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Archaeology

Between 14 May, 2007 and 6 July, 2007, excavations were carried out in Grosvenor Park. The main aim being to find Cholmondeley's lost mansion, which was demolished in 1867. A number of finds have come to light including: * Plaster work from the mansion ceiling. * Civil War musket balls * Clay tobacco pipes (17th-18th century) * Clay tobacco pipe waster clay from manufacture * A base of a small Roman statue of Venus * A Roman votive offering in the form of a lead axe head.[22][23][24]

Arts and sport

In 2007, Chester's cultural sector was going through a major transformation. The Gateway Theatre had closed as part of the Northgate Development and so too had the Odeon cinema, which opened on 3 October 1936. The site was earmarked for redevelopment, with the closed Odeon cinema being the subject of a proposal to re-open it as part of an arts complex with a cinema at its heart; or its owners, Brook Leisure, may pursue planning permission to turn it into a nightclub.[78] Numerous public houses and wine bars, some of which date from medieval times, populate the city. Chester also has some nightclubs, which are soon going to be added to by the development of two new clubs in the next eighteen months. Chester has its own film society, a number of successful amateur dramatic societies and theatre schools for youngsters. To the east side of the city are the UK's largest zoological gardens, Chester Zoo. Chester City football club plays in the Conference National, one step before the football league. They were elected to the Football League in 1931, and have played at their Deva Stadium, straddling the England–Wales border, since 1992. The team was relegated out of the Football League in 2009 and went into administration. Notable former players include Ian Rush (who also managed the club), Cyrille Regis, Arthur Albiston, Earl Barrett, Lee Dixon, Steve Harkness, Roberto Martínez and Stan Pearson. The city also has a professional basketball team in the national league, the BBL Championship. BiG Storage Cheshire Jets play at the city's Northgate Arena leisure centre; and a wheelchair basketball team, Celtic Warriors, formerly known as the Chester Wheelchair Jets.[79] Chester Rugby Club (union) plays in the English Midlands One Division. It won the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup in the 2007-08 season and has also won the Cheshire Cup several times. There is a successful hockey club, Chester HC, who play at the County Officers' Club on Plas Newton Lane, and also an American Football team, the Chester Romans, part of the British American Football League. Chester Racecourse hosts several flat race meetings from the spring to the autumn. The races take place within view of the City walls and attract tens of thousands of visitors. The May meeting includes several nationally significant races such as the Chester Vase, which is recognised as a trial for the Epsom Derby. The River Dee is home to rowing clubs, notably Grosvenor Rowing Club and Royal Chester Rowing Club, as well as two school clubs, The King's School Chester Rowing Club and Queen's Park High Rowing Club. The weir is used by a number of local canoe and kayak clubs. Each July the Chester Raft Race is held on the River Dee in aid of charity. Chester Golf Club can also be found near the banks of the Dee.

