Hinweistafel - Hinweisschild : Zeichnung des Kastell Augusta Raurica ( Ruinen Castrum Rauracense - Erbaut um 300 n. Chr - verwüstet um 351 - 352 n. Chr. durch germanischen Alemannen ) der ehemaligen Stadt der Römer - Römerstadt Augusta Raurica im heutigen Kaiseraugst im Kanton Aargau der Schweiz

.

.

.

***************************************************************************************************************

.

.

Auf den Spuren der R.ömer am Samstag den 13. Oktober 2012

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von O.stermundigen über B.ern nach B.asel S.BB

.

.

Mit dem F.ahrrad durch die S.tadt B.asel - R.ömische W.arte / W.achturm in der H.ard bei

M.uttenz - H.ard ( BL - 373m ) - R.angierbahnhof M.uttenz - W.ehrkirche St. A.rbogast -

M.ittenza ( BL - 291m ) - M.uttenz ( BL - 291m ) - W.artenberg ( BL - 479m ) - R.uinen auf

dem W.artenberg - T.eile der R.uinen von A.ugusta R.aurica - R.heinfelden - E.ntlang

dem R.hein - R.ömische W.arte - B.ürgli ( AG - 294m - R.ömisches K.astell ) - C.hräbis

( AG - 293m ) - R.ömische W.arte bei R.appertshüsere - R.appertshüseren ( AG - 290m ) -

R.ömische W.arte - S.telli W.allbach S.pätrömischer W.achtturm - B.ahnhof M.umpf

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug weiter von M.umpf nach B.rugg

.

.

Eine Stunde mit dem F.ahrrad durch B.rugg

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von B.rugg über B.ern zurück nach O.stermundigen

.

.

***************************************************************************************************************

.

.

Kamera : Canon EOS 550D N Neu

Objektiv : -

Modus : -

Zeit in Sekunden : -

ISO : Auto

Weissabgleich : -

Bearbeitung : -

.

.

***************************************************************************************************************

Hurni121013 KantonAargau

E - Mail : chrigu.hurni@bluemail.ch

***************************************************************************************************************

Letzte Aktualisierung / Ergänzung des Textes: 13.10.12

***************************************************************************************************************

NIF

Many years in history have past in the Castrum area. Not all the buildings date back to be about 11th century. It's still a nice collection of various old building where the last constructions has stopped about a century ago. Needles to say, it's mostly a car free zone.

Photo: Wandering in centuries of time - by © Richard Poppelaars #About_Pixels #Photography (Nikon D90) / #architecture #alley - #urban #medieval #fortifiedvillage / #ArchitecturePhotography at #Bastide #Castrum in #PaysdeBelves, #Dordogne - #France

Castrum Belvès (Est 11th century, +/- 1095), photo August 2013 after +/-918 years. The year 2045 marks 950 years ago in time.

---

Pays de Belves: Castrum - Architecture Photography

The village Pays-de-Belvès used to be called Belvès, it's fortified in the Middle Ages because of its strategic position and came to be known as the "Pope’s city" as it was under Clement V protection. Belvès still bears witness to a tormented past with fortified walls, a castrum (fortified camp), an 11th century auditeur’s tower, 14th-15th century castle and belfry, city hall tower, covered market, hotel with a Renaissance façade and even some ancient troglodyte dwellings. It has been designated as one of the most beautiful towns in France with impressive panoramic views on top of a hill, enough reason to be member of the "Plus Beaux Villages de France".

---

Published at - Flickr

Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the England-Wales border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011, it is the most populous settlement of Cheshire West and Chester (a unitary authority which had a population of 329,608 in 2011) and serves as its administrative headquarters. It is also the historic county town of Cheshire and the second-largest settlement in Cheshire after Warrington.

Chester was founded in 79 AD as a "castrum" or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. One of the main army camps in Roman Britain, Deva later became a major civilian settlement. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia, which later became Chester's first cathedral, and the Angles extended and strengthened the walls to protect the city against the Danes. Chester was one of the last cities in England to fall to the Normans, and William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border. Chester was granted city status in 1541.

The city walls of Chester are some of the best-preserved in the country and have Grade I listed status. It has a number of medieval buildings, but many of the black-and-white buildings within the city centre are Victorian restorations, originating from the Black-and-white Revival movement. Apart from a 100-metre (330 ft) section, the walls are almost complete. The Industrial Revolution brought railways, canals, and new roads to the city, which saw substantial expansion and development; Chester Town Hall and the Grosvenor Museum are examples of Victorian architecture from this period. Tourism, the retail industry, public administration, and financial services are important to the modern economy. Chester signs itself as Chester International Heritage City on road signs on the main roads entering the city.

The history of Chester extends back nearly two millennia, covering all periods of British history in between then and the present day. The city of Chester was founded as a fort, known as Deva Vitrix, by the Romans in AD 70s, as early as AD 74 based on discovered lead pipes. The city was the scene of battles between warring Welsh and Saxon kingdoms throughout the post-Roman years until the Saxons strengthened the fort against raiding Danes.

Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Chester came under the Earl of Chester. It became a centre of the defence against Welsh raiders and a launch point for raids on Ireland.

The city grew as a trading port until the power of the Port of Liverpool overtook it. However the city did not decline and during the Georgian and Victorian periods was seen as a place of escape from the more industrial cities of Manchester and Liverpool.

Roman

The Romans founded Chester as Deva Victrix in AD 70s in the land of the Celtic Cornovii, according to ancient cartographer Ptolemy, as a fortress during the Roman expansion north.

It was named Deva either after the goddess of the Dee, or directly from the British name for the river. The 'victrix' part of the name was taken from the title of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix who were based at Deva. A civilian settlement grew around the settlement, probably starting as a group of traders and their families who were profiting from trade with the fortress. The fortress was 20% larger than other fortresses in Britannia built around the same time at York (Eboracum) and Caerleon (Isca Augusta); this has led to the suggestion that the fortress may have been intended to become the capital of the province rather than London (Londinium).

The civilian amphitheatre which was built in 1st century could sit between 8,000 and 10,000 people, is the largest known military amphitheatre in Britain, and is also a Scheduled Monument. The Minerva Shrine in the Roman quarry is the only rock cut Roman shrine still in situ in Britain. The fortress was garrisoned by the legion until at least the late 4th century. Although the army would have abandoned the fortress by 410 when the Romans retreated from Britannia the civilians settlement continued and its occupants probably continued to use the fortress and its defences as protection from raiders in the Irish Sea.

