Walking Chester City Walls Part 2: Norman Castle to Roman Amphitheatre

Continued from Part 1: Eastgate to the Racecourse

CHESTER long held a special position within regal control over the country. The Earldom of Chester was created shortly after the Norman Conquest, around AD 1070-71, with the title and powers of a ‘County Palatine’ granted to the earls by William the Conqueror, essentially a separate fuedal domain designed for defence of the frontier zone along the Welsh Marches. Chester, along with Shrewsbury and Hereford, were granted this privileged status in which the nobleman, or ‘counts palatine’, swore allegiance to the monarch yet had the power to rule the county largely independently of the king. 

This status meant the palatinate of Cheshire was effectively excluded from King John's Magna Carta. Ranulf, 3rd Earl of Chester, produced a local charter, issued in 1215 or 1216, which although some of its articles were similar to the Runnymede Charter, granted privileges to Cheshire's barons that were not extended to other barons in the rest of England under the Magna Carta.

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9. Chester Castle
Once a great stone fortress Chester Castle was dominant as the seat of power in the North-West. Enclosed by the city walls the castle is strategically located at the south-west corner of the city overlooking the River Dee, the port of Chester and the Old Dee Bridge carrying the main route in to Wales.

Chester's first castle was built at the instruction of William the Conqueror in 1070. The original structure being a motte-and-bailey timber castle with a wooden tower. Throughout Norman times the castle was the seat of the Earls of Chester, some of the most powerful nobles in the country. The second Earl of Chester, Hugh Lupus (the Wolf) d'Avranches held his parliament there. The Norman castle was rebuilt and extended by successive Earls of Chester, the wooden tower on the summit of the motte replaced by a square stone tower, known as the Flag Tower in the 12th century, the oldest stone work on the site. Once the central keep but now much reduced in height it is not visible as you walk the walls.

When the last Norman Earl died without issue in 1237 the Crown annexed the Earldom of Chester. Since 1301 the earldom of Chester has been held by successive Prince of Wales, the immediate heir to the throne. A tradition started by Edward I during his conquest of Wales, the title Prince of Wales was used by the Welsh nobility since the 12th century and later reclaimed by Owain Glyn Dŵr during his early-15th century rebellion. The first English Prince of Wales was the youngest son of Edward I, Edward of Caernarfon born at the castle in 1284 and future King Edward II.

During the 13th century Henry III and Edward I used Chester castle as their military headquarters during their Welsh campaigns. Henry and later his son Edward carried out considerable work at the castle strengthening much of the timber defences with stone, notably the outer bailey, where the pallisade was replaced by a great stone wall in 1247-51. 

It was at Chester castle that Richard II’s reign effectively came to an end when he was imprisoned there by Henry Bolingbroke in 1399. Along with Richard II, Eleanor Cobham, and Andrew de Moray, famous at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, were all imprisoned in the Agricola Tower at some time. Built in sandstone ashlar the 12th-century the Agricola Tower (or Chapel Tower) was the original gateway in to the inner bailey of the castle with the now blocked passage arch clearly visible. On the first floor is the chapel of St Mary de Castro, which is said to contain some exceptionally fine wall paintings dating from around 1240.

Alarmingly much of the medieval castle was demolished during Thomas Harrison's radical rebuilding in the 18th and 19th centuries with only the Agricola tower, the lower half of the Flag Tower and occasional patches of medieval walling surviving.

Turning east at the castle continuing on the city walls with the River Dee on your right you soon arrive at Bridgegate and the old bridge across the River Dee. A traffic control system operates here owing to the narrowness of the gate and the bridge. Cross the bridge and head towards Handbridge.

10. Bridgegate & The Old Dee bridge
Originally a Roman bridge that straddled the River Dee linking the quarries at Handbridge to the fortress of Deva. The 14th century Old Dee Bridge was built in stone after several of the earlier timber bridges were swept away in high waters. In 1600 a large square tower was built on its centre, which, with upstream pipes and a water wheel on the weir, pumped water into the city, the first such system outside London. The tower was destroyed during the Civil War. The seven arches are unequally spaced owing to lack of firm foundations in the river bed. A toll was charged until 1885. On crossing the bridge arriving on the south bank of the Dee you will see a signpost pointing across the road to Edgar’s Field, enter through the children’s play area next to the Ship Inn.

