” At present these rows are “capable of supplying
all the real demands of convenience and the artificial calls of luxury,
mental and corporeal, presenting a cluster of drapers, clothiers,
jewellers, booksellers, &c., as respectable as the kingdom can produce.”
{50} The origin and cause of the rows has furnished matter for much
curious investigation; and many conflicting conjectures have been
propounded respecting them. The subject is involved in much obscurity;
and, in the absence of any positive data, we are not able to take higher
ground than the probabilities of the case. It has been alleged that they
were originally used as places of defence, from whence to annoy and
repulse the assaults of the enemy, who might gain entrance into the
streets beneath by surprising the gates, during those remote ages when
Chester was subject to the sudden incursions of the Welsh. But against
this opinion it may be urged, that in no one of their attacks upon this
city did the Welsh ever force their way within the gates or walls; so
that these latter, being proved by experience to be a sufficient bulwark
against our foes, there existed no necessity for the erection of any
further defences. There is irrefragable evidence that the _form_ of the
city is Roman, and that the _walls_ were the work of that people; and the
same reasons which justify these conclusions are not less cogent for
presuming that the construction of the streets are Roman also. Pennant
appears to have arrived at this conclusion:—he says, “These rows appear
to me to have been the same with the ancient _vestibules_, and to have
been a form of building preserved from the time that the city was
possessed by the Romans. They were built before the doors, midway
between the streets and the houses, and were the places where dependants
waited for the coming out of their patrons, and under which they might
walk away the tedious minutes of expectation. Plautus, in the 3rd act of
his _Mostella_, describes both their station and use. The shops beneath
the rows were the Cryptæ and Apothecæ, magazines for the various
necessaries of the owners of the houses.”
Ormerod says that some of these crypts exhibit specimens of vaulting
equal to the cloisters of our Cathedral.
Camden, in describing Chester, says, “The houses are very fair built, and
along the chief streets are galleries or walking places they call rows,
having shops on both sides, through which a man may walk dry from one end
to the other.” And Shukeley, in his ‘Itinerary,’ in 1724, says, “The
rows or piazzas are singular through the whole town, giving shelter to
foot people. I fancied it a remain of the _Roman porticoes_.”
In the oldest histories, descriptive of the city in some form or other,
the elevated rows and the shops beneath are recognized.
Tacitus, “in describing the process by which Roman manners diffused
themselves throughout Britain, and gradually completed the subjugation of
the country, speaks of the natives of Britain as acquiring a taste for
the two leading features in Roman civilization, ‘Porticus and
Balnea,’—the portico, in which they were delighted to stroll and sun
themselves; and the baths, which were their national luxury. He mentions
these, and we cannot but be struck by the coincidence with things with
which we are all familiar—the _rows_ of our ancient city, and the
Hypocaust, which is still shown as the Roman bath. We are hereby led to
infer, that the mode of construction which gives the character to our
city, originated in Roman habits.” {51}
PRINCIPAL STREETS.
Within the walls, the city is subdivided by four principal streets,
intersecting each other nearly at right angles at St. Peter’s Church,
which stands in the centre of the city. These streets retain numerous
old timber buildings, which give them an unusual and quaint appearance,
and are wider in general than those of cities of equal antiquity.
Immediately in front of the church formerly stood the High Cross, which
was pulled down and defaced by the Parliamentarians, when they took
possession of the city in 1646. The upper portion of this valuable
antiquity is still preserved in the grounds of Netherlegh House, though
some of the carved figures are a good deal injured. Mr. Pennant is of
opinion that St. Peter’s Church, and a few houses to the north and west,
occupy the site of the _Roman Prætorium_, with its Court of Judicature
and Angulale, where prayers, sacrifices, and other religious rites were
wont to be performed.
Adjoining the Cross formerly stood that ignominious instrument of
punishment, called the _Pillory_.
Adjoining the south side of St. Peter’s Church stood the old Pentice,
where the magistrates performed their judicial duties, where the sheriffs
sat to determine civil causes, and where the Town-office was kept, until
the year 1803, when it was removed for the purpose of widening the road
into Northgate and Watergate streets, at that time extremely narrow and
dangerous. The bench of magistrates was then removed to much more
commodious apartments in the Exchange. At the corner of the east of
Bridge-street and the west of Eastgate-street, and near to the Cross,
there was formerly a small stone building, forming a basin at the top,
called the _Conduit_, to which water was formerly brought into the city
from St. Giles’s well at Boughton, and thence conveyed to different parts
of the city.