Sub-Roman and Saxon period

The Roman withdrawal from Britain was effectively complete by 410 and the Britons established a number of successor states. The area of Chester is thought to have formed part of the kingdom of Powys, whose early kings claimed descent from the exile Vortigern. Chester is generally identified with the Cair Legion ("Fort Legion") listed as one of the 28 cities of Britain in the History of the Britons traditionally attributed to Nennius. In Welsh legend, King Arthur is said to have fought his ninth battle against the Saxon invasion at the "city of the legions" and later St Augustine came to the city to try and subjugate the Welsh bishops to his mission. In 616, Æthelfrith of Northumbria defeated a Welsh army at the Battle of Chester and probably established the Anglo-Saxon position in the area from then on.

The Anglo-Saxons adopted the native name as the calque Legeceaster, which over time was shortened to Ceaster and finally corrupted to Chester. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia on what is considered to be an early Christian site and known as the Minster of St John the Baptist, Chester (now St John the Baptist's Church), which later became the city's first cathedral. In the 9th century, the body of Æthelred's niece, St Werburgh was removed from Hanbury in Staffordshire; in order to save its desecration by Danish marauders, she was reburied in the Church of SS Peter & Paul—later to become the Abbey Church and present cathedral. Her name is still remembered by the St Werburgh's Street which passes beside the cathedral. The Saxons extended and strengthened the city walls to protect the city against the Danes, who occupied it for a short time until Alfred seized all the cattle and laid waste the surrounding land to drive them out. In fact it was Alfred's daughter Æthelfleda, "Lady of the Mercians", who rebuilt the Saxon burh. In 907, she dedicated a new church to St Peter.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that, in 973, King Edgar came to Chester following his coronation at Bath. He held his court in a place located in what is now called "Edgar's Field", near the old Dee bridge in Handbridge. Taking a barge up the River Dee from his court to the Minster of St John the Baptist, Edgar supposedly took the helm of the vessel while it was rowed by six or eight tributary "kings" (Latin: reguli, lit. "little kings").

The Chronicles of Melrose and of Florence of Worcester describe that "eight petty kings, namely, Kynath, king of the Scots, Malcolm, king of the Cumbrians, Maccus, king of several isles and five others, named Dufnall, Siferth, Huwall, Jacob and Juchill, met him there as he had appointed and swore that they would be faithful to him, and assist him by land and by sea".

After the kings swore fealty and allegiance they rowed him back to the palace. As he entered he is reported to have said that with so many kings' allegiance his successors could boast themselves to be kings of the English.

Middle Ages

After the 1066 Norman Conquest and the Harrying of the North, the Normans took Chester, destroying 200 houses in the city. Hugh d'Avranches, the first Norman earl (it was first given to a Fleming, Gherbod, who never took up residence but returned to Flanders where he was captured, and later killed) was William's nephew. He built a motte and bailey near the river, as another defence from the Celts. It is now known as Chester Castle and was rebuilt in stone by Henry III in 1245, after the last of six Norman earls died without issue.

Chester's earls were a law unto themselves. They kept huge hunting forests - Hugo was said to have 'preferred falconers and huntsmen to the cultivators of the soil', and Ranulf I converted the Wirral farmlands into another hunting forest. Before Ranulph, Hugo's son had inherited at the age of seven but died in the White Ship, along with the king's heir, William, on his way to England from France, where he was educated under the guardianship of Henry I. Earl Ranulf II, Ranulph's son, even helped to capture King Stephen in 1140, and ended up controlling a third of England after supporting Henry II's claim to the throne.

Other earls were Hugh II, Ranulf III and John the Scot. The traditional independence that Chester had under the earls was confirmed by a charter of Richard II in 1398 stating that 'the said county of Chester shall be the principality of Chester'. The earls are remembered with their shields on the suspension bridge over the river Dee, and again on the Grosvenor Park lodge.

The first earl had endowed a great Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Werburgh in 1092 (on the site of the church of dedicated to St Peter and St Paul). The monastery was dissolved under Henry VIII in 1540 and was rededicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary to become Chester Cathedral. Previously, the first Chester Cathedral was begun in 1075 by the first Norman Bishop of Mercia, Peter de Leya after the See was moved from Lichfield in Chester. De Leya's successor moved the See to Coventry and it later returned to Lichfield. St John's became the co-Cathedral and Collegiate Church.

There is a popular belief that it was the silting of the River Dee that created the land which is now Chester's racecourse (known as the Roodee), on which a stone cross still stands which is said to have been erected in memory of Lady Trawst who died as a result of an image of the Virgin Mary called Holy Rood falling upon her in Hawarden church a few miles down the river). But the Roodee was in existence as early as the 13th and 14th centuries, so it cannot have been created by later silting. The silting which led to the creation of the Roodee, in its current form, is well established on a sequence of post-medieval maps dating from the later 16th century. It has also been established by archaeological evaluations and excavations in the area of the Old Port, known as the Roodee tail. Physical evidence for the silting of this area of the city is shown by the building of the 14th-century port watch tower, now known as the Water Tower, which projects from the north-west corner of the city walls. This tower was originally built out into the river. Maps of the 16th century, its archaeological form and related documentary evidence all demonstrate this.

Despite stories to the contrary, the weir above the Old Dee Bridge was not built by the Romans but by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester between 1077 and 1101 to hold water for his river mills. The purpose of the weir on the river was to keep water levels high for these mills, one of which gave rise to the traditional song "Miller of Dee", which reflects the attitude of the happy miller who was granted a monopoly on grinding. It also prevents the salty tidal waters from entering the Dee fresh water basin.

Chester's port flourished under Norman rule. In 1195 a monk, Lucian, wrote 'ships from Aquitaine, Spain, Ireland and Germany unload their cargoes of wine and other merchandise'. In fact wine was imported through only four other English ports. During the 13th century Chester was famous for its fur trade and even by the mid-16th century the port was importing large amounts of fur and skins. In 1543 one ship alone brought in '1600 shhep fells, 68 dere, 69 fawne skins and 6300 broke (badger skins)' .

However the estuary was silting up so that trading ships to the port of Chester had to harbour downstream at Neston, Parkgate, and "Hoyle Lake" or Hoylake.

Chester's first known mayor was William the Clerk. The second known mayor was Walter of Coventry, who served between 1241 and 1245. The town's third mayor was Walter de Livet (Levett) who was named as mayor in a royal decree from May 1246. (Walter of Coventry and Walter de Livet may be the same person.) During early Chester history, the mayor often held his position for 10 years or more; apparently the early mayor's terms were open-ended.