11. The Minerva Shrine (Edgar's Field)
Walk through the play area into Edgar’s Field where you will see a large outcrop ahead. According to local tradition Edgar’s Field is named after the Saxon King Edgar was allegedly rowed up the River Dee by eight Saxon princes in AD 973. Rumours of a royal palace here appear to be unfounded. In Roman times this was a red sandstone quarry active mainly in the 2nd century and used extensively in the buildings of the Roman fortress.

On the face of the rock outcrop is a badly weathered carving of the Roman goddess Minerva. Standing within a stylised temple, holding a spear in her right hand and possibly a shield in her left, an owl is perched on her left shoulder with an altar shown to her right. It is thought that there may have been a niche that could be used for offerings. Quarrying took place in Handbridge until the 19th century, so although in poor condition today, knowing how destructive quarrying can be it is surprising that the shrine has survived at all.

Minerva was one of the most important deities of the Roman state; at Handbridge she is depicted as goddess of crafts, yet she was also patron of all the rivers and springs in Britannia. Although not a water goddess, at Roman Bath she became equated with the Celtic goddess Sulis and presided over the healing hot springs. Images of deities carved into the solid rock are very rare in Roman Britain, yet the choice of Minerva in a classical style reflects the culture of the Roman soldiers based at Chester. In 1861 a Roman Altar was found in Bridge Street Row east, which read: “To The goddess Minerva, Furius Fortunatus, Senior Master, fulfilled his vow" (RIB 457)  

From the Old Dee Bridge you obtain a close up look at the weir in the river, built in the 11th century by Hugh Lupus to power grain mills. Further along the north bank below the medieval wall are The Groves stretching from the bridge to Grosvenor Park. From the Groves you can take a boat trip up river to Iron Bridge or listen to entertainment from the bandstand. 

 

12. The Roman Gardens
Rejoining the city walls from The Groves you are now at the corner of the south and east walls. Further along the east wall, below right, is The Roman Garden which lies just outside the Roman fortress. This is something of a misnomer as there was no Roman garden here, the area was created to display an assortment of finds from the Roman fortress. The collection was assembled in 1949 and includes fragments from military buildings, the main baths and the legionary headquarters such as column pieces, part of an altar and a reconstructed Roman hypercaust. To enter the Roman Gardens leave the city wall at The Newgate and immediately turn right.

A change in the masonry below the east wall below where you just walked can clearly be seen from the Roman Garden which marks the site of a breach blasted through the city walls by Parliamentary cannon when Chester was besieged in 1644 – 1646 during the English Civil War. Leave the Gardens and return to The Newgate.

13. Newgate and Wolfgate
One of the most recent additions to the city walls, The Newgate was opened in 1938 to replace the old Wolfgate, first mentioned as ‘Wofuldegate’ in 1303, which had been rebuilt in the early 17th century but later was deemed too narrow for modern traffic. Wolfgate was retained and stands immediately to the north of the Newgate in its original position. From the top of Newgate the Roman amphitheatre across the road outside of the city walls irresistibly draws your attention and it is here we head next. Leave the city walls at Newgate and cross the road at Souter’s Lane to enter the site of the Roman amphitheatre.

14. The Roman Amphitheatre
In 1736 a small slate plaque was found in Fishmonger's Lane (now Newgate Street) in Chester with a relief carving of a retiarius (a gladiator with trident and net). This is said to be the only depiction of a retiarius with his net in his lefthand known in the whole Roman Empire. Soon after it disappeared. In 1978 the lost gladiator plaque from Chester turned up at Saffron Walden Museum, Essex, which had been in their museum since 1836. How it got to Essex remains a mystery. 