The Cross used formerly to be the scene of the barbarous sport of
bull-baiting, of which the following satirical sketch is given in an old
History of Chester:—
“The Cross is famous for being the annual scene of exhibition of that
_polite play_ called a bull-bait, where four or five of these _horned
heroes_ are attended by several hundred lovers of that _rational
amusement_. Till within a few years, the _dramatis personæ_ of this
_elegant scene_ included even magistracy itself, the mayor and
corporation attending in their official habiliments, at the Pentice
windows, not only to countenance the _diversions_ of the _ring_, but
to participate in a sight of its _enjoyments_. A proclamation was
also made, by the crier of the court, with all the gravity and
solemnity of an oration before a _Romish sacrifice_; the elegant
composition of which ran thus—‘_Oyez_! _Oyez_! _Oyez_! _If any man
stands within twenty yards of the bull-ring_, _let him take—what
comes_.’ After which followed the usual public ejaculations, for
‘the safety of the king and the mayor of the city;’ when the
_beauties_ of the scene commenced, and the dogs immediately _fell
to_. Here a prayer for his worship was not unseasonable, as even the
ermin’d cloak was no security against the carcases of dead animals,
with which spectators, without distinction, were occasionally
saluted.
[Picture: Eastgate Street, Chester]
“We shall not attempt a description of the _tender_ offices
practised, at such times, on so noble a creature—one, however, we
cannot omit mentioning: in 1787, an unfortunate animal, smarting
under his wounds and fatigue, was very _naturally_ induced to _lie
down_;—the _argument_ made use of, in this situation, however, _as
naturally_ induced him to _get up_; his _humane_ followers hitting
upon the ingenious expedient of setting fire to some straw under his
body, when, it is hardly necessary to add, ‘the wretched animal
heav’d forth such groans, as stretch’d his leathern coat almost to
bursting.’ This circumstance of the _fire_ was, however, no bad
_satire_ (emblematically considered) on the transactions of the
day—the whole being little better than a—‘burning shame.’
“The late Dr. Cowper is said to have had the merit, when mayor, of
putting a stop to the attendance of the corporate body on these days;
and Mr. Alderman Brodhurst, in his mayoralty, made a laudable but
ineffectual effort to suppress a relic of barbarism ‘more honoured in
the _breach_ than the _observance_.’”
EASTGATE STREET,
a spacious street, forming a direct line to the Eastgate, about 209 yards
in length. The appearance of the street has been considerably modernized
of late years; many of the old houses having been taken down, and
spacious shops and dwelling-houses erected on their site. There is a
very interesting old crypt to be seen on the premises of Messrs. Prichard
and Dodd, which furnishes an additional illustration of the statement,
that many of the buildings in the principal streets are erected on the
remains of ancient religious houses. Dr. Ormerod gives it as his opinion
that these conventual buildings occupied nearly, if not wholly,
one-fourth of the city. The handsome premises occupied by Mr. Hugh
Roberts, bookseller, and by Mr. Bolland, confectioner, have latterly been
rebuilt in an elegantly appropriate style of architecture: and Messrs.
Brown are now (1858) erecting a splendid range of shops. About
two-thirds down the street on the right is Newgate-street; and opposite
is St. Werburgh’s-street, leading to the Cathedral. There are two
excellent inns in Eastgate-street—the Green Dragon and the Royal Hotel;
the latter being a large and lofty edifice, the front resting on round
stone pillars, between which, and the coffee-room there is a capacious
piazza. Passing under the arch of the Eastgate, you enter
FOREGATE STREET,
a spacious airy street, about 572 yards in length, and in most parts 18
in breadth; on the right hand is St. John-street, in which is situated
the Post-office, and a little lower down the Mechanics’ Institution and
News-room. The spacious circular building is a place of worship used by
the Wesley an Methodists. The narrow street on the left leads to St.