Tudor and Stuart times

Originally the port was located to the north of the Watergate just below the city wall. To the south of the Watergate the Roodee existed in smaller form than today. The map sequence shows the river moving its course from against the wall north of the Watergate out to its current location between 1580 and approximately the 1830s. By the first edition OS map the river had reached its current position. However, it is apparent that some rivulets and inlets have been lost since, although some have been identified in archaeological work on the site of the former House of Industry and Gasworks.

In September 1642 tension between King Charles I and Parliament was growing and civil war looked like it might be a possibility. Charles visited Chester and ensured the election of pro-royalist mayor William Ince. In March 1643, leading Chester royalist Francis Gamull was commissioned to raise a regiment of foot to defend the city. Colonel Robert Ellis, an experienced soldier, was asked to construct outer defences to the city. A series of earthworks were constructed around the city from Boughton through Hoole and Newton to the Water Tower. The earthworks consisted of a ditch and mud wall with a series of 'mounts' or gun platforms were added along with turnpike gates on incoming roads.

Parliamentary forces began to lay siege to the city of Chester. In the early morning of 20 September 1645, parliamentary forces overran the eastern earthworks at the Boughton turnpike and captured the east suburbs of the city up to the walls. They began to construct cannon batteries within range of the city.

A cannon battery placed in St John's churchyard breached the city walls on 22 September near the Roman amphitheatre. A hole some 25 feet wide was made with thirty-two cannon shots. Following the breach an attempt was made to storm the city, but the defenders repelled the charge. According to an account at the time by Lord Byron, the breach was stopped up with woolpacks and featherbeds from all parts of the town. One can see to this day the repairs made to the wall, the section of which is next to the Roman Gardens (see photo below).

On the evening of 23 September 1645, King Charles I entered the City of Chester with 600 men via the Old Dee Bridge. He stayed the night at Sir Francis Gamull's house on Bridge Street. Also during the evening Sydenham Poyntz, a Parliamentarian in pursuit of the King's forces, entered Whitchurch (15 miles to the south) with 3000 horse. A battle looked likely.

Later that evening the King became aware of Poyntz's movements, as a messenger was intercepted at Holt. A decision was made to send out Lord Gerrard's horse troops and five hundred foot soldiers in the morning.

On the morning of 24 September 1645 the Battle of Rowton Heath occurred in moor land called Miller's Heath near the village of Rowton, two miles to the south east of Chester on the modern A41 road. Parliamentary forces crushed the Royalist loyal Cavaliers. The city was under siege at the time by the Parliamentary army. Royalist forces were coming to lift the siege and join up with Scottish allies, but were intercepted by Parliamentary Forces outside Chester.

The engagement lasted all day starting at 9am and continued throughout the day in three stages as Royalists were pushed back towards the City and its walls. The battle was mainly conducted on horseback with musketeers supporting the cavalry's flanks. As the battle went on into the afternoon, more troops were ordered to march out of the Northgate in support of the Royalists on Rowton Moor, but this decision was too late—the battle was already lost.

As the fighting reached the suburbs it was watched by King Charles I and Sir Francis Gamull from Chester's Phoenix Tower (now also called King Charles' Tower) on the city walls. The King quickly withdrew to the Cathedral tower, but even this was not safe, as the captain standing next to him was shot in the head by musket fire from the victorious Parliamentarians who took residence in the St John's Church tower.

The battle cost the lives of 600 Royalists and an unknown number of Parliamentarians. Among the Royalist dead was Lord Bernard Stuart (1622–1645) Earl of Lichfield, the king's cousin. His portrait is displayed in the National Gallery.

Also slain at the same time was William Lawes (1602–1645) a noted English composer and musician. He was buried in Chester Cathedral without a memorial. He was remembered by the king as the 'Father of Musick' and his portrait as a cavalier hangs in the Faculty of Music at Oxford.

Today there is a small memorial to the battle in the village of Rowton. It consists of a brief history and a battle plan of field at the time.

The next day the king slipped out of Chester and crossed the Old Dee Bridge en route to Denbigh. He left instructions for the city to hold out for 10 days more.

By 1646, after having refused to surrender nine times and with Lord Byron at the head of the city's defences, having only spring water and boiled wheat for lunch — the citizens (17,000) had already eaten their dogs — a treaty was signed. The mills and the waterworks lay in ruins. When the exultant Puritan forces were let loose on the city, despite the treaty, they destroyed religious icons including the high cross, which was not erected again for over three centuries. In 1646 King Charles I was proclaimed a traitor beside its base.

Worse was to come. The starved citizens then bore the full brunt of the plague, with 2099 people dead from the summer of 1647 to the following spring.

In 1643 Sir Richard Grosvenor petitioned the Assembly to enclose the Row which ran through the front of his town house on Lower Bridge Street, and his request was granted. At the time he was employed in the Royalist army as a Commander. Some speculate that perhaps the room was being used to organise the Royalist Resistance in Chester. In the years after the war, people further down the street also asked for the Row to be enclosed. Eventually Lower Bridge Street lost its rows. The only trace can now be found at number 11.

Most of Chester was rebuilt after the Civil War. There are many fine half-timbered houses dating from this time still standing today.

Chester port declined with most of the ships going from the colonies now going to Liverpool, although it was still the major port of passenger embarkation for Ireland until the early 19th century. A new port was established on the Wirral called Parkgate, but this also fell out of use. The road to the port of Chester was called the 'Great Irish Road' and ran from Bristol to Chester.

Georgian and Victorian eras

The port declined seriously from 1762 onwards. By 1840 it could no longer effectively compete with Liverpool as a port, although significant shipbuilding and ropemaking continued at Chester. It was once thought that Chester's maritime trade was brought to an end by the silting of the River Dee, although recent research has shown this was not the case. It was the use of larger ocean-going ships that led to the diversion of the trade to the relatively young town of Liverpool and other locations on the River Mersey, which had long been rivals to Chester, such as Runcorn.

In the Georgian era, Chester became again a centre of affluence, a town with elegant terraces where the landed aristocracy lived. This trend continued into the Industrial Revolution, when the city was populated with the upper classes in fleeing to a safe distance from the industrial sprawls of Manchester and Liverpool.

Edmund Halley (of comet fame) was the deputy controller of Chester Castle for a short time and on 10 May 1697 recorded a fall of one inch hailstones in the area. William Molyneux was in exile here from Ireland in 1691 and was working on his book Dioptrics published in London the following year.