The Chester Gladiator

As a large legionary fortress archaeologists expected an amphitheatre to have been constructed at Chester but no evidence of one had been found at Chester. In 1929 workmen installing a boiler house beyond the south-east angle of the fortress unearthed a massive section of curved wall. WJ (Walrus) Williams immediately identified this as the outer wall of an amphitheatre. Professor Robert Newstead carried out initial investigations and trial trenching over the next two years to define the extent of the Roman amphitheatre. A new road threatened the future of the site but was eventually scrapped. The Chester Archaeological Society purchased St John’s House on the northern half of the amphitheatre to secure the site.

A major excavation was planned to commence in 1939 but was deferred owing the outbreak of the Second World War. Excavations finally took place in the 1960s when a large scale dig took place under the direction of Frederick Hugh Thompson led to exposure of the remains of much of the northern portion of a huge amphitheatre just outside the south-east corner of the Roman fortress that we see today.

Speed's map of Chester 1610,
road around the amphitheatre in red

John Speed’s 1610 map of Chester shows a bend in the road which, unknown at the time, preserved the shape around the northern sector of the amphitheatre. This road must have respected an ancient route around the structure. 

During excavations in 1966 an altar dedicated to Nemesis, the Roman goddess of vengeance and retribution was discovered at the amphitheatre. This altar was found in a small room behind the arena-wall, immediately west of the north entrance, which was presumably a shrine of Nemesis, called a 'Nemeseum' and thought to have been a place of worship for both performers and spectators. The altar at the amphitheatre today is a replica, the original now housed in the Grosvenor Museum. 

Keith Matthews carried out minor excavations in 2000 for Chester City Council. Then between 2004-06 further excavations took place led jointly by Tony Wilmott (English Heritage) and Dan Garner (Chester City Council). Their work revealed that the first amphitheatre, probably constructed around AD 70 by II Legion Adiutrix, consisting of an earthen bank between the outer wall and the sunken arena enclosed by a stone wall. 

In AD 87 II Legion Adiutrix was recalled by emperor Domitian to the continent to serve in the Dacian Wars. II Adiutrix was formed in AD 70 by Emperor Vespasian, drawing from Naval marines of the Ravenna fleet. Gnaeus Julius Agricola, governor of Britain, moved II Adiutrix from Lincoln to the mouth of the River Dee on the northern Welsh border, to construct the legionary fortress at Chester (Deva) as part of the reorganisation of the Legions in Britain. Installing a legionary fortress on the Cheshire Plain effectively putting a Roman wedge between the Brigantes in the north of England and the Ordovices in Wales would be critical to the success of Agricola’s campaign to subjugate the local tribes. No doubt the naval experience of II Adiutrix was significant for construction of the harbour at Deva which would be essential for supplying the Legions.

In AD 88 the XX Legion Valera Victrix was pulled back from the fort at Inchtuthil overlooking the river Tay in Scotland and sent to Deva to replace II Adiutrix. The XX Legion spent around three hundred years at Deva but units were frequently pulled away for various campaigns, the level of maintenance of the fortress reciprocal to the legion’s presence or absence.

The XX Legion set about rebuilding Deva in stone and brick, much of it supplied from the legionary tile and pottery factory at Holt, near Wrexham. Around AD 100 a timber seating framework was installed with external stairways leading to upper level seating of the amphitheatre. Evidence for stalls selling hot take-away food from portable cookers and gladiatorial souvenirs was found around the outside of the amphitheatre. Yellow sand, to soak up and highlight bloodshed, was imported for use in the arena, and stored locally.

During the excavations of 2004-06 a large stone block with an iron ring secured into its surface was discovered in the centre of the arena. This stone has been described as a ‘tethering block’ used for securing wild animals during staged beast hunts (venationes). A replica stone is displayed in the open arena today.

Around AD 120 units of the XX Legion were called north for the construction of Hadrian's wall (AD 122-128). At the fort of Vindolanda, just south of Hadrian's Wall, we find evidence of the legion’s presence in the carved insignia of the boar of XX Legion. Twenty years later units from the XX Legion were active further north in the construction of the turf rampart known as Antonine wall (AD 142-147) at the command of Emperor Antoninus Pius. The XX Legion were active again in the north between AD 155 and 158 when a widespread revolt broke out among the tribes of northern Britain.