Bibliography

* Bilsborough, Norman (1983). The Treasures of Cheshire. Swinton: North West Civic Trust. ISBN 0 901 347 35 3.  * Carrington, P (ed.) (2002). Deva Victrix: Roman Chester Re-assessed. Chester: Chester Archaeological Society. ISBN 095070749X.  * Emery, G (1998). Chester inside out. Chester, United Kingdom: Gordon Emery. ISBN 1872265928.  * Emery, G; Penney, M. (1999). Curious Chester: Portrait of an English city over two thousand years. Chester, United Kingdom: Gordon Emery. ISBN 1872265944.  * Emery, G (2002). Chester electric lighting station: From steam and hydro–The illuminating story of Chester streetlighting and Britain's first rural electricity supply. Chester, United Kingdom: Gordon Emery. ISBN 1872265480.  * Emery, G (2003). The Chester guide: England's walled city, Roman remains, museums, attractions, River Dee, shopping on the medieval rows, cathedral, access. Chester, United Kingdom: Gordon Emery. ISBN 1872265898.  * Emery, G; Shuttleworth, S.; Kavanagh, T.; Taylor, G.; Buss, R.; Stephens, R. (1999). The old Chester canal: A History and Guide. Chester, United Kingdom: Gordon Emery.  * Lewis, P.R. (2007). Disaster on the Dee: Robert Stephenson's Nemesis of 1847. Stroud, United Kingdom: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 9780752442662.  * Marshall, A. E. (1966). Myths and Legends of Chester. Chester, United Kingdom: Chester blind welfare society. ISBN 095117830X.  * Mason, David J.P. (2001). Roman Chester: City of the Eagles. Stroud: Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-1922-6.  * Morriss, Richard K. (1993). The Buildings of Chester. Stroud: Alan Sutton. ISBN 0-7509-0255-8.  * Morton, H. V. (1930). In Search of England. London: Methuen.  * Pevsner, Nikolaus; Edward Hubbard (2003) [1971]. The Buildings of England: Cheshire. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0 300 09588 0.  * Place, G.W. (1994). The Rise and Fall of Parkgate, Passenger Port for Ireland, 1686-1815 (Chetham Society). Lancaster, United Kingdom: Carnegie Publishing Limited. ISBN 1859360238.  * Ptolemy (1992). The Geography. Dover Publications Inc.. ISBN 0486268969.  * Wall, B. (1992). Tales of Chester. Shropshire, United Kingdom: S. B. Publications. ISBN 1857700066.  * Wilding, R. (1997). Miller of Dee:The story of Chester mills and millers, their trades, and wares, the weir, the water engine, and the salmon. Chester, United Kingdom: Gordon Emery. ISBN 1872265952.  * Wilding, R. (2003). Death in Chester: Roman Gravestones, Cathedral Burials, Martyrs, Witches, the Plague, Horrible Hangings, Gruesome Deaths and Ghostly Goings-on. Chester, United Kingdom: Gordon Emery. ISBN 1872265448. 

Canals

From about 1794 to the late 1950s, when the canal-side flour mills were closed, narrowboats carried cargo such as coal, slate, gypsum or lead ore as well as finished lead (for roofing, water pipes and sewerage) from the leadworks in Edgerton Street (Newtown). Grain from Cheshire was stored in granaries on the banks of the canal at Newtown and Boughton and salt for preserving food arrived from Northwich. The Chester Canal had locks down to the River Dee. Canal boats could enter the river at high tide to load goods directly onto seagoing vessels. The port facilities at Crane Wharf, by Chester racecourse, made an important contribution to the commercial development of the north-west region[citation needed]. The original Chester Canal was constructed to run from the River Dee near Sealand Road, to Nantwich in south Cheshire, and opened in 1774. In 1805, the Wirral section of the Ellesmere Canal was opened, which ran from Netherpool (now known as Ellesmere Port) to meet the Chester Canal at Chester canal basin. Later, those two canal branches became part of the Shropshire Union Canal network. This canal, which runs beneath the northern section of the city walls of Chester, is navigable and remains in use today.

Climate

As with most of the United Kingdom, Chester has an oceanic climate.

Cycling Demonstration Town

On On June 19th 2008, then Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly named Chester as a Cycling Demonstration Town. [42] This initiative allows for substantial financial support to improve cycling facilities in the city, and a number of schemes are planned or already in development.[43] Potential schemes include a new pedestrian and cycling bridge across the River Dee, linking the Meadows with Huntington and Great Boughton, an access route between Curzon Park and the Roodee, an extension to the existing greenway route from Hoole to Guilden Sutton and Mickle Trafford, and an access route between the Millennium cycle route and Deva Link.

Demography

There are 77,040 living within the Greater Chester urban area (65% of the total of Chester District). This population is forecast to grow by 5% in the period 2005 to 2021.[1] The resident population for Chester District in the 2001 Census was 118,210. This represents 17.5% of the Cheshire County total (1.8% of the North West population).[2]