The Industrial Revolution brought the Chester Canal (now part of the Shropshire Union Canal) to the city (which was dubbed 'England's first unsuccessful canal', after its failure to bring heavy industry to Chester) as well as railways and two large central stations, only one of which remains. The building of the route to Holyhead involved one particularly notable tragedy, when a cast iron bridge over the river Dee just by the Roodee race course, collapsed. The Dee bridge disaster sent shock waves through the whole nation because there were many other bridges of similar design on the growing national rail network. Robert Stephenson was the engineer to the new line, and he came in for heavy criticism at the inquest held locally. The design was faulty, and many other bridges had to be demolished or replaced. In an attempt to strengthen the brittle cast iron girders of the bridge, Stephenson added tough wrought iron straps along the length of the spans, but, far from improving the structure, added little or no extra strength. A Royal Commission was set up to investigate the problem, and they confirmed the conclusions of the Railway Inspectorate that the design was wrong.

A leadworks was established by the canal in 1799; its shot tower, which was used for making lead shot for the Napoleonic Wars, is the oldest remaining shot tower in the UK.

The Ruskinian Venetian Gothic Town Hall was ceremoniously opened by Prince of Wales in 1869; its design, following a public competition held to replace the Exchange building, which had stood at the centre of Northgate Street until it burnt down in 1862, was by William Henry Lynn (1829–1915) an Irish architect with a practice in Belfast. Along with the Cathedral Church of Christ & the Blessed Virgin Mary, it still dominates the city skyline. The Volunteer Street drill hall was completed in 1868. The three clock faces were added in 1980.

The Eastgate clock was also built at this time, and is a central feature as it crosses Eastgate street, and is part of the city walls. The clock is very popular with tourists, and this has given it the grand title of the second most photographed clock in the UK (perhaps even the World) after Big Ben.

Culina Centurionis ( Küche eines Haus eines ranghohen Offizier des Castrum Vindonissense - Ruine Kastell Römer ) des römischen Legionslager Vindonissa ( Lager Besetzt 14 - 101 und 270 - ca. 406 nach Christus ) im heutigen Windisch im Kanton Aargau der Schweiz

.

.

.

**************************************************************************************************************

.

.

L.egionärsp.fad in V.indonissa am Dienstag den 16. Mai 2023

.

.

**************************************************************************************************************

Hurni230516 KantonAargau

E - Mail : chrigu.hurni@bluemail.ch

**************************************************************************************************************

Letzte Aktualisierung - Ergänzung des Textes : 160523

**************************************************************************************************************

NIF

Photo Julien Barro

Spectacle "Page Blanche"

Par la Cie Luc Amoros (F) avec Agnès Bourgeois, Katharina Ernst, Lou Amoros-Augustin ou Aude Ardoin, Pierre Biebuyck, Suzanne Berelowitch, Sylvie Eder, Jérôme Fohrer

Festival des arts scéniques les Jeux du Castrum, Yverdon-les-Bains, édition 2012

Direction artistique David Deppierraz & Laurence Iseli

www.jeuxducastrum.ch

Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the England-Wales border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011, it is the most populous settlement of Cheshire West and Chester (a unitary authority which had a population of 329,608 in 2011) and serves as its administrative headquarters. It is also the historic county town of Cheshire and the second-largest settlement in Cheshire after Warrington.

Chester was founded in 79 AD as a "castrum" or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. One of the main army camps in Roman Britain, Deva later became a major civilian settlement. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia, which later became Chester's first cathedral, and the Angles extended and strengthened the walls to protect the city against the Danes. Chester was one of the last cities in England to fall to the Normans, and William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border. Chester was granted city status in 1541.

The city walls of Chester are some of the best-preserved in the country and have Grade I listed status. It has a number of medieval buildings, but many of the black-and-white buildings within the city centre are Victorian restorations, originating from the Black-and-white Revival movement. Apart from a 100-metre (330 ft) section, the walls are almost complete. The Industrial Revolution brought railways, canals, and new roads to the city, which saw substantial expansion and development; Chester Town Hall and the Grosvenor Museum are examples of Victorian architecture from this period. Tourism, the retail industry, public administration, and financial services are important to the modern economy. Chester signs itself as Chester International Heritage City on road signs on the main roads entering the city.

The history of Chester extends back nearly two millennia, covering all periods of British history in between then and the present day. The city of Chester was founded as a fort, known as Deva Vitrix, by the Romans in AD 70s, as early as AD 74 based on discovered lead pipes. The city was the scene of battles between warring Welsh and Saxon kingdoms throughout the post-Roman years until the Saxons strengthened the fort against raiding Danes.

Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Chester came under the Earl of Chester. It became a centre of the defence against Welsh raiders and a launch point for raids on Ireland.

The city grew as a trading port until the power of the Port of Liverpool overtook it. However the city did not decline and during the Georgian and Victorian periods was seen as a place of escape from the more industrial cities of Manchester and Liverpool.

Roman

The Romans founded Chester as Deva Victrix in AD 70s in the land of the Celtic Cornovii, according to ancient cartographer Ptolemy, as a fortress during the Roman expansion north.

It was named Deva either after the goddess of the Dee, or directly from the British name for the river. The 'victrix' part of the name was taken from the title of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix who were based at Deva. A civilian settlement grew around the settlement, probably starting as a group of traders and their families who were profiting from trade with the fortress. The fortress was 20% larger than other fortresses in Britannia built around the same time at York (Eboracum) and Caerleon (Isca Augusta); this has led to the suggestion that the fortress may have been intended to become the capital of the province rather than London (Londinium).

The civilian amphitheatre which was built in 1st century could sit between 8,000 and 10,000 people, is the largest known military amphitheatre in Britain, and is also a Scheduled Monument. The Minerva Shrine in the Roman quarry is the only rock cut Roman shrine still in situ in Britain. The fortress was garrisoned by the legion until at least the late 4th century. Although the army would have abandoned the fortress by 410 when the Romans retreated from Britannia the civilians settlement continued and its occupants probably continued to use the fortress and its defences as protection from raiders in the Irish Sea.