John’s Church and Priory, which will amply repay a careful and attentive
study. Returning to the Cross, we now proceed down
WATERGATE STREET,
which possesses remarkable interest, from the number of very old houses
still remaining in it. This street has perhaps suffered less from the
innovation of modern improvement than any other part of Chester. The
rows on both sides extend nearly to the bottom of the street, and retain
several marks of great antiquity. In front of an old house on the south
side of the street, there is a post, with the date 1539 carved upon it.
On the same side, nearer the Cross, is an old dwelling-house, with the
inscription—
“God’s Providence is mine Inheritance—1652,”
cut upon a beam in front, in legible characters. At the time when the
plague was devastating the city, this was almost the only house which was
exempt from its destructive havoc. Gratefully sensible of this singular
blessing, the pious occupier placed this inscription on the front of his
house, as a commemorative memorial of Divine Providence. Lower down, on
the same side, is a singularly decorated old house, having the whole
front divided into square compartments, filled with carved work of
various descriptions, principally heraldry and scripture history. Adam
and Eve;—Cain killing Abel;—Abraham offering up Isaac;—Susannah and the
Elders—and a Martyrdom, are the principal subjects. There are three
other compartments, two of them consisting of armorial bearings,
including the Earldoms of Chester and Derby, crested with a bishop’s
mitre; the third bears an inscription, illegible from the street, and the
date 1613. This house was built by Dr. George Lloyd, of the family of
Lloyd of Kinmell, in North Wales, Bishop of Chester from 1604 to 1615.
[Picture: God’s Providence House]
Lower down, on the same side of the street, below Nicholas-street, is a
curious and spacious old palace, once the mansion of the Derby family,
which is well deserving of the visitor’s notice. It is approached
through a narrow passage. The front of the house presents some
interesting specimens of curiously ornamental carved work. On this spot
once stood a _Monastery_ of the order of Black Friars.
The street on the opposite side leads to the new Linen Hall, where the
cheese fairs are periodically held. It was built by the Irish merchants
in 1778. At that time the imports of linen were very considerable, and a
large business was done.
At the corner of this street stands her Majesty’s Custom House.
Adjoining is Trinity Church, which contains the mortal remains of Parnell
the poet, and Matthew Henry, immortalized in his far-famed commentary.
Trinity-street contains nothing worthy of special notice: it leads,
however, to a memorable spot, of surpassing interest to all who love to
trace the “records of a good man’s life.” Higher up is Crook-street,
where stands the chapel built for Matthew Henry. These chapel walls once
echoed the voice of that eloquent man, who assiduously asserted the pure
principles of the Gospel. Associated, therefore, as the place is with
the memory of a great mind, whose works have taken an honourable position
in the religious literature of the country, it cannot but be an
attraction to all who love to treasure the incidents which mark the
biography of an eminent and a worthy man. Matthew Henry’s chapel is now
occupied by the Unitarians.
Returning to the Cross, we proceed to
NORTHGATE STREET,
which forms the northern division of the city, and is 440 yards long. On
the east side, adjoining St. Peter’s Church, are the
Commercial-buildings, occupied as a subscription News-room, and the
Library of the Archæological Society. The rows in Northgate-street are
chiefly formed of wood; that on the west is the only one in general use,
extending from the Cross to the Fish Market. The regular market for
“Fish and vegetables,” says a History of Chester, 1791, “is in the square
opposite the Exchange, which, in general, are plentiful and reasonable.
In that useful article, salmon, no market in the kingdom did, some few
years ago, excel it; indeed, such was the profusion of this valuable
fish, that masters were often restricted, by a clause of indenture, from
giving it more than twice a week to their apprentices! Though the bounty
of Providence, in this particular, is yet unabated, such restriction is
no longer necessary—some _artificial_ cause or other very _kindly_
rendering this fish, at the present day, a _delicacy_ even to the
_masters_ themselves.”
THE EXCHANGE
is situated in the Market-place, on the west side of Northgate-street.
