  here
is
much
that
remains
mysterious
about
the
early
history
of
the
site
now occupied
by the beautiful
Chester
Cathedral.
Certainly,
it
occupies
a
large
central area
within
the
former
Roman
fortress
of Deva and
substantial
traces
of
this
doubtlessly still
lie
beneath the present building,
even
including,
it
is
conjectured,
remains
of
a
Roman
temple
dedicated
to Apollo.
And,
in
the
words
of
the
19th
century
Chester
guide
and
author Thomas
Hughes, "that
this
temple
had
itself
supplanted
a
still
older
fane
of
the
superstitious
Druids".
The
later
continuous
occupation
of
the
site
for
well
over
a
thousand
years
by
a
succession
of
church,
abbey
and
cathedral
buildings
has,
however,
understandably
prevented
attempts to substantiate
these
claims.
According
to Henry
Bradshaw,
a
16th
century
Chester
monk
and
scholar,
Christianity
was
introduced
here
in
about
AD140
by Lucius,
King
of
the
Britons.
This
is
entirely
unproven,
but
King
Lucius
certainly
existed
and
is
mentioned
by Bede and Geoffrey
of
Monmouth.
Contemporary
opinion
places
the
coming
of
Christianity
to
Britain
to
c.
AD175-200
and
it
seems
certain
that
missionaries
would
early
on
have
found
their
way
to
the
fortress
of
Deva, home as it was to a cosmopolitan population of soldiers, sailors, merchants and others hailing from all parts of the vast Roman Empire. Just
when
and
where
they
erected
their
first
church
we
have
no
idea,
indeed,
a
permanent
building
may
not
have
appeared
at all until
after
the
abandonment
of
the
fortress
by
the
Legions
early
in
the
5th
century. Recognising
the
inherent
power
of
ancient
Pagan
sites
and
the
reverence
in
which
they
were
held
by
the
people,
the
early
Christians
commonly
utilised
them
for
their
new
churches,
and
an
abandoned
temple
here
in
the
heart
of
the
old
fortress
would
doubtless
have
qualified
as
such
a
prestigious
location.
We
know
that
other
ancient Chester
ecclesiastical foundations were
founded
upon
the
sites
of less venerated structures
such as abandoned Roman
gatehouses- St. Michael's
in Bridge
Street  stands where Deva's South Gate once was and
Holy
Trinity
in Watergate
Street is on the site of the long-vanished West Gate.
(These once-important entrances fell out of use when the City Walls were extended to their present positions by the Saxon re-occupiers over a thousand years ago).
The Saxon church appears upon this Chester penny of c. AD 920
Evidence of the practice of reoccupying ancient holy sites can be found in a letter from Pope Gregory to Abbot Mellitius (dated to 601 AD) asking him to help Augustine with the conversion of the Anglo Saxons:
"We wish you to inform him that we have been giving careful thought to affairs of the English, and have come to the conclusion that the temples of the idols among that people should on no account be destroyed. The idols are to be destroyed, but the temples themselves are to be aspersed with holy water, alters set up in them, and relics deposited there. For these temples are well-built, they must be purified from the worship of demons and dedicated to the service of the true God. In this way, we hope that the people, seeing that their temples are not destroyed, may abandon their error and, flocking more readily to their accustomed resorts, may come to know and adore the true God."
Interestingly, in October 2001, while investigating the site of a former telephone exchange half a mile or so from the Cathedral in Boughton, archaeologists unearthed a small slab of slate bearing a fragmentary portion of a Latin inscription, susceptum solvit laetus merito- ("gladly and with joy he fulfilled his undertaking to the god who well deserved it").
 It was found on the bed of a Roman water channel, 2 metres wide and lined with wood and stone, which eventually dried up and then used as a rubbish tip. A local expert commented "the obvious inference is that this inscription came from a temple. If this is so, then we have the first written reference to a temple in Chester. Because the piece was essentially found in an ancient rubbish tip, it is hard to pinpoint the exact location of where the temple once stood. Chester was such a prominent place in Roman times, it is unusual that we have never found any record of a Roman temple before but this discovery now sets the record straight".