Sub-Roman and Saxon period

The Roman withdrawal from Britain was effectively complete by 410 and the Britons established a number of successor states. The area of Chester is thought to have formed part of the kingdom of Powys, whose early kings claimed descent from the exile Vortigern. Chester is generally identified with the Cair Legion ("Fort Legion") listed as one of the 28 cities of Britain in the History of the Britons traditionally attributed to Nennius. In Welsh legend, King Arthur is said to have fought his ninth battle against the Saxon invasion at the "city of the legions" and later St Augustine came to the city to try and subjugate the Welsh bishops to his mission. In 616, Æthelfrith of Northumbria defeated a Welsh army at the Battle of Chester and probably established the Anglo-Saxon position in the area from then on.

The Anglo-Saxons adopted the native name as the calque Legeceaster, which over time was shortened to Ceaster and finally corrupted to Chester. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia on what is considered to be an early Christian site and known as the Minster of St John the Baptist, Chester (now St John the Baptist's Church), which later became the city's first cathedral. In the 9th century, the body of Æthelred's niece, St Werburgh was removed from Hanbury in Staffordshire; in order to save its desecration by Danish marauders, she was reburied in the Church of SS Peter & Paul—later to become the Abbey Church and present cathedral. Her name is still remembered by the St Werburgh's Street which passes beside the cathedral. The Saxons extended and strengthened the city walls to protect the city against the Danes, who occupied it for a short time until Alfred seized all the cattle and laid waste the surrounding land to drive them out. In fact it was Alfred's daughter Æthelfleda, "Lady of the Mercians", who rebuilt the Saxon burh. In 907, she dedicated a new church to St Peter.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that, in 973, King Edgar came to Chester following his coronation at Bath. He held his court in a place located in what is now called "Edgar's Field", near the old Dee bridge in Handbridge. Taking a barge up the River Dee from his court to the Minster of St John the Baptist, Edgar supposedly took the helm of the vessel while it was rowed by six or eight tributary "kings" (Latin: reguli, lit. "little kings").

The Chronicles of Melrose and of Florence of Worcester describe that "eight petty kings, namely, Kynath, king of the Scots, Malcolm, king of the Cumbrians, Maccus, king of several isles and five others, named Dufnall, Siferth, Huwall, Jacob and Juchill, met him there as he had appointed and swore that they would be faithful to him, and assist him by land and by sea".

After the kings swore fealty and allegiance they rowed him back to the palace. As he entered he is reported to have said that with so many kings' allegiance his successors could boast themselves to be kings of the English.

Middle Ages

After the 1066 Norman Conquest and the Harrying of the North, the Normans took Chester, destroying 200 houses in the city. Hugh d'Avranches, the first Norman earl (it was first given to a Fleming, Gherbod, who never took up residence but returned to Flanders where he was captured, and later killed) was William's nephew. He built a motte and bailey near the river, as another defence from the Celts. It is now known as Chester Castle and was rebuilt in stone by Henry III in 1245, after the last of six Norman earls died without issue.

Chester's earls were a law unto themselves. They kept huge hunting forests - Hugo was said to have 'preferred falconers and huntsmen to the cultivators of the soil', and Ranulf I converted the Wirral farmlands into another hunting forest. Before Ranulph, Hugo's son had inherited at the age of seven but died in the White Ship, along with the king's heir, William, on his way to England from France, where he was educated under the guardianship of Henry I. Earl Ranulf II, Ranulph's son, even helped to capture King Stephen in 1140, and ended up controlling a third of England after supporting Henry II's claim to the throne.

Other earls were Hugh II, Ranulf III and John the Scot. The traditional independence that Chester had under the earls was confirmed by a charter of Richard II in 1398 stating that 'the said county of Chester shall be the principality of Chester'. The earls are remembered with their shields on the suspension bridge over the river Dee, and again on the Grosvenor Park lodge.

The first earl had endowed a great Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Werburgh in 1092 (on the site of the church of dedicated to St Peter and St Paul). The monastery was dissolved under Henry VIII in 1540 and was rededicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary to become Chester Cathedral. Previously, the first Chester Cathedral was begun in 1075 by the first Norman Bishop of Mercia, Peter de Leya after the See was moved from Lichfield in Chester. De Leya's successor moved the See to Coventry and it later returned to Lichfield. St John's became the co-Cathedral and Collegiate Church.

There is a popular belief that it was the silting of the River Dee that created the land which is now Chester's racecourse (known as the Roodee), on which a stone cross still stands which is said to have been erected in memory of Lady Trawst who died as a result of an image of the Virgin Mary called Holy Rood falling upon her in Hawarden church a few miles down the river). But the Roodee was in existence as early as the 13th and 14th centuries, so it cannot have been created by later silting. The silting which led to the creation of the Roodee, in its current form, is well established on a sequence of post-medieval maps dating from the later 16th century. It has also been established by archaeological evaluations and excavations in the area of the Old Port, known as the Roodee tail. Physical evidence for the silting of this area of the city is shown by the building of the 14th-century port watch tower, now known as the Water Tower, which projects from the north-west corner of the city walls. This tower was originally built out into the river. Maps of the 16th century, its archaeological form and related documentary evidence all demonstrate this.

Despite stories to the contrary, the weir above the Old Dee Bridge was not built by the Romans but by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester between 1077 and 1101 to hold water for his river mills. The purpose of the weir on the river was to keep water levels high for these mills, one of which gave rise to the traditional song "Miller of Dee", which reflects the attitude of the happy miller who was granted a monopoly on grinding. It also prevents the salty tidal waters from entering the Dee fresh water basin.

Chester's port flourished under Norman rule. In 1195 a monk, Lucian, wrote 'ships from Aquitaine, Spain, Ireland and Germany unload their cargoes of wine and other merchandise'. In fact wine was imported through only four other English ports. During the 13th century Chester was famous for its fur trade and even by the mid-16th century the port was importing large amounts of fur and skins. In 1543 one ship alone brought in '1600 shhep fells, 68 dere, 69 fawne skins and 6300 broke (badger skins)' .

However the estuary was silting up so that trading ships to the port of Chester had to harbour downstream at Neston, Parkgate, and "Hoyle Lake" or Hoylake.

Chester's first known mayor was William the Clerk. The second known mayor was Walter of Coventry, who served between 1241 and 1245. The town's third mayor was Walter de Livet (Levett) who was named as mayor in a royal decree from May 1246. (Walter of Coventry and Walter de Livet may be the same person.) During early Chester history, the mayor often held his position for 10 years or more; apparently the early mayor's terms were open-ended.