The amphitheatre seems to have gone out of use by the mid-2nd century AD, possibly coinciding with the posting of XX Legion to northern England due to unrest in the northern tribes and the construction of Hadrian's Wall. During this period the amphitheatre was neglected and fell into disrepair with the arena used as a rubbish dump. 

Around AD 191 Clodius Albinus was made governor of Britain with control of its three legions. Following the assassination of Pertinax in AD 196 Clodius Albinus was declared emperor by the legions of Britain. He took much of the British garrison with him to the continent, but after a number of engagements was defeated outside Lugdunum (Lyon) by Septimius Severus the following year. In AD 197 the XX Legion returned to Deva Victrix where they carried out repairs and further construction work.

In AD 208 Septimius Severus came to Britain, in an attempt to conquer the Caledonian tribes of northern Britain, strengthening Hadrian’s Wall and re-occupying the Antonine Wall. Again units were pulled from garrison at Deva with the XX Legion supporting Severus in the Caledonian campaigns of AD 211-213. The XX Legion returned to Deva during the reign of Severus' son Caracalla (AD 211-217) carrying out restoration work to the fortress and other civil engineering projects. 

(after Wilmott & Garner, 2007)

In the first quarter of 3rd century a new amphitheatre was constructed around and totally enclosing the old structure at Deva; the new outer wall was constructed 1.8m (6ft) outside the outer wall of the first structure, making it the largest and most impressive amphitheatre in Britain. The amphitheatre was reinstated for only a short period, possibly to celebrate a particular event and then not maintained after. This is the largest known amphitheatre in Britain, estimated at 40ft high and able to seat 7,000 spectators. Yet, to date, less than half of the amphitheatre has been excavated as the remainder sits beneath a listed building.

During the excavations of 2004-06 a small three-sided, stone-built structure painted on the inside was discovered by the north entrance. This would have been on the outer wall of the first amphitheatre. It has been suggested that this small room may have started as a ‘carcer’ then later converted to a Nemeseum. In most amphitheatres, these shrines were outside the arena. This small shrine may have originally housed the altar to Nemesis which was moved inside the later structure as found by Thompson in the 1960’s.

The XX Legion was still active during the reign of the usurpers Carausius, AD 286-293 and Allectus AD293-296, but is not mentioned from the 4th century. It is possible the Legion was disbanded in AD 305 when the Roman emperor Constantius I Chlorus recovered Britain following the usurpations of Carausius and Allectus, he certainly replaced all legionary officers involved in the revolt. During the Diocletianic Persecution Constantius made little effort to implement the decrees in the western provinces that were under his control, limiting his response to destroying a handful of churches. When he died in July AD 306 at Eboracum (York) his son Constantine (the Great) was declared emperor in the west by the legions at York; he would become the first Christian emperor of Rome. 

Alternatively, the XX Legion may have been pulled out of Britain when Magnus Maximus rebelled in AD 383 to pursue his ambitions as Emperor. However, after the end of the 4th century, the fortress was abandoned by the Romans.

After Rome: Into the Dark
Following Thompson’s excavations in the 1960’s it was suggested that a series of postholes in the centre of the arena were identified as Roman and used for temporary military ceremonies. Thompson used machinery to empty the arena to what he considered was the Roman level, he later accepted that this had destroyed evidence for the late and post-Roman history of the site. 

The idea of a ceremonial platform was dismissed after further archaeological investigations in the 2000’s. The rectilinear pattern of the postholes was interpreted as evidence for a 5th or 6th century timber structure at the centre of the arena and was proposed as a possible Dark Age chieftain’s hall, or possibly an ecclesiastical building; the structure certainly stood long enough to require rebuilding at least once. Later, large blocks were inserted in the east entrance with probably only the northern entrance still in use, this seems to be confirmed by the metalled path leading from this entrance to what has been interpreted as timber buildings at the centre of the arena. The concept of the disused amphitheatre converted into the fortified residence of a high status Dark Age individual certainly has its attractions and evidently appealed to some historians.