It was commenced in 1695, and completed in 1698, at an expense of £1,000,
towards which Roger Whitley, then Mayor, contributed largely. It is a
good brick building, ornamented with stone-work, supported by stone
pillars on the ground floor, through which is a thoroughfare from south
to north. In a niche on the south front is a statue of Queen Anne in her
coronation robes. On the right of this statue is a tablet, having the
arms of the Earldom of Chester on a circular shield in the centre, and
above these the coats of the Principality of Wales and Duchy of Cornwall,
having each their respective coronets over them. The blazon of this
tablet is believed to have been furnished by the last Randle Holmes,
Deputy Norroy King at Arms, who died in 1707. On the left of the statue
is another tablet, containing the Royal arms of England as borne by Queen
Anne. The centre of the building is occupied by the _Common Hall_,
wherein are held the city sessions and the elections for members of
parliament for the borough. The north end of the Common Hall is fitted
up as a court of justice, having a bench, bar, witness and jury boxes.
On each side of the bench are ornaments, composed of lictors’ fasces and
spears, used to support the sword and mace.
[Picture: Bishop Lord’s House Watergate St. Chester A.D. 1615]
Adjoining and communicating with the Common Hall on the north is the
Council-room, commonly called the _Pentice_, where the mayor and
magistrates sit as a court of Petty Sessions. Over the mayor’s seat in
this room is a splendid full length portrait of George the Third in his
coronation robes,—the figure by Gainsborough, the drapery by
Reynolds,—presented to the city by the late Marquis of Westminster, in
1808. On the south side of the Exchange-buildings is the City
Assembly-room, where the meetings of the Town Council are held. The Town
Hall, the Pentice Court, and the Assembly-room, are all decorated with
fine portraits of benefactors to the city, and of eminent men who have
been officially engaged in its highest legal appointments, or in the
administration of its municipal affairs. Among these worthies may be
seen the donors of local charities, and other celebrities; as Recorders
Comberbach, Leycester, Levinge, Townsend, and Sir W. Williams; Sir Henry
Bunbury, M.P. for Chester in eight successive parliaments during the
reigns of Queen Anne and George the First; Sir John Grey Egerton, M.P.
for the city from 1807 to 1818; Thomas Cholmondeley, Esq., Mayor in 1761;
Robert, Earl Grosvenor, in his parliamentary robes, painted by Jackson;
Richard, Earl Grosvenor, and Thomas Grosvenor, Esq., M.P., in their robes
of the civic mayoralty, painted by West; W. Cross, Esq., first Mayor
after the passing of the Municipal Reform Act; and W. Wardell, Esq.,
Mayor in 1841. At the north end of the Exchange is the Market,
appropriated for the sale of butter; and a few yards apart is another
building of equal breadth, but longer, for butchers’ meat, both of which
are neatly fitted up and well adapted for their respective purposes. We
recommend the tourist now to continue his walk up the street, for the
purpose of visiting the Training College, which, we doubt not, our former
description has made him curious to see. Supposing this to have been
done, we now return on the east side, passing through the Northgate about
100 yards, where we come to a narrow avenue on the left, under an old
archway, the remains of one of the gates of the monastery of St.
Werburgh. A little further down, opposite the Market-hall, stands a
noble arch called
THE ABBEY GATE,
which is a Gothic pointed arch, with a postern at the side, both of which
are included in a larger obtuse one, apparently of the same order. The
interior of the gateway is vaulted with stone, with ribs, and carved
keystones at the intersections; and the rooms over were originally
approached by a spiral staircase. On the south side was the porter’s
lodge, and on the other St. Thomas’s-court. Before this gate were
anciently raised the booths for the merchants frequenting the Abbot’s
fair; these booths were covered with reeds, which the monks were
empowered to gather from Stanlaw Marsh; and here also the performers in
the Chester Mysteries commenced the exhibition of their pageants. This
was formerly the grand entrance into the monastery, which appears to have
occupied a very extensive range. On passing through the arched gateway
we enter into the Abbey-square. On the right hand is a wall, enclosing
the episcopal palace, which was rebuilt by Bishop Keene, out of his
private resources, at an expense of £2,200, soon after his promotion to
the see in 1752. In former days the residence of the Abbots of St.