Tudor and Stuart times

Originally the port was located to the north of the Watergate just below the city wall. To the south of the Watergate the Roodee existed in smaller form than today. The map sequence shows the river moving its course from against the wall north of the Watergate out to its current location between 1580 and approximately the 1830s. By the first edition OS map the river had reached its current position. However, it is apparent that some rivulets and inlets have been lost since, although some have been identified in archaeological work on the site of the former House of Industry and Gasworks.

In September 1642 tension between King Charles I and Parliament was growing and civil war looked like it might be a possibility. Charles visited Chester and ensured the election of pro-royalist mayor William Ince. In March 1643, leading Chester royalist Francis Gamull was commissioned to raise a regiment of foot to defend the city. Colonel Robert Ellis, an experienced soldier, was asked to construct outer defences to the city. A series of earthworks were constructed around the city from Boughton through Hoole and Newton to the Water Tower. The earthworks consisted of a ditch and mud wall with a series of 'mounts' or gun platforms were added along with turnpike gates on incoming roads.

Parliamentary forces began to lay siege to the city of Chester. In the early morning of 20 September 1645, parliamentary forces overran the eastern earthworks at the Boughton turnpike and captured the east suburbs of the city up to the walls. They began to construct cannon batteries within range of the city.

A cannon battery placed in St John's churchyard breached the city walls on 22 September near the Roman amphitheatre. A hole some 25 feet wide was made with thirty-two cannon shots. Following the breach an attempt was made to storm the city, but the defenders repelled the charge. According to an account at the time by Lord Byron, the breach was stopped up with woolpacks and featherbeds from all parts of the town. One can see to this day the repairs made to the wall, the section of which is next to the Roman Gardens (see photo below).

On the evening of 23 September 1645, King Charles I entered the City of Chester with 600 men via the Old Dee Bridge. He stayed the night at Sir Francis Gamull's house on Bridge Street. Also during the evening Sydenham Poyntz, a Parliamentarian in pursuit of the King's forces, entered Whitchurch (15 miles to the south) with 3000 horse. A battle looked likely.

Later that evening the King became aware of Poyntz's movements, as a messenger was intercepted at Holt. A decision was made to send out Lord Gerrard's horse troops and five hundred foot soldiers in the morning.

On the morning of 24 September 1645 the Battle of Rowton Heath occurred in moor land called Miller's Heath near the village of Rowton, two miles to the south east of Chester on the modern A41 road. Parliamentary forces crushed the Royalist loyal Cavaliers. The city was under siege at the time by the Parliamentary army. Royalist forces were coming to lift the siege and join up with Scottish allies, but were intercepted by Parliamentary Forces outside Chester.

The engagement lasted all day starting at 9am and continued throughout the day in three stages as Royalists were pushed back towards the City and its walls. The battle was mainly conducted on horseback with musketeers supporting the cavalry's flanks. As the battle went on into the afternoon, more troops were ordered to march out of the Northgate in support of the Royalists on Rowton Moor, but this decision was too late—the battle was already lost.

As the fighting reached the suburbs it was watched by King Charles I and Sir Francis Gamull from Chester's Phoenix Tower (now also called King Charles' Tower) on the city walls. The King quickly withdrew to the Cathedral tower, but even this was not safe, as the captain standing next to him was shot in the head by musket fire from the victorious Parliamentarians who took residence in the St John's Church tower.

The battle cost the lives of 600 Royalists and an unknown number of Parliamentarians. Among the Royalist dead was Lord Bernard Stuart (1622–1645) Earl of Lichfield, the king's cousin. His portrait is displayed in the National Gallery.

Also slain at the same time was William Lawes (1602–1645) a noted English composer and musician. He was buried in Chester Cathedral without a memorial. He was remembered by the king as the 'Father of Musick' and his portrait as a cavalier hangs in the Faculty of Music at Oxford.

Today there is a small memorial to the battle in the village of Rowton. It consists of a brief history and a battle plan of field at the time.

The next day the king slipped out of Chester and crossed the Old Dee Bridge en route to Denbigh. He left instructions for the city to hold out for 10 days more.

By 1646, after having refused to surrender nine times and with Lord Byron at the head of the city's defences, having only spring water and boiled wheat for lunch — the citizens (17,000) had already eaten their dogs — a treaty was signed. The mills and the waterworks lay in ruins. When the exultant Puritan forces were let loose on the city, despite the treaty, they destroyed religious icons including the high cross, which was not erected again for over three centuries. In 1646 King Charles I was proclaimed a traitor beside its base.

Worse was to come. The starved citizens then bore the full brunt of the plague, with 2099 people dead from the summer of 1647 to the following spring.

In 1643 Sir Richard Grosvenor petitioned the Assembly to enclose the Row which ran through the front of his town house on Lower Bridge Street, and his request was granted. At the time he was employed in the Royalist army as a Commander. Some speculate that perhaps the room was being used to organise the Royalist Resistance in Chester. In the years after the war, people further down the street also asked for the Row to be enclosed. Eventually Lower Bridge Street lost its rows. The only trace can now be found at number 11.

Most of Chester was rebuilt after the Civil War. There are many fine half-timbered houses dating from this time still standing today.

Chester port declined with most of the ships going from the colonies now going to Liverpool, although it was still the major port of passenger embarkation for Ireland until the early 19th century. A new port was established on the Wirral called Parkgate, but this also fell out of use. The road to the port of Chester was called the 'Great Irish Road' and ran from Bristol to Chester.

Georgian and Victorian eras

The port declined seriously from 1762 onwards. By 1840 it could no longer effectively compete with Liverpool as a port, although significant shipbuilding and ropemaking continued at Chester. It was once thought that Chester's maritime trade was brought to an end by the silting of the River Dee, although recent research has shown this was not the case. It was the use of larger ocean-going ships that led to the diversion of the trade to the relatively young town of Liverpool and other locations on the River Mersey, which had long been rivals to Chester, such as Runcorn.

In the Georgian era, Chester became again a centre of affluence, a town with elegant terraces where the landed aristocracy lived. This trend continued into the Industrial Revolution, when the city was populated with the upper classes in fleeing to a safe distance from the industrial sprawls of Manchester and Liverpool.

Edmund Halley (of comet fame) was the deputy controller of Chester Castle for a short time and on 10 May 1697 recorded a fall of one inch hailstones in the area. William Molyneux was in exile here from Ireland in 1691 and was working on his book Dioptrics published in London the following year.