The re-use of the amphitheatre in the post-Roman period has led to attempts to link the structure to the famous Round Table of the legendary King Arthur, a concept which was presented in a television program in 2010. The program ‘King Arthur’s Round Table Revealed’ first aired on The History Channel on 19th July 2010 and was widely reported in the national press as “The recent discovery of an amphitheatre with an execution stone and wooden memorial to Christian martyrs . . . .” concluding, “That is the clincher. The discovery of the shrine within the amphitheatre means that Chester was the site of Arthur’s court and his legendary Round Table”. [See Note]

As time moved on the amphitheatre was robbed of the majority of its stonework for civil building projects in the city. The height of the structure must have been substantially reduced and then being largely neglected the remains became covered over and had disappeared from sight by the 12th century and largely forgotten until its rediscovery in 1929. 

In the 17th Century Dee House, now a Grade II listed building, was built over the southern half of the amphitheatre. Consequently, none of the structure of the amphitheatre above modern ground level has survived here, but there is likely to be Roman archaeology under the foundations of Dee House. There is currently some debate over the future of Dee House which is now empty and in a “significant state of disrepair” raising the question whether it should be demolished to allow the remainder of the amphitheatre to be exposed. However, it is considered little of the Roman structure would have survived under Dee House making further excavation of limited value; it is a sad state of affairs when a derelict building is preventing the complete excavation of the largest Roman amphitheatre in Britain, the historical importance of which cannot be overstated.

Across the walkway on the opposite side of the arena is St John’s Church.

15. St. John's Church
The current Church of St. John the Baptist is sited beside the Roman amphitheatre, just beyond the city walls and overlooking the River Dee. St John's is Chester's oldest Church and has been a site of Christian Worship for nearly thirteen centuries. There are some 9th century crosses displayed inside the church, yet it is claimed that there has been a church on this site since AD 689 when Æthelred king of Mercia (674–704), youngest son of Penda the pagan king, founded an important Saxon Minster. A stained glass window in the church depicts King Æthelred and a white hind illustrating the legend that the king desired to build a church and was told to site it where he saw a white hind. Yet, the siting of the church does suggest an association with the amphitheatre; it has been suggested that the east entrance of the amphitheatre may have been reused as the crypt of the 7th century church or even an earlier chapel.

The late-7th century date for the foundation of the church sits comfortably with the conversion date of Mercia. Following the conversion to Christianity of King Peada, eldest son of Penda, around AD 656 the religion was firmly established in the kingdom by the late 7th century during the reign of Æthelred, a pious and devout Christian king. He abdicated in 704 to become a monk and abbot at Bardney where he died.

Excavation has shown that the walls on the eastern side of the amphitheatre adjacent the church have been almost entirely robbed. It's fairly certain that much of the stone used in the construction of the early church was robbed from the remains of the amphitheatre. The Saxon church is thought to have been enlarged by Æthelflaed, the Lady of the Mercians, in the early-10th century during her re-fortification work creating a Saxon burh, again, using stone robbed taken the amphitheatre. The amphitheatre walls were robbed again in the 11th century for the conversion into Chester’s first cathedral when St John’s was partially rebuilt by Bishop Peter of Mercia. It was used as a cathedral from 1075 to 1102, when the see of Lichfield transferred to Chester. St John’s then became an important Collegiate Church throughout the medieval period. The amphitheatre was probably part of the precinct of St John’s until the Dissolution. In the 16th Century, following the Reformation, St. John's became a Parish Church. 

King Harold at Chester
St John’s church is associated with the odd tradition of the survival of King Harold after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. King Harold is said to have lived at the chapel of St James near St John’s church after fleeing from the battlle field.

The Chester story is mentioned in The Polychronicon by Ranulf Higden (c.1280-1364), a Benedictine Monk of the monastery of St. Werburgh in Chester, and says the story was popularized by Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis), c.1146-1223, who claimed Harold escaped the battle with a wound to the eye and became an anchorite in a cave or rock shelter near St. John's Church where he was cared for by his mistress, Edith Swan Neck. 

St Jame's Chapel
Did King Harold stay here after the Battle of Hastings?