Werburgh stood on this site. The spacious edifice at the end of the
palace wall is the Registry Office, of which Dickens has given an
interesting sketch in his ‘Household Words,’ in one of his able papers,
entitled, ‘The Doom of English Wills.’ The entire arrangements and
management of the office are described in terms of unqualified
commendation, highly complimentary to the talented registrar, who is
described as “a gentleman who fulfils the duties of his office in person
with assiduity.” In the centre of the square is a shrubbery, enclosed
with an iron palisading, having in the centre an elliptic column, which
was once a pillar under the Exchange; but on removing it to build a shop
there, the Corporation presented it to the Dean and Chapter, who
appropriated it to its present use. In the north-east angle of the
square is the Deanery, built on the site where once stood an old Gothic
structure, called St. Thomas’s Chapel. Returning into Northgate-street,
the next narrow avenue on the left gives us a fine view of the west
transept of the Cathedral, with its beautiful window, enriched with
elegant tracery. A few paces below we arrive at
THE MUSIC HALL, formerly THE THEATRE ROYAL.
The citizens of Chester appear to have been early distinguished for a
love of theatricals. From a MS. entitled, “Certayne collections of
aunchiante times concerninge the aunchiante and famous Citty of Chester,”
by Archdeacon Rogers, we learn that in the beginning of the fourteenth
century, Randal Higden, a monk of Chester, “translated the Bible into
several partes and plays, so as the common people might learne the same
by theyre playinge.” These _spectacles_, then called the _Whitsun
Plays_, were first performed in 1328, during the mayoralty of Sir John
Arneway, at the expense of the city companies; and being “profitable for
them, for all both far and near came to see them,” they were repeated
annually on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Whitsun week, for nearly
250 years, until 1574, when they were suppressed by authority. The
theatre for these performances was of the original Thespian cast, a
four-wheeled scaffold or waggon, whereof the body served for a tyring
room, and the roof for the stage, whereon the members of the different
city companies did “each man play his part.” The first place of
performance was at the Abbey Gate, that “the monks and churche might have
the first sighte, and then the stage was drawne to the High Crosse before
the Mayor and Aldermen, and soe from streete to streete; and when one
pageant was ended another came in the place thereof, till all that were
appoynted for the daye were ended.” Each company had its own peculiar
parts allotted to its members to perform in the Whitsun Plays, of which a
list is given in the above quoted MS.
[Picture: Old Palace House]
In addition to the Whitsun Plays, the citizens were anciently entertained
with processional pageants by the different companies, which latter
appear to have survived the suppression of the former for many years.
They were suppressed for some time by the party in power during the
Commonwealth, but revived with great splendour at the Restoration.
The pageants were abolished by order of the Corporation in 1678.
“No circumstance,” says the old History from which we have already
quoted, “can evince the strange mutations to which things are liable,
more than this place, which was originally a _chapel_ dedicated to _St.
Nicholas_, and devoted to _religion_; afterwards a _common hall_ devoted
to _justice_; next a _warehouse_ devoted to _trade_; and now a
_playhouse_ devoted to _amusement_.”
The present writer has to note another change: the “Playhouse” has become
a MUSIC HALL, handsome and commodious. A few years since a company was
formed for the purpose of erecting a spacious Hall, available for musical
and literary recreations, public meetings, and social celebrations. The
Hall was built by Mr. J. D. Williams, from designs by Mr. James Harrison;
and a remarkably fine organ, by Jackson, of Liverpool, has also been
erected. Seats are fitted up for an audience of 1,400 persons, and the
orchestra is capable of accommodating 300 performers. The cost of the
building, with the organ and fittings, was £5,000. The Hall was opened,
on November 26th, 1855, with a grand Miscellaneous Concert, at which
Madame Clara Novello was the principal vocalist, and was crowded by a
brilliant gathering of the beauty and fashion of the city and
neighbourhood. Since that time it has frequently been used for the
performance of oratorios and concerts, for lectures, public meetings, and
other purposes, except theatrical entertainments, which are prohibited by
the terms of the lease under which the site is held from the
ecclesiastical commissioners, in whom the fee simple of the property is
vested.
Returning to the Cross, whence we set out, we now direct our attention to
BRIDGE STREET,
which is an open and spacious street, in length from the Cross to the
Bridge about 554 yards. This street is characterized by many striking
features of deep interest to the antiquarian, and indeed to all who love
to visit the localities which are associated with any remarkable events
of our national and ecclesiastical history. Although the buildings now
present a much more modern aspect than they did some years ago, there are
still remaining many conspicuous proofs of the antiquity of the city, and
many curious remains which give it peculiar attractions.