Right: an interesting early 19th century view of the Cathedral as seen from Cow Lane Bridge.
In the winter of 1921-2, during the construction of the War Memorial (illustrated here) between the South Porch and the entrance to the South Transept, the extensive remains of a grand Roman building (the temple?) were unearthed. Lying beneath seven feet of earth and built upon the solid bedrock, were discovered well-built walls four feet in thickness with fine ashlar faces on both sides and built in thin courses of 4-5 inches in depth. Some sections were, curiously, built on top of
flat paving stones, themselves lying on the sandstone bedrock- a rather unnecessary procedure, one would have thought, but one which may point to the fact that this wall was built upon the remains of an even earlier building. Well formed pieces of cornice were also found, each weighing up to
10 cwt.
 It
seems
likely
that
Chester's
first
Christians
suffered
along
with
their
fellows
during
the
waves
of
persecution
which
regularly
swept
over
the
Roman
Empire.
During the course of describing the death of the first English martyr, Alban,
at Verulamium (modern St. Albans)
in
AD
301, Bede recorded that, "Diocletian
in
the
East
and
Herculius
in
the
West ordered
all
churches
to
be
destroyed,
and
all
Christians
to
be
hunted
out
and
killed.
This
was
the
tenth
persecution
since
Nero
and
was
more
protracted
and
horrible
than
all
that
had
preceded
it.
It
was
carried
out
without
any
respite
for
ten
years,
with
the
burning
of
churches,
the
outlaw
of
innocent
people
and
the
slaughter
of
martyrs".
Bede,
who
wrote
his
great History
of
the
English
Church
and
People at Jarrow in
remotest
Wearside
in
North
East
England
in
the
first
half
of
the
eighth
century, during the so-called Dark Ages, also
recorded
that, "In
the
same
persecution
suffered
Aaron
and
Julius,
citizens
of
the City
of
the
Legions" ( that being the meaning of Chester's name).
The Cloisters at Chester Cathedral: left, by George Cuitt (1779-1854) and below, by Steve Howe 1992
St. Werburgh
So far, very much is romantic conjecture but what is certain
is
that,
around
the
year
690,
the
Anglo-saxon
princess Werburgh (also here),
daughter
of Wulfhere,
King
of
Mercia,
and
grand-daughter
of
King Penda,
after "a
life
of
pious
works",
died
and
was
buried
at
Hanbury
in
Staffordshire. Not
much
more
is
now
known
about
her,
beyond
her
royal liniage, her reputation
for
sanctity
and
her
powerful
connections,
with
several
sainted
aunts
and
a
revered
grandmother, St. Sexburgh.
The
author
of
the
1792 Chester
Directory wrote
of
her
early
life: "Werburgh...
who,
the
good
wives
of
the
present
day
will
wonder
to
hear,
took
the
veil
after
living
for
three
years
with
her
husband,
Ceolredus,
in
a
state
of
vestal
purity!
Whether
the
chaste
lady's
immaculacy
was
was
more
ascribable
to
a
constitutional
coldness
or
to
a
spiritual
heat,
historians
have
not
been
kind
enough
to
inform
us;
nor
even
have
they
vouchsafed
to say
what
sort
of
a
man
her
husband
was..."
 She
first
became
a
nun
at Ely,
lived
most
of
her
life
at Weedon,
Northamptonshire,
died
at Threckingham in
Linclolnshire
and
was
buried
in Hanbury, Stafforshire. An
account
of
her
life,
written
by
the
Flemish
monk Goscelin at
Canterbury
at
the
end
of
the
10th
century,
told
how
she
was
kind
to
every
creature
of
God,
even
the
wild
geese
that
ravaged
her
fields
at
Weedon.
It
is
said
that,
after
shutting
a
large
flock
of
them
indoors
overnight
as
punishment,
she
pardoned
and
released
them.
