Roman – Pete's Blog

This week we moored the boat in the centre of Chester, a lovely city, dating back to Roman times. We had a spare day so I went on a bit of an exploration. I had never been in Chester Cathedral before so I joined a guided tour, going up the tower and around some of the high up spaces. At around 4pm the Cathedral was quiet and our small group of visitors finished the tour at the very back of the church, above the altar and looking down the chancel and nave as the sun streamed through the stained glass window at the west end.

I am not a particularly religious person but the moment was magical. My father was a Church of England vicar and so I feel very at home in churches. There is a very particular smell of old stone and wood that brings back very happy memories. I am also fascinated by the history. Chester Cathedral was originally an Abbey, built a thousand years ago for a group of Catholic monks. When Henry 8th destroyed most of the monasteries, he kept this one repurposed as a Cathedral for a new diocese in the North West of England.

When I am doing my family tree research, one new discovery often leads to another. Discovering about this Cathedral was the same because when Henry created this new Cathedral, he chose it over an existing one on the other side of Chester, that I simply had to visit.

St John The Baptist’s Church dates back to medieval times, and may even have been built on the site of the Roman Temple to Mythra. There is good evidence that at one time there were three Archbishops in the UK – at York, Canterbury and here in Chester. It is a fascinating place to visit.

I came back to the boat replete with stories of ancient churches to share with Mandy. Lucky her!

This week we took the Shropshire Union canal down into Chester, an ancient city that grew up from a Roman garrison settlement called Deva. The Romans built it here because it was roughly in the middle of the area of the UK they had conquered, it had good Roman road connections, and at the time it had good access to the sea through the river Dee. After the Romans, it continued as a successful medieval port city, and the Normans developed it further with a castle, a large cathedral and extended city walls.

Along the city walls, overlooking the canal.

These walls are possibly what Chester is most famous for. I walked a couple of times all the way around them, there are fine views across the countryside up to the Wirral and down to Wales. You can look down on Chester racecourse. You can see the Roman amphitheatre and ruined columns in a garden. The north side has the canal running alongside, utilising what once would have been a moat.

We moored up in a basin near the city centre, and just across from Telford’s Warehouse, a large pub, based in the headquarters of Thomas Telford, who built this canal. We had a fine meal with excellent craft beers, and even more excellent company of two of our nieces and a new boyfriend, who had to undergo a full inquisition from me and Mandy, testing for suitability. He passed!

The weather has turned this week and it has become wet autumn. But we have slowed down our travelling as we near the end of our summer on the boat, so a bit of rain can usually be avoided. And that has given more time for visiting Chester. Next year we plan to do a little less travelling and a little more visiting. Perhaps after two years, we are realising that retirement is more a marathon than a sprint.

Lovely city, Chester.

Tag: Roman

I love beautiful churches

Welcome to the wonderful city of Chester