The Industrial Revolution brought the Chester Canal (now part of the Shropshire Union Canal) to the city (which was dubbed 'England's first unsuccessful canal', after its failure to bring heavy industry to Chester) as well as railways and two large central stations, only one of which remains. The building of the route to Holyhead involved one particularly notable tragedy, when a cast iron bridge over the river Dee just by the Roodee race course, collapsed. The Dee bridge disaster sent shock waves through the whole nation because there were many other bridges of similar design on the growing national rail network. Robert Stephenson was the engineer to the new line, and he came in for heavy criticism at the inquest held locally. The design was faulty, and many other bridges had to be demolished or replaced. In an attempt to strengthen the brittle cast iron girders of the bridge, Stephenson added tough wrought iron straps along the length of the spans, but, far from improving the structure, added little or no extra strength. A Royal Commission was set up to investigate the problem, and they confirmed the conclusions of the Railway Inspectorate that the design was wrong.

A leadworks was established by the canal in 1799; its shot tower, which was used for making lead shot for the Napoleonic Wars, is the oldest remaining shot tower in the UK.

The Ruskinian Venetian Gothic Town Hall was ceremoniously opened by Prince of Wales in 1869; its design, following a public competition held to replace the Exchange building, which had stood at the centre of Northgate Street until it burnt down in 1862, was by William Henry Lynn (1829–1915) an Irish architect with a practice in Belfast. Along with the Cathedral Church of Christ & the Blessed Virgin Mary, it still dominates the city skyline. The Volunteer Street drill hall was completed in 1868. The three clock faces were added in 1980.

The Eastgate clock was also built at this time, and is a central feature as it crosses Eastgate street, and is part of the city walls. The clock is very popular with tourists, and this has given it the grand title of the second most photographed clock in the UK (perhaps even the World) after Big Ben.

Le château royal de Blois, situé dans le département de Loir-et-Cher (en Centre-Val de Loire), fait partie des châteaux de la Loire. Il fut la résidence favorite des rois de France à la Renaissance.

Situé au cœur de la ville de Blois, sur la rive droite de la Loire, le château de Blois réunit autour d’une même cour un panorama de l’architecture française du Moyen Âge à l’époque classique qui en fait un édifice clé pour la compréhension de l’évolution de l’architecture au fil des siècles. Les appartements royaux restaurés sont meublés et ornés de décors polychromes du XIXe siècle, créés par Félix Duban dans la lignée des restaurateurs contemporains de Viollet-le-Duc.

Histoire

Moyen Âge

En 854, sous le règne de Charles le Chauve, le Blisum castrum (« le château de Blois »), édifié sur les bords de la Loire, est attaqué par les Vikings. La forteresse reconstruite est au cœur d’une vaste région dont les maîtres sont les comtes de Blois, puissants seigneurs féodaux aux Xe et XIe siècles : leurs possessions s’étendent à la région de Blois et de Chartres, et jusqu’à la Champagne. La première forteresse, la « grosse tour », est élevée par Thibaud le Tricheur au Xe siècle. Vers 1080, une charte montre Thibaud III de Blois rendant la justice « dans la forteresse de Blois, dans la cour, derrière le palais, près de la tour, au parterre situé entre les chambres à feu du palais »2. À la fin du XIIe siècle est bâtie dans l’avant-cour la collégiale Saint-Sauveur3.

Au XIIIe siècle, le château est reconstruit par la famille bourguignonne de Châtillon. Le chroniqueur Jean Froissart le décrit comme « beau et grand, fort et plantureux, un des [plus] beaux du royaume de France ». Le dernier descendant de la famille de Châtillon, Guy II de Blois-Châtillon, vend en 1392 la demeure à Louis d’Orléans, frère de Charles VI, qui en prend possession en 1397, à la mort de Guy II de Blois-Châtillon. Lorsque Louis est assassiné à Paris en 1407, sur ordre de Jean sans Peur, sa veuve, Valentine Visconti, part vivre à Blois où elle s’éteint l’année suivante, après avoir fait graver sur les murs du château : « Rien ne m'est plus, plus ne m'est rien ». Son fils, Charles d’Orléans, est fait prisonnier au cours de la désastreuse bataille d’Azincourt en 1415.

En 1429, avant son départ pour lever le siège d’Orléans, Jeanne d’Arc est bénie dans la chapelle du château de Blois par Regnault de Chartres, archevêque-duc de Reims.

Après 25 ans de captivité, Charles d’Orléans revient au château de Blois et organise autour de lui une cour de lettrés. Il y lance un concours de poésie en 1458 où s’illustre François Villon avec sa Ballade des contradictions, dite « Ballade du concours de Blois ». Pendant les environ 25 années où il y réside, il entreprend de détruire certaines parties du vieux château, afin de le rendre plus habitable. De la forteresse de cette période ne restent dans le château actuel que la grande salle, datée du XIIIe siècle, et la tour cylindrique du Foix4.

Renaissance

Le 27 juin 1462, Louis d’Orléans, fils de Charles Ier d’Orléans, naît au château de Blois. Il devient roi de France en 1498 sous le nom de Louis XII ; le château médiéval des comtes de Blois devient résidence royale et Louis en fait sa demeure principale, au détriment du château d’Amboise. Au début des années 1500 (entre 1498 et 1503), Louis XII entreprend, avec Anne de Bretagne (son épouse depuis 1499), une reconstruction du château dans ce qu’on nommera par la suite le style Louis XII en alliant le style gothique flamboyant à des éléments appartenant déjà au style Renaissance6. L’édifice sans fortifications fut réalisé sous la direction des architectes Colin Biart et Jacques Sourdeau (qui travaillera aussi à la construction de l’aile François Ier7), et la création d’un jardin Renaissance aujourd’hui disparu. Il édifie également la chapelle Saint-Calais. Le chroniqueur Jehan d’Authon le dira « tout de neuf et tant somptueux que bien sembloit œuvre de roy »8. Privilégié par Louis XII comme résidence d’hiver, le château de Blois devient le théâtre de plusieurs rencontres diplomatiques : mariage de César Borgia en 1499 ; réception de Philippe le Beau en 1501 ; noces de Guillaume IX, marquis de Montferrat et d’Anne d’Alençon, fille du duc René d’Alençon, en 1508 ; fiançailles de Marguerite d’Angoulême avec le duc Charles IV d’Alençon en 1509 ; séjours de Nicolas Machiavel en 1501 et 1510. Anne de Bretagne meurt au château le 9 janvier 1514. Ses funérailles sont célébrées à la collégiale Saint-Sauveur de Blois, près du château.