Upon
discovering
that
one
of
their
number
was
missing,
having
been
stolen
by
a
servant,
the
birds
came
winging
noisily
back
to
her. Werburgh
understood
the
meaning
of
their
cries,
and,
having
secured
the
release
of
their
fellow,
she
rejoiced
with
them,
saying, "Birds
of
the
air,
bless
the
Lord!" The
whole
flock
then
flew
away
and
never
again
interfered
with
the
land
of
the
blessed
Werburgh.
A
few
years
after
her
death,
her
body
was
found
to
be "miraculously
uncorrupted" and
her
tomb
became
an
object
of
veneration.
But,
a
century
and
a
half
later,
around
875,
an
invading
Danish
army
advancing
upon
nearby Repton ("The historic capital of Mercia") made
it
necessary
for
the
Saint's
remains
to
be
moved
to
a
place
of
safety.
The
nuns
made
for
the
famous
walled
city
of
Chester
and
re-interred
their
charge
in
a
Saxon
church
dedicated
to
St. Peter
and
St. Paul,
which
had
been
founded
by Werburgh's father Wulfhere around
AD660, possibly incorporating parts of the old Roman temple.
 The
church
was
re-dedicated
to
St. Werburgh
and
St. Oswald
in
907- just over 1100 years ago-
by Aethelflaed,
daughter
of Alfred
the
Great,
who
had
recently
reoccupied
and
extended
the
abandoned
Roman
fortress
as part of here campaign against the Norsemen and
who rebuilt
St. Peter's
at
the
Cross-
where
its
successor
still
stands-
and
to
which
the
dedication
was
transferred.
Not
a
trace
of
the Saxon
church
where
Werburgh
was
laid
to
rest
remains
visible
above
ground
today,
although
excavations
during
the
recent
replacement
of
the
nave
floor
revealed stonework which
may
have
formed
part
of
it.
Right: This statue of Werburgh graces the front of the Roman Catholic church also dedicated to her in Park Street, which was founded in 1873.
The
Shrine
When
the
mortal
remains
of
Saint
Werburgh
was
brought
to
Chester,
they
were
put
into
a
casket
which
was
eventually,
around
1340,
housed
in
a
beautiful
and
ornate
carved
shrine.
Upon
the
efficacy
of
this
shrine
and
its
relics,
the
church
was
to
gain
a
considerable-
and
exceedingly
lucrative-
reputation
as
a
place
of
pilgrimage.
Henry Bradshaw (died 1513), a monk of the Abbey whom wrote a famous life of the saint,
claimed
that
the
shrine
had
been
responsible
for
miraculous
interventions
that
had
saved
Chester
in
times
of
peril.
For
example,
when
the
Welsh
under
King
Gruffydd
besieged
the
city,
the
shrine
was
lifted
up
onto
the
battlements;
as
soon
as
the
King
looked
upon
it,
he
was
struck
blind
and
the
siege
was
abandoned.
The presence of the saint was given as the reason the Abbey was untouched when much of Chester was destroyed by a succession of disastrous fires.
The
shrine,
once
brightly
painted
and
containing
a
jewel-encrusted
casket
housing
the
relics
of
the
saint,
was
broken
up
on
the
order
of
Henry
VIII
at
the
reformation
when
the
Abbey
itself
was
dissolved,
and
parts
of
it
were actually
incorporated
into
the
fabric
of
a grand throne
contructed soon after for the new Bishop.
In
1876,
its
scattered
portions,
as
many
as
could
be
found,
were
re-assembled
by
one
of
the
cathedral's
restorers, Sir
A. W.
Blomfield,
and
today
the understandably
battered-looking
result
stands
in
the
Lady
Chapel. It no longer houses the bones of Werburgh however, and nobody now knows what became of them.
In
the
time
of King
Aethelstan,
around
AD
975,
a
monastery
was
founded
here and
dedicated
to
St. Werburgh
and
St. Oswald.
In
1057,
Leofric,
Earl
of
Mercia,
largely
rebuilt
the
church
and
gave land for the support of
the
foundation.