Description

Coordinates: 53°11′33″N 2°53′28″W / 53.1926°N 2.8912°W / 53.1926; -2.8912 Chester (pronounced /ˈtʃɛstÉ™r/) is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants,[1] and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the 2001 Census.[2] Chester was granted city status in 1541. Chester was founded as a "castrum" or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix in the year 79 by the Roman Legio II Adiutrix. Chester's four main roads, Eastgate, Northgate, Watergate and Bridge, follow routes laid out at this time â€“ almost 2,000 years ago. One of the three main Roman army bases, Deva later became a major settlement in the Roman province of Britannia. After the Romans left in the 5th century, the Saxons fortified the town against the Danes and gave Chester its name. The patron saint of Chester, Werburgh, is buried in Chester Cathedral. Chester was one of the last towns in England to fall to the Normans in the Norman conquest of England. William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle, to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border. In 1071 he created Hugh d'Avranches, the 1st Earl of Chester. Chester has the reputation of being the "English medieval city par excellence", but many of its buildings are from the Victorian era.[3] Along with Derry, Chester makes a claim for being one of the best preserved complete walled cities in the British Isles[4][5][6] It has the most complete city walls in Great Britain,[7] and most sections of the walls are listed Grade I. The Industrial Revolution brought railways, canals, and new roads to the city, which saw substantial expansion and development â€“ Chester Town Hall and the Grosvenor Museum are examples of Victorian architecture from this period.

Divisions and suburbs

Bache, Blacon, Boughton, Curzon Park, Great Boughton, Handbridge, Hoole, Huntington, Lache, Mollington, Newton, Newtown, Saltney, Saughall, Upton, Vicars Cross, Westminster Park

Economy

The city's central shopping area includes its unique Rows or galleries (two levels of shops) which date from medieval times and are believed to include the oldest shop front in England [37]. The city has many chain stores, both in the centre and in retail parks to the west, and also features an indoor market, a department store (Browns of Chester, now absorbed by the Debenhams chain), and two main indoor shopping centres: The Grosvenor Mall and the Forum (a reference to the City's Roman past). The Forum, which houses stores and the Chester Market, will be demolished in the Northgate Development scheme to make way for new shopping streets, a new indoor market, an enlarged library, a car park and bus station, and a performing arts centre.[38] Chester's main industries are now the service industries, comprising retail, tourism and financial services. Chester's main employer is Bank of America, formerly MBNA Europe. There are also several large financial firms including HBOS plc and M&S Money. At Ellesmere Port is a large Shell oil refinery. Just over the Welsh border to the west, near the village of Broughton, there is an Airbus UK factory (formerly British Aerospace), where the wings of Airbus aircraft, including the Airbus A380 are manufactured,[39] and there are food processing plants to the north and west. The Iceland frozen food company is based in nearby Deeside. Chester has its own university, the University of Chester, and a major hospital, the Countess of Chester Hospital, named after Diana, Princess of Wales and Countess of Chester.

Geography

Chester lies at the southern end of a 2-mile (3.2 km) Triassic sandstone ridge that rises to a height of 42 m within a natural S-bend in the River Dee (before the course was altered in the 18th century). The bedrock, which is also known as the Chester Pebble Beds, is noticeable because of the many small stones trapped within its strata. Retreating glacial sheet ice also deposited quantities of sand and marl across the area where boulder clay was absent. The eastern and northern part of Chester consisted of heathland and forest. The western side towards the Dee Estuary was marsh and wetland habitats.

Governance

Chester is an unparished area within the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester as of 1 April 2009 replacing the old Chester City Council and the local ward is the City ward electing 3 councillors. A small area around Chester Castle remains a civil parish of Chester Castle. [33] The Council was elected in May 2008 and the current councillors for the City Ward are, * Councillor Max E A Drury (Conservative) * Councillor Richard Lowe (Conservative) * Councillor Tom Parry (Conservative) [34] The MP for Chester, City of is Christine Russell[35]

Industrial history

Chester played a significant part in the Industrial Revolution which began in the North West of England in the latter part of the 18th century. The city village of Newtown, located north east of the city and bounded by the Shropshire Union Canal was at the very heart of this industry. The large Chester Cattle Market and the two Chester [[railway station]]s, Chester General and Chester Northgate Station, meant that Newtown with its cattle market and canal, and Hoole with its railways were responsible for providing the vast majority of workers and in turn, the vast amount of Chester's wealth production throughout the Industrial Revolution.

