Chester: Roman Walls, Medieval Rows, and the Dee Winding Through
Chester is one of the few English cities where you can walk the complete circuit of the medieval walls. The walls follow the line of the Roman fortress of Deva Victrix, founded around AD 79 as a base for the Twentieth Legion. The amphitheatre, partially excavated next to the Newgate, was the largest in Roman Britain. Two thousand years later the walls still define the city centre, looping for nearly two miles past the Eastgate Clock (added in 1899 to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and now the most photographed clock in England after Big Ben), the Cathedral, and the Roodee racecourse.
The Rows are Chester's most distinctive feature. These two-tiered medieval shopping galleries along Watergate Street, Bridge Street, Eastgate Street, and Northgate Street have no real equivalent elsewhere in England. The upper tier runs at first-floor level, covered and accessed by steps from the street. The origin is debated (collapsed Roman buildings, deliberate medieval planning, pragmatic adaptation) but the effect is a town centre with twice the retail frontage of a single-level street. The population of the city is around 83,000, with the wider Cheshire West and Chester authority covering approximately 357,000. Chester functions as the administrative, commercial, and cultural centre of western Cheshire.
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Chester is one of the few English cities where you can walk the complete circuit of the medieval walls. The walls follow the line of the Roman fortress of Deva Victrix, founded around AD 79 as a base for the Twentieth Legion. The amphitheatre, partially excavated next to the Newgate, was the largest in Roman Britain. Two thousand years later the walls still define the city centre, looping for nearly two miles past the Eastgate Clock (added in 1899 to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and now the most photographed clock in England after Big Ben), the Cathedral, and the Roodee racecourse.
The Rows are Chester's most distinctive feature. These two-tiered medieval shopping galleries along Watergate Street, Bridge Street, Eastgate Street, and Northgate Street have no real equivalent elsewhere in England. The upper tier runs at first-floor level, covered and accessed by steps from the street. The origin is debated (collapsed Roman buildings, deliberate medieval planning, pragmatic adaptation) but the effect is a town centre with twice the retail frontage of a single-level street. The population of the city is around 83,000, with the wider Cheshire West and Chester authority covering approximately 357,000. Chester functions as the administrative, commercial, and cultural centre of western Cheshire.
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