 After
the
Norman
conquest (Chester was the last city in England to fall, a full three years after the battle of Hastings)
the
Conqueror's nephew and first
Earl, Hugh
D'Avranches, known as Lupus ('the Wolf') and Ermetrude,
his
wife,
transformed
the
building
into
a
grand
Benedictine
monastery,
assisted
by Anselm,
who
later
became
Archbishop
of
Canterbury.
The
first
monks
came
from
the
abbey
of Bec in
Normandy. Work
started
in
1092,
and,
over
the
next
couple
of
centuries,
the
modest
church
was
transformed
into
a
great
monastic
complex,
built
in
the Romanesque style.
Parts
of
this
Norman
building
may
still
be
seen
today,
most
notably
in
the
North
Transept,
where
a
great
arch
and
triforium
survive
unchanged
after
more than
900
years.
The
north-west
corner
of
the
Cathedral
is
the
oldest
part
of
the
nave,
its
original
Norman
end,
with
imposing
rounded
arches
built
around
1140.
The Cathedral Baptistry set in the Norman North West Tower.
(The
finest
Norman
ecclesiastical
architecture
in
Chester,
however,
is
to
be
seen
in
the
wonderful
building
we
are
to
visit
later
in
our
stroll:
the Church
of
St. John
the
Baptist)
In
1101,
after
a
lifetime
of
excess,
Hugh
the
Wolf, oppressor of the people and father of numerous illegitiate children,
having
over
the
years
become Hugh
the
Fat-
took
Holy
Orders
and
became
a
monk of the Abbey,
doubtlessly
in
a
last-minute
attempt
to
atone
for
his
numerous
sins.
In
the
mid-13th
century,
the
new Gothic style
of
architecture
spread
from
Europe,
first
appearing
at
Chester
in
the
beautiful Lady
Chapel of
c.1260
and
the Chapter
House of
c.1250,
from
where
the
abbey
was
administered
and
the
monks
would
listen
to
a
daily
chapter
from
the
rule
of St.
Benedict.
This
was
also
the
burial
place
of
the
Abbots
and
also
of
most
of
the
Earls
of
Chester.
This
has
one
of
the
finest
vaulted
interiors
of
its
type
anywhere,
a
splendid
example
of
the
first
period
of
native
Gothic
architecture,
the Early
English.
 For
the
best
part
of
the
next
three
centuries-
to
the
very
eve
of
the
Abbey's
suppression
in
1538-
work
went
on
continuously
to
produce
the
building
much
as
we
know
it
today.
Set high in the Lady Chapel is this ceiling boss depicting the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170. He engaged in conflict with Henry II over the rights and privileges of the Church and was assassinated by knights loyal to the king in Canterbury Cathedral. He was canonized soon after his death. In 1220, Becket's remains were relocated from his first tomb to a grand shrine where it long attracted great numbers of pilgrims. This was destroyed in 1538, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, on the orders from Henry VIII, who also scattered Becket's bones and ordered that all images of him be obliterated. Even to mention his name was forbidden. Hence Chester Cathedral's relic of Becket is a very great rarity.
The Baptistry (above) is housed in one of the oldest surviving sections of the Cathedral, the Romanesque (Norman) north-west tower, built in the middle of the 12th century. The white marble font was found in a ruined church in Italy and is carved with early Christian symbols such as peacocks (representing the resurrection) and bears the Greek letters alpha and omega. Said to have been made in the sixth or seventh century, its original purpose remains a mystery- perhaps it was the well-head in some long vanished village.
In the Baptistry, also, is to be found a centuries-old board for the ancient game of nine men's morris or merrills scratched into the stone of the plinth of the north east tower- where, perhaps, the monks whiled away some of the little leisure time they enjoyed between services.
The
Chapel
of
St. Nicolas
Like
the
Saxon
minster
before
it,
the
Abbey
served
the
townspeople
as
a
parish
church,
services
being
held
in
the
south
aisle
of
the
nave
at
an
altar
dedicated
to St. Oswald.