Landmarks and tourist attractions

The more unusual landmarks in the city are the city walls, the rows and the black-and-white architecture. The walls encircle the bounds of the medieval city and constitute the most complete city walls in Britain,[7] the full circuit measuring nearly 2 miles (3 km).[44] The only break in the circuit is in the southwest section in front of County Hall.[45] A footpath runs along the top of the walls, crossing roads by bridges over Eastgate, Northgate, St Martin's Gate, Watergate, Bridgegate, Newgate, and the Wolf Gate, and passing a series of structures, namely Phoenix Tower (or King Charles' Tower), Morgan's Mount, the Goblin Tower (or Pemberton's Parlour), and Bonewaldesthorne's Tower with a spur leading to the Water Tower, and Thimbleby's Tower.[46] On Eastgate is Eastgate Clock which is said to be the most photographed clock in England after Big Ben.[47] The rows are unique in Britain.[48] They consist of buildings with shops or dwellings on the lowest two storeys. The shops or dwellings on the ground floor are often lower than the street and are entered by steps, which sometimes lead to a crypt-like vault. Those on the first floor are entered behind a continuous walkway, often with a sloping shelf between the walkway and the railings overlooking the street.[49] Much of the architecture of central Chester looks medieval and some of it is. But by far the greatest part of it, including most of the black-and-white buildings, is Victorian, a result of what Pevsner termed the "black-and-white revival".[50] The most prominent buildings in the city centre are the town hall and the cathedral. The town hall was opened in 1869. It is in Gothic Revival style and has a tower and a short spire.[51] The cathedral was formerly the church of St Werburgh's Abbey. Its architecture dates back to the Norman era, with additions made most centuries since. A series of major restorations took place in the 19th century and in 1975 a separate bell tower was opened. The elaborately carved canopies of the choirstalls are considered to be one of the finest in the country. Also in the cathedral is the shrine of St Werburgh. To the north of the cathedral are the former monastic buildings.[52] The oldest church in the city is St John's, which is outside the city walls and was at one time the cathedral church. The church was shortened after the dissolution of the monasteries and ruins of the former east end remain outside the church. Much of the interior is in Norman style and this is considered to be the best example of 11th–12th century church architecture in Cheshire.[53] At the intersection of the former Roman roads is Chester Cross, to the north of which is the small church of St Peter’s which is in use as an ecumenical centre.[54] Other churches are now redundant and have other uses; St Michael’s in Bridge Street is a heritage centre,[55] St Mary-on-the-Hill is an educational centre,[56] and Holy Trinity now acts as the Guildhall.[57] Other notable buildings include the preserved shot tower, the highest structure in Chester.[58] Roman remains can still be found in the city, particularly in the basements of some of the buildings and in the lower parts of the northern section of the city walls.[59] The most important Roman feature is the amphitheatre just outside the walls which is undergoing archaeological investigation.[60] Roman artifacts are on display in the Roman Gardens which run parallel to the city walls from Newgate to the River Dee, where there's also a reconstructed hypocaust system. [61] An original hypocaust system can be seen in the basement of the Spudulike restaurant on Bridge Street, which is open to the public. [62] Of the medieval city the most important surviving structure is Chester Castle, particularly the Agricola Tower. Much of the rest of the castle has been replaced by the neoclassical county court and its entrance, the Propyleum.[63] To the south of the city runs the River Dee, with its 11th century weir. The river is crossed by the Old Dee Bridge, dating from the 13th century, the Grosvenor Bridge of 1832, and Queen's Park suspension bridge (for pedestrians).[64] To the southwest of the city the River Dee curves towards the north. The area between the river and the city walls here is known as the Roodee, and contains Chester Racecourse which holds a series of horse races and other events.[65] The Shropshire Union Canal runs to the north of the city and a branch leads from it to the River Dee.[66] The major museum in Chester is the Grosvenor Museum which includes a collection of Roman tombstones and an art gallery. Associated with the museum is 20 Castle Street in which rooms are furnished in different historical styles.[67] The Dewa Roman Experience has hands-on exhibits and a reconstructed Roman street. And one of the blocks in the forecourt of the castle houses the Cheshire Military Museum. [68] The major public park in Chester is Grosvenor Park.[69] On the south side of the River Dee, in Handbridge, is Edgar's Field, another public park,[70] which contains Minerva's Shrine, a Roman shrine to the goddess Minerva.[71] A war memorial to those who died in the world wars is in the town hall and it contains the names of all Chester servicemen who died in the First World War.[72] Chester Visitor Centre, opposite the Roman Amphitheatre, issues a leaflet giving details of tourist attractions. Those not covered above include cruises on the River Dee and on the Shropshire Union Canal, and guided tours on an open-air bus.[73] The river cruises start from a riverside area known as the Groves, which contains seating and a bandstand.[74] A series of festivals is organised in the city, including mystery plays, a summer music festival and a literature festival.[75] Chester City Council has produced a series of leaflets for self-guided walks.[76] Tourist Information Centres are at the town hall and at Chester Visitor Centre.[77]