A little way down the street, on the left hand, is a house now occupied
by Mr. W. Brittain, woollen draper, which is rendered remarkable from a
peculiar, and, as it resulted, _fortunate_ incident, which occurred there
in 1558. In that year Dr. Cole, Dean of St. Paul’s, came to Chester on
his way to Ireland, entrusted with a commission from Queen Mary, for
prosecuting the Protestants in that part of the kingdom. The
commissioner stopped one night in this house on his way, then a noted
inn, called the _Blue Posts_, where he was visited by the Mayor, to whom,
in the course of conversation, he communicated his errand, taking out a
leather box out of his cloak bag, and saying, in a tone of exultation,
“Here is what will lash the heretics of Ireland!” This announcement was
overheard by the landlady of the house, who had a brother in Dublin; and
whilst the commissioner was complimenting his worship down stairs, the
good woman, prompted by a tender regard for the safety of her brother,
opened the box, and taking out the commission, placed in its stead a pack
of cards, with the knave of clubs uppermost. The unsuspecting Doctor
packed up the box again, and with its far different contents proceeded on
his journey. On his arrival at the Castle of Dublin, the precious box
was presented to the Lord Deputy and Privy Council, who, on opening it,
found, in the place of the commission, the pack of cards, prefaced with
the significant _knave of clubs_. The surprise of the assembly was of
course very great, and the Doctor’s perhaps the greatest of all; he was
not lack in his protestations that the commission he _had_ received, and
was entirely ignorant how it had disappeared. “Let us have another
commission,” said the Deputy; and forthwith the amazed and chagrined
commissioner returned to Court for the purpose; but before he could
return to Ireland, Queen Mary died. Elizabeth, her successor, rewarded
the woman, whose name was Elizabeth Edwards, with a pension of £40 a year
during her life.
A little lower down, on the same side, are the remains of a Roman Bath
and Hypocaust, which we have described under the head of “Roman
Antiquities.” This curious relic, we take for granted, the visitor will
“go and see.”
A little further is the neat little church of St. Michael, recently
erected on the site of the old church, which had become so much
dilapidated, that apprehensions were excited for its safety.
Passing Pepper-street, adjoining St. Michael’s, we next meet with THE
ALBION HOTEL, a capacious building, connected with which is an
Assembly-room, and behind the premises extensive pleasure-grounds and a
bowling-green.
Passing on to the lower end of the street, we come to St. Olave’s Church,
an edifice of very mean pretensions, but of very ancient foundation. In
the copy of an old Court Roll, the advowson of St. Olave’s is mentioned
among other advowsons, belonging to the Abbey of St. Werburgh. A clerk
was instituted and inducted upon the presentation of the Abbey, in the
time of King John. Divine service is discontinued at St. Olave’s, and
the parishioners attend St. Michael’s. Continuing down the street we
arrive at a handsome arch called the Bridgegate, beyond which is the old
bridge, which will lead the tourist (should his curiosity incline him) to
Edgar’s Cave, already described under the head of antiquities.
Returning on the west side of the street, we come to a steep lane, called
St. Mary’s-hill, which leads to the Castle and to St. Mary’s Church, a
most interesting edifice, worthy of the tourist’s examination.
Opposite St. Olave’s Church, before mentioned, is an old house, formerly
occupied by the Gamul family, which possesses great interest from the
fact of its having given protection to Charles I. during the siege of
Chester by the Parliamentary forces. There is some very curious painted
panel work and beautiful carving in the interior, which render it well
worthy of inspection. A little higher up is an antiquated building
called “The Falcon Inn,” a fine specimen of the old timber houses of
Chester. Adjoining this house formerly stood the OLD LAMB ROW, which was
one of the most remarkable objects of curiosity in the city. The
materials of which the buildings were composed were the same as that of
the Falcon, which is probably an older building than the Old Lamb-row
was. It was constructed of massy beams of oak, heavy roofs, and the
interstices of the timber in the fronts filled up with sticks and clay.