With
the
rebuilding
of
the
nave
in
the
14th
century,
they
were
required
by
the
monks
to
move
to
a
former
guild
chapel
dedicated
to St. Nicolas,
which
had
been
built
in
1280,
and
which
is
still
standing
just
across
the
road
from
the
Cathedral
in
what
is
now
St.Werburgh
Street.
Their
new
accomodation
seems
to
have
been
unpopular
with
the
parishioners
as
they
later
returned
to
worship
in
the
exceptionally-large south
transept
of
the
Abbey,
which
was
designated
as
the
Parish
Church
of
St.
Oswald
and
actually walled
off from
the
rest
of
the
building.
This
unusual
situation
continued
until as late as
1872,
when
the
new
Church
of
St. Thomas
of
Canterbury in
Parkgate
Road, one of hundreds of churches designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott-
became
the
church
of
the
Parish
of
St. Oswald.
 The
abandoned
chapel
fell
into
disuse
until
the
Abbey
was
dissolved,
when
for
a
time
it
housed
the King's
School before
being
purchased
by
the
town
to
serve
as
a
new
Common
Hall. The
lower
room
was
used
for
the
storage
of
bulk
goods
such
as
cloth,
wool
and
grain "to
be
vended
and
sold
by
Forreiners
and
Strangers,
at
times
allowable
in
the
city"
and
the
upper
room
for "assemblies,
elections
and
courts".
When
the
new Exchange was
built
in
nearby
Market
Square
in
1695,
the
old
chapel
became
the
Wool
Hall
and
thirty
years
later
was
adapted
for
the
showing
of
plays,
being
greatly
upgraded
in
1773
to
become
the Theatre
Royal,
where
appeared
such
stars
of
their
day
as Sarah
Siddons in
1786
and Edmund
Kean.
Both an Act of Parliament and the personal assent of the Monarch were necessary at this time in order to obtain a licence to open a public theatre and copies of that pertaining to Chester still exist, dating from the early part of the reign of George III, 1761. Audiences didn't sit quietly to enjoy a play as they do today, but would argue and fight among themselves and throw objects and abuse at the performers if their efforts failed to please. Of the Act relating to Chester, it is interesting to note that it was allied to an Act of Queen Anne for "reducing the laws relating to Rogues, Vagabonds, Sturdy Beggars and Vagrants".
The theatre long after remained a source of official suspicion
and plays were required to be licenced by the Lord Chancellor right up to the 1960s.
In
1854
the
building
was
enlarged-
the
new
frontage
being
designed
by James
Harrison-
and
then
became
a
Music
Hall. Charles
Dickens,
who
read
here in 1867,
described
it
thus: "The
hall
is
like
a
Methodist
Chapel
in
low
spirits,
and
with
a
cold
in
its
head".
 Dickens seemed to have suffered from the cold excessively in Chester. He wrote that, while staying at the Queen Hotel, "he felt like a piece of meat hanging in a larder". (The Queen, opposite the railway station, remains one of Chester's finest hotels- and is doubtessly rather warmer these days).
The 13th century Chapel of St. Nicolas- much altered and enlarged over the years to accomodate a school, Common Hall, theatre, cinema and a variety of shops- as seen from the roof of Chester Cathedral in 1997. In front of it stands St. Werburgh's Row and in the background the tower of St. Peter's Church at The Cross.. Photograph by the author.
In
1921,
the
Music
Hall
became
the
oldest
building
in
the
world
to
be
used
as
a
cinema
and
showed Al
Jolson's 'talkie' The Singing Fool six
years
later, September 23rd 1929.
(Read about it in our brief history of the cinema in Chester here). It
closed
in
1961
and
became
a
branch
of Lipton's,
the
first
supermarket
within
the
City
Walls.
Since
that
time,
it
has
housed
a
number
of
retail
businesses
and
today
the
venerable
13th
century
Chapel
of
St. Nicolas
plays
host
to
a
branch
of Superdrug.
• It
was
announced
in May
2001 that
Chester's other surviving
old
music
hall
and
theatre,
the Royalty in
City
Road,
was
to
be
demolished, eventually to be replaced by a hotel.