Media

Chester's newspapers are the daily Chester Evening Leader, and the weekly Chester Chronicle. It also has free publications, such as the newspapers Chronicle Midweek and Chester Standard and the free student magazine Wireless. Dee 106.3 is the city's radio station, with Wrexham's Marcher Sound and BBC Radio Merseyside also broadcasting locally. Chester is where Channel 4's soap-opera Hollyoaks is set (although most filming takes place around Liverpool).

Medieval

Deverdoeu was still one of two Welsh language names for Chester in the late 12th century; its other and more enduring Welsh name was 'Caerlleon', literally "the fortress-city of the legions", a name identical with that of the Roman fortress at the other end of the Welsh Marches at Caerleon in Monmouthshire, namely Isca Augusta. The colloquial modern Welsh name is the shortened form, Caer. The early Old English speaking Anglo Saxon settlers used a name which had the same meaning, Legacæstir, which was current until the 11th century, when, in a further parallel with Welsh usage, the first element fell out of use and the simplex name Chester emerged. From the 14th century to the 18th the city's prominent position in North West England meant that it was commonly also known as Westchester.[citation needed] This name was used by Celia Fiennes when she visited the city in 1698, see "The Illustrated Journeys of Celia Fiennes 1685 - c1712" edited by Christopher Morris.

Modern era

A considerable amount of land in Chester is owned by the Duke of Westminster who owns an estate, Eaton Hall, near the village of Eccleston. He also has London properties in Mayfair. Grosvenor is the Duke's family name, which explains such features in the City such as the Grosvenor Bridge, the Grosvenor Hotel, and Grosvenor Park. Much of Chester's architecture dates from the Victorian era, many of the buildings being modelled on the Jacobean half-timbered style and designed by John Douglas, who was employed by the Duke as his principal architect. He had a trademark of twisted chimney stacks, many of which can be seen on the buildings in the city centre. Douglas designed amongst other buildings the Grosvenor Hotel and the City Baths. In 1911, Douglas' protégé and city architect James Strong designed the then active fire station on the west side of Northgate Street. Another feature of all buildings belonging to the estate of Westminster is the 'Grey Diamonds' – a weaving pattern of grey bricks in the red brickwork laid out in a diamond formation. Towards the end of WWII, a lack of affordable housing meant many problems for Chester. Large areas of farmland on the outskirts of the city were developed as residential areas in the 1950s and early 1960s producing, for instance, the suburb of Blacon. In 1964, a bypass was built through and around the town centre to combat traffic congestion. These new developments caused local concern as the physicality and therefore the feel of the city was being dramatically altered. In 1968, a report by Donald Insall[25] in collaboration with authorities and government recommended that historic buildings be preserved in Chester. Consequently, the buildings were used in new and different ways instead of being flattened.[26] In 1969 the City Conservation Area was designated. Over the next 20 years the emphasis was placed on saving historic buildings, such as The Falcon Inn, Dutch Houses and Kings Buildings. On 13 January 2002, Chester was granted Fairtrade City status. This status was renewed by the Fairtrade Foundation on 20 August 2003.