The age of the row is pretty clearly determined by the inscription on a
stone, discovered after the fall of the building:—
16—H—55
R. H.
The initials of Randle Holme, the builder. This was the mansion of the
family of Holme, the famous Cheshire antiquaries. In the year 1670, the
third Randle made some important and obnoxious alterations, which brought
upon him the censure of the Corporation, who ordered that “the nuisance
erected by Randle Holme in his new building in Bridge-street, near to the
two churches, be taken down, as it annoys his neighbours, and hinders
their prospect from their houses.” He proceeded with his work, however,
_sans cérémonie_; and in the following year Mr. Holme, painter, “was
fined £3 6s. 8d. for contempt to the Mayor, in _proceeding_ in his
building in Bridge-street.” It continued the residence of that heraldic
family so late as 1707. It appears that the Holme family subsequently
sank into extreme indigence, and at no very distant period, we believe, a
descendant was an occasional boots and waiter at a tavern in Liverpool.
Such are the reverses of fortune! How this property became alienated
from the Holmeses has not been ascertained. It was occupied about the
middle of the last century as a public-house, called “The Lamb,” whence
it derived the name of the Lamb-row. In 1821, in the middle of the day,
it suddenly gave way and tumbled into the street: happily without any
injury to the inhabitants. An old woman was sitting in the upper room at
the moment the overhanging roof bore down the trembling building beneath;
the wall of the apartment separated within six inches of a chair on which
she was seated, but she fortunately escaped.
After passing Grosvenor-street, we come to White Friars, which derives
its name from a monastery of Carmelites or White Friars being once
located there. The next turning is Common Hall-street, so called from
its being the place where the Common Hall of the city formerly stood, as
its name imports. Some think that it occupied the site of a building now
used as a Dissenting chapel; but Ormerod is of opinion that it stood on
the _south_ side of the street, near to several old almshouses which
still remain.
Prior to the era of the Reformation, Chester abounded in religious
institutions and edifices. We have already indicated this fact, in
pointing out the localities where some of these religious buildings were
situated. There are many convincing evidences, in the lower part of
several houses in the principal streets, that they have been erected on
the ruins of these ecclesiastical foundations. A remarkable instance in
support of this supposition has recently been brought to light, upon
clearing out an underground cellar behind the shop of Messrs. Powell and
Edwards, cutlers, a little farther up in the street, when the remains of
AN ANCIENT CHAPEL
were discovered. The public are much indebted to the care and good taste
of these gentlemen, that this valuable antiquity has been so admirably
preserved; and as they are most courteous in affording strangers the
privilege of examining it, we doubt not that the opportunity will be
gladly taken. The chapel is of an oblong form, running from east to
west. Its dimensions are 42 feet in length, 15 feet 3 inches in breadth,
and the height, from the surface of the floor to the intersections of the
groining of the roof, 14 feet. It was partially lighted through the
upper part of the west end, in which there are three small windows,
divided by stone mullions, and protected by iron bars. On examining the
intersection of the groins, marks were discovered on the stonework, that
a couple of lamps had been used for lighting. The entrance to the east
end was by a flight of steps cut out of the rock; this passage is now
closed, but from what remains there is no doubt this was the case. On
the south side is an Anglo-Norman-Gothic doorway, attained by three or
four circular steps, and forming an outlet within its inner and outer
wall, by another flight of steps, to the surface above the building. At
the west end are two niches, in which the baptismal fonts are supposed to
have been placed; one of these was found during the excavation, and is
deposited in one of these recesses; the other was unfortunately destroyed
by the workmen. The date of the erection of this interesting structure
is supposed to be early in the thirteenth century. Taking into
consideration the fact that not far from this spot were the monasteries
of Grey Friars and White Friars, it has been conjectured by some that in
this chapel they assembled for their religious celebrations. It seems to
be, however, a more feasible hypothesis, that the site was once occupied
by some order of religious house; that the chapel formed a part of the
erection, and was used by the inmates for their religious ceremonies and
worship. In the upper part of the premises there appear to be some
characteristic remains of the ancient structure. Lacking any further
evidence as to the character and extent of this venerable building than
the place itself supplies, the question is involved in uncertainty. The
crypt is a most interesting curiosity, worthy of the investigation of the
antiquarian, and to his better judgment we leave the subject.
[Picture: Chester Cathedral, South West View A.D. 875]