Go here to
see
some
photographs
and learn a little of its fascinating history...
Before
moving
back
into
the
Cathedral,
notice
the
fine
row
of
shops
facing
it
and
adjoining
the
old
chapel: St. Werburgh's
Row,
built
for the Hodkinson Trustees in a sensitive Arts and Crafts style
in 1935. The row was
designed
by Maxwell
Ayrton (1874-1960) who, in partnership with Sir John Simpson,
was
more famously
the
architect
of
the
first Wembley
Stadium,
with
its
world-famous
twin
towers.
Go on to Part II of our exploration of Chester Cathedral...
 Curiosities from Chester's
History no. 8
- 1354
The
title
'Admiral
of
the
Dee'
first
conferred
upon
the
Mayor
by Edward
the
Black
Prince.
In
the
following
year,
he
granted
the Dee
Mills to
Sir
Howell
Fwyell
for
life,
in
recognition
of
his
bravery
at
the Battle
of
Poitiers.
- 1357
A
fat
ox
sold
for
6s
8d,
a
fat
sheep
for
6d,
a
pig
for
1d.
Labourers
earned
6d
per
day.
- 1362 Piers
Plowman,
poem
in
Middle
English,
ascribed
to
William
Langland
of
Malvern
- 1363
Thomas
de
Newport
becomes
seventeenth
Abbot
of
St.
Werburgh's
(-1386)
- c.1375
The Chester
Mystery
Plays first
performed.
- 1376
Edward
the
Black
Prince
died.
The
following
year,
Edward
III
died
and
his
grandson
Richard,
son
of
the
Black
Prince,
assumed
the
throne
as Richard
II (1367-1400). Robin
Hood first
appears
in
English
popular
literature.
Having
become
an
infamous
refuge
for
vagabonds
and
outlaws,
the Wilderness
of
Wirral,
"was,
on
the
petition
of
the
citizens
of
Chester,
deforested
by
the
order
of
Edward
III:
"His
way
was
wild
and
strange,
by
banks
where
none
had
been...
into
the
wilderness
of
Wirral,
where
few
dwelled
who
granted
any
good
to
God
or
man"
(Sir
Gawain
and
the
Green
Knight)
- 1377
The
Abbot
was
granted
permission
to
crenellate
his
gates
and
boundary
walls
and
the
great
Abbey
Gateway
was
built.
- 1379
A
bushel
of
wheat
sold
for
6d,
a
gallon
of
white
wine
for
6d,
a
gallon
of
claret
for
4d,
a
fat
goose
for
2d
and
a
fat
pig
for
1d.
The Old
Dee
Bridge reconstructed
in
stone,
as
we
know
it
today.
- 1380
The
magnificent
choir
stalls
in
the Cathedral were
installed
this
year.
- 1387-1400
Chaucer: The
Canterbury
Tales. Henry
de
Sutton becomes
eighteenth
Abbot
of
St.
Werburgh's
(-1413)
- 1393
Sir
Baldwyn
Rudistone
and
other
desperados
excite
a
dreadful
riot
in
the
Abbey
Precincts
and
city.
After
killing
one
Sheriff,
taking
the
other
prisoner
and
injuring
the
Mayor,
they
were
finally
expelled
but
returned
a
few
days
after
with
300
men,
and
attempted
to
take
the
place
by
surprise,
but
were
repulsed
and
many
taken
prisoner.
- 1396
Richard
II
marries Isabella
of
France.
The
following
year,
he
visited
Chester
and
was
provided
with
2000
loyal
archers
as
his
bodyguard,
who
wore
his
personal
motif
of
the
White
Hart.
He
was
very
popular
with
the
citizens
and
adopted
the
outlandish
title
of "Prince
of
Chester
for
the
love
he
bare
to
the
Gentlemen
and
Commoners
of
the
Shire
of
Cheshire".
In
September
1397
began
the
Parliament
in
London
for
which
the
King
had
around
him
"a
great
guard
of
Cheshire
men
to
secure
his
person".
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