Music

Chester has a brass band that was formed in 1853. It was known as the Blue Coat Band and today as The City of Chester Band.[80] It is a fourth section brass band with a training band. Its members wear a blue-jacketed uniform with an image of the Eastgate clock on the breast pocket of the blazer. Website is www.chesterbrass.co.uk Pop Band Mansun are probably the most famous Britpop band to come from Chester.

Notable people

* Anthony Thwaite (born 1930), poet and writer.[81] * The grammarian and lexicographer A. S. Hornby (1898–1978) was also born in the city.[82] * Randolph Caldecott (1846–86), artist and book illustrator, was born in Bridge Street, Chester. * The conductor Sir Adrian Boult (1889–1983), was born in Liverpool Road.[83] * Beatrice Tinsley (née Hill) (1941–1981), astronomer and cosmologist, professor of astronomy at Yale University was also born in the city but was brought up in New Zealand.[84] * David Roberts (1859–1928) the engineer who invented the caterpillar track, grew up in Great Boughton.[citation needed] * L. T. C. Rolt (1910–74), engineering historian was born in Chester,[85] * James Hamilton, author of children's books. [86] Actors * Basil Radford (1897–1952).[87] * Hugh Lloyd (born 1923).[88] * Ronald Pickup (born 1940). [89] * Daniel Craig (born 1968).[90] * Emily Booth (born 1976), actress and writer.[91] Comedians * Russ Abbot (born 1947) (birth name Russell A. Roberts), musician, comedian and actor.[92] * Jeff Green (born 1964), comedian.[93] Sport * English football international Danny Murphy (born 1977).[94] * English football international Michael Owen (born 1979).[95] * Andy Dorman (born 1982).[96] and * Man United footballer Tom Heaton (born 1986).[97] * Sunderland A.F.C. footballer Danny Collins (born 1980).[98] * International rugby union footballers and brothers Pat Sanderson (born 1977).[99] * Alex Sanderson (born 1979).[100] were born in the city. * Helen Willetts (born 1972), former badminton international and weather forecaster.[101] Musicians * Composer Philip Venables.[102] * Composer Howard Skempton.[103] Curators * Adam Carr (curator)

Proposed canal

The original plan to complete the Ellesmere Canal was to connect Chester directly to the Wrexham coalfields by building a broad-gauge waterway that stretched from the River Dee at Holt to the Llangollen Canal at Trevor Basin, near Wrexham. However with the advent of railways and high land prices, the plan was eventually abandoned in the mid 19th century. If the waterway had been built, canal traffic would have crossed the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct heading north to the River Dee. Boats would then have sailed on to Chester rejoining the Shropshire Union Canal through a purpose-built lock flight at Boughton. As the route was never completed, the short length of canal north of Trevor was infilled. The Llangollen Canal, although designed to be primarily a water source from the River Dee, became a cruising waterway despite its inherent narrow nature. It would be rail that was to bring Welsh coal to Chester.

Railways

Chester formerly had two railway stations. Chester General railway station remains in use but Chester Northgate closed in 1969 as a result of the Beeching Axe. [40] Chester Northgate, which was located North East of the city centre, opened in 1875 as a terminus for the Cheshire Lines Committee. Trains travelled via Northwich to Manchester Central. Later services also went to Wrexham General via Shotton Station. It was demolished in the 1970s; the site is part of the Northgate Arena leisure centre. Chester General, which opened in 1848, was designed with an Italianate frontage. It now has seven designated platforms but once had more. The station lost its original roof in the 1972 Chester General rail crash. In September 2007 extensive renovations took place to improve pedestrian access, and parking [41]. The present station has manned ticket offices and barriers, waiting rooms, toilets, shops and a pedestrian bridge with lifts. Chester General also had a large marshalling yard and engine sheds. Most of which has now gone and replaced with housing. Normal scheduled departures from Chester Station are: multiple services on the North Wales Coast Line; Virgin Trains to London Euston via Crewe; Arriva Trains Wales to Manchester Piccadilly via Warrington Bank Quay and Cardiff Central via Wrexham General; Northern Rail to Manchester Piccadilly via Northwich; Merseyrail to Liverpool on the Wirral Line. In late 1847 the Dee bridge disaster occurred when a bridge span collapsed as a train passed over the River Dee by the Roodee. Five people were killed in the accident. The bridge had been designed and built by famed-railway engineer Robert Stephenson for the Chester and Holyhead Railway. A Royal Commission inquiry found that the trusses were made of cast iron beams that had inadequate strength for their purpose. A national scandal ensued many new bridges of similar design were either taken down or heavily altered.