Why would Harold flee from the south coast to Chester nearly 300 miles away? The city has a strong association with Harold's family, and some of the lands that became the Earldom of Chester had previously belonged to Harold's family. Did Gerald of Wales invent this story or was he pulling from a local tradition?

Higden claims that the tale is well known in the City and “Alredus Ryvallense records in his 'Life of St. Edward' that Harold dies miserably and in a state of penitence". The ‘Vita S. Eduardi Confessoris’ (The Life of Saint Edward, King and Confessor) was written by Aelred of Rievaulx, (born c.1110-1167) Cistercian abbot at Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire, after witnessing the translation of St. Edward the Confessor’s body in 1163.

The anonymous Vita Haroldi a Latin work from around 1205 also suggests Harold survived the battle, travelled to the continent, and lived as a hermit. It is thought to have been written at Waltham Abbey, the traditional burial site of King Harold .  

16. South-East Angle of the Roman Fortress
On a grassed area immediately below the City Walls on Pepper Street, adjacent to the Wolfgate are the remains of a Roman tower facing the amphitheatre. This is the base of an angle tower which was sited on the south-east corner of the original Roman fortress of Deva Victrix. In the Middle Ages Chester’s City Walls were rebuilt and extended at this point up to the back wall of the Roman south-east angle tower so that the Roman tower lay slightly forward of the later medieval wall.

It is at this point, the south-east corner of the Roman fortress, where the medieval wall diverges from the original Roman wall that Æthelflæd, the Lady of the Mercians, extended to the south as far as the banks of the River Dee, as at St Martin’s Gate to Boneswaldesthorne's Tower in the north-west corner. By extending the old Roman walls to the banks of the River Dee from the corners of the south-east corner and the north-west of the fortress the Saxons significantly increased the defensive circuit around Chester in response to the Viking threat. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle simply records for AD 907: “Here Chester restored.” 

Return to the city walls by going up the steps at Newgate and follow the walkway in a northerly direction to return to Eastgate. Leave the walls here and walk along Eastgate Street into the centre of this historic city.

Newgate

17. The Rows
You soon come to the intersection of the four main streets, Watergate Street, Northgate Street, Bridge Street and Eastgate Street, which meet at the High Cross. These four streets follow the alignment of the original Roman roads running through the camp at Deva from the fortress gates, the cross-road is offset at what was the site of the Roman Principia, the administrative centre, stretching from St Peter's church to the Market Hall.

Radiating from the cross road along each of these street are tall timber framed black and white buildings, known as ‘The Rows’, one of the most distinctive architectural features of Chester that have existed at least since the late 13th century, but today most of these are Victorian or later faced with mock Tudor woodwork.

The Rows are a unique system of covered walkways on the first floor with some of the best shops in the city and commercial properties on two levels. They are open to the street on one side and the levels can be reached from stairs at ground level. Further shops are on the ground level.

Many of the buildings in the Rows were constructed with stone undercrofts beneath, known locally as ‘crypts’, above this most of the buildings in the Rows were constructed of timber. Their precise origins are unknown, yet they appear to have been built directly on top of the remains of the Roman fortress; several of the buildings in Chester city centre have Roman architecture in their cellars. For example, 39 Bridge Street has the remains of a Roman hypercaust in its cellar and in the basement of The Pret a Manger on Northgate Street are huge sandstone pillar bases that supported the roof of the Principia. 

Bishop Lloyd’s Palace
Perhaps the most famous building of the Chester Rows is Bishop Lloyd's Palace, 41 Watergate Street, one of the oldest buildings on the historic Rows. Once described as the best house in Chester, Bishop Lloyd's Palace is an early 17th Century timber-framed building, a listed Grade 1 building with fine carvings on the gable elevations and at Row level.  The interior includes a magnificent period piece fireplace and high decorated plaster ceilings.

The building incorporates a section of the Chester Rows on the first floor with meeting rooms and the headquarters of Chester Civic Trust above. The house has been associated with George Lloyd, Bishop of Chester 1605-1615. Lloyd was consecrated bishop of Sodor and Man in 1600, but he exchanged the see for Chester in 1604 where he reversed the anti-Puritan policy of Richard Vaughan, his predecessor.

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