Uncovering The History Of Chester, Chester, England

Chester is jam-packed with history. Wherever you go there is something to see: Roman remains, the medieval city walls, and the second most photographed clock in Britain. To make sense of the multi-layered history of Chester I joined in with a tour of the city organised by the Guild of Chester Tour Guides.

Our guide was Pete Evans. He was entertaining and informative, and managed to pack an incredible amount of Chester’s 2,000 year history into an hour and a half. He also had a seemingly inexhaustible supply of stories about the people who lived in and visited the city over the centuries.

Pete started by explaining that the history of Chester is multi-layered, the different eras overlapping with one another. (For convenience I have divided this post into separate periods but you will see that the various strands are all interconnected…)

Founded in 74 CE, Chester has been described as “the most Roman town in Britain” (a title that has sometimes been disputed by Colchester!). It is certainly true that Deva, as it was then known, was the most important Roman military fortress in the north of Britain.

Although much of the River Dee has now silted up, Deva was at the head of an open estuary in Roman times. This facilitated the movement of troops and goods into the country. An additional benefit was its location on a sandstone ridge above the river, making the fortress easy to defend. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).