Renaissance

In 2007 Chester Council announced a 10-year plan to see Chester become a "must see European destination". At a cost of £1.3 billion it has been nicknamed Chester Renaissance.[27] A website was launched by the Renaissance team, so that interested parties could monitor progress on all the projects.[28] There are overall, seven developments ongoing in Chester. The Northgate Development project began in 2007 with the demolition of St. Martin's House on the city's ring road. At a cost of £460 million, Chester City Council and developers ING hope to create a new quarter for Chester. The development will see the demolition of the market hall, bus station, theatre and NCP car park. In its place will be a new multi-storey car park, bus exchange, performing arts centre, library, homes, retail space and a department store which will be anchored by House of Fraser.[29] On October 31 2008, it was revealed that Chester's much heralded Northgate development was to be put on hold until 2012 due to the ongoing credit crunch.[30] However a number of Chester's other Renaissance projects continue at pace. The current active projects are; The Delamere Street development[31] and The £60million HQ development[32].

Roads

The city is a hub for major roads, including the M53 motorway towards the Wirral Peninsula and Liverpool and the M56 motorway towards Manchester. The A55 road runs along the North Wales coast to Holyhead and the A483 links the city to nearby Wrexham and Swansea to the far south. Bus transport in the city is provided by First Group and Arriva, the council owned and operated ChesterBus (formerly Chester City Transport) having been sold to First Group in mid-2007. There are plans to build a new bus exchange in the city as well as a new coach station.

Roman

The Romans founded Chester as Deva Victrix in the 70s AD in the land of the Celtic Cornovii, according to ancient cartographer Ptolemy,[8] as a fortress during the Roman expansion northward.[9] It was named Deva either after the goddess of the Dee,[10] or directly from the British name for the river.[11] The 'victrix' part of the name was taken from the title of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix which was based at Deva.[12] A civilian settlement grew around the military base, probably originating from trade with the fortress.[13] The fortress was 20% larger than other fortresses in Britannia built around the same time at York (Eboracum) and Caerleon (Isca Augusta)[14]; this has led to the suggestion that the fortress, rather than London (Londinium), was intended to become the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Superior.[15] The civilian amphitheatre, which was built in the 1st century, could seat between 8,000 and 10,000 people.[16] It is the largest known military amphitheatre in Britain,[17] and is also a Scheduled Monument.[18] The Minerva Shrine in the Roman quarry is the only rock cut Roman shrine still in situ in Britain.[19] The fortress was garrisoned by the legion until at least the late 4th century.[20] Although the army had abandoned the fortress by 410 when the Romans retreated from Britannia[21], the civilian settlement continued (probably with some Roman veterans staying behind with their wives and children) and its occupants probably continued to use the fortress and its defences as protection from raiders from the Irish Sea.[20]

See also

* St Paul's Church, Boughton * St Barnabas' Church, Chester * St Mary's Church, Handbridge * All Saints Church, Hoole * Newtown, Chester

Trams

Chester had an extensive tram network during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It covered an area as far west as Saltney, on the Welsh border, to Chester General station, Tarvin Road and Great Boughton in the northwest. The network featured the narrowest gauge trams (3' 6") in mainland Britain, due to an act of Parliament which deemed that they must be the least obstructive possible.[citation needed] The tramway was established in 1871 by Chester Tramways Corporation. It was horse-drawn until its electrification by overhead cables in 1903. The tramway was closed, like most others in the UK, in February 1930. The only remains are small areas of uncovered track inside the bus depot, and a few tram-wire supports attached to buildings on Eastgate/Foregate Street.

Twin towns

Chester is twinned with * Sens, France * Loerrach, Germany * Lakewood, Colorado, USA * Senigallia, Italy