Claude de France, fille de Louis XII et d’Anne de Bretagne, épouse en 1514 son cousin François d’Angoulême, arrière-petit-fils de Louis d’Orléans. Il monte sur le trône en 1515 et Claude de France, avec l’intention de quitter le château d’Amboise, meuble alors le château de Blois pour y installer la Cour. Cette même année, François Ier lance la construction d’une nouvelle aile9, de style Renaissance, et y commence une des plus importantes collections de livres de l’époque. La direction des travaux est donnée à l’architecte italien Dominique de Cortone à qui l’on doit l’escalier monumental. Mais après la mort de sa femme au château, en 1524, la construction s’arrête ; François Ier délaisse le château de Blois au profit du château de Fontainebleau où il envoie l’impressionnante bibliothèque pour fonder la Bibliothèque nationale. Néanmoins, Blois n’est pas délaissée pour autant puisque Claude de France y avait mis au monde sept enfants, Blois devenant ainsi une sorte de « pouponnière » royale où sont éduqués les enfants royaux jusqu’à Catherine de Médicis. Le 18 octobre 1534, le château est le théâtre de l’affaire des Placards : des tracts contre la messe sont affichés clandestinement par des partisans de l’Église réformée, jusque sur la porte de la chambre du roi. Cette affaire marque le début de la répression du protestantisme en France, après une période de relative tolérance.

Toujours lieu de fête, Blois reçoit en 1539 la visite de Charles Quint, et c’est à Blois que Pierre de Ronsard rencontre lors d’un bal en avril 1545 Cassandre Salviati, qui lui inspire Les Amours de Cassandre. Sacré roi de France, le fils de François Ier, Henri II, fait son entrée solennelle à Blois en août 1547, accompagné de « femmes nues montées sur des bœufs »[réf. nécessaire] (peut-être une mise en scène du mythe de Zeus et Europe, qui choqua plusieurs observateurs). C’est en 1556 que Catherine de Médicis fait représenter devant le roi la tragédie Sophonisbe, première pièce de théâtre à respecter la règle classique des trois unités.

Le château de Blois reste la résidence principale des successeurs de Henri II et en particulier de François II et Charles IX. François II y passe notamment l’hiver 1559 avec sa femme Marie Stuart qui y a été élevée. En 1571, l’amiral de Coligny y rentre dans les bonnes grâces de Charles IX et de la reine Catherine de Médicis. En 1572, un traité avec l’Angleterre y est signé et au mois d’avril sont célébrées dans la chapelle les fiançailles de Henri de Navarre (futur Henri IV) et Marguerite de France. C’est à Blois que Henri III convoque les États généraux qui se tiennent dans la grande salle aujourd’hui appelée « salle des États ». Puis Henri III doit convoquer les États généraux de 1588-1589. Dans le château, dans sa chambre au deuxième étage, il fait tuer le 23 décembre 1588 son ennemi, le duc de Guise ; le frère de celui-ci, le cardinal de Lorraine, est assassiné le lendemain. Quelques jours plus tard, le 5 janvier 1589, la reine Catherine de Médicis y meurt.

Ancien Régime

occupé par le successeur de Henri III, Henri IV, qui y séjourne en 1589, 1598 et 1599. En 1598, celui-ci lance de nouvelles constructions au château, connues grâce à des dessins de Du Cerceau. Il demanda notamment à Arnaud de Saumery d’édifier une galerie de 200 mètres de long au fond du jardin de Louis XII. Mais ces projets ne seront jamais menés à terme et finiront même par s’écrouler en 1756. À la mort d’Henri IV en 1610, le château devient lieu d’exil pour sa veuve Marie de Médicis, et est habité par Richelieu, après un passage de Louis XIII et Anne d’Autriche en 1616. Reléguée à Blois en 1617 par son fils Louis XIII, Marie de Médicis entreprend d’y construire un pavillon dans l’angle nord-ouest, qu’elle confie à l’architecte Salomon de Brosse. Une inscription en laisse le souvenir dans les sous-sols de l’aile Gaston d’Orléans. Après deux ans de captivité, la reine-mère s’évade du château dans la nuit du 21 au 22 février 1619 à l’aide selon la légende d’une échelle de corde, mais plus probablement en profitant des travaux qui y sont menés, à la suite de quoi elle finit par se réconcilier temporairement avec son fils.

En 1626, Louis XIII alloue le comté de Blois à son frère Gaston d’Orléans en guise de cadeau de mariage. Ce dernier s’y installe en 1634. Gaston d’Orléans aura toujours une profonde affection pour le château, affirmant que « l'air de Blois le guérissait ». En 1635, une nouvelle tentative de développer le château voit le jour avec la mise en œuvre d’une aile dessinée par François Mansart. Mais des problèmes financiers stoppent en 1638 la réalisation du projet et Gaston, ne pouvant y résider (l’escalier n’était pas construit et les logis n’avaient pas de plancher), est contraint d’occuper l’aile François Ier (qui aurait été détruite si le projet avait été conduit à son terme). Des modifications des appartements royaux datent de cette époque. Gaston y vit après la Fronde, de 1652 à 1653, et y décède le 2 février 1660, date à laquelle le château est abandonné.

Délaissé par Louis XIV, le château n’est plus habité. Au XVIIIe siècle, le roi cède les lieux à d’anciens serviteurs qui cloisonnent l’intérieur du château en plusieurs petits appartements. Vers 1720, la Régence songe un temps à y faire venir le parlement en exil10,11. Ni Louis XV, ni Louis XVI ne le visitent12. Louis XVI le considère comme « un château qui n'est bon à rien et tout au plus à vendre »13. À travers un édit de février 1788, il décide d’aliéner — par la vente ou la démolition — le château parmi plusieurs résidences royales ou bâtiments indépendants de la Couronne qui ne sont plus utilisés et dont l’entretien constitue un gouffre financier, dont ceux de Choisy-le-Roi, Madrid, la Muette et Vincennes14,15. Le château de Blois est ainsi mis en vente en 1788 mais, faute d’acquéreur, le régiment Royal-Comtois s’y installe16.

Après la Révolution

Au moment de la Révolution, le château est à l’abandon depuis 130 ans et les révolutionnaires soucieux de faire disparaître tout vestige de la royauté le pillent en le vidant de ses meubles, statues et autres accessoires. La collégiale Saint-Sauveur située dans l’avant cour est vendue à l’entrepreneur Guillon, qui la détruira entièrement3. L’état du château dans son ensemble est tel que sa démolition est même envisagée, jusqu’à ce que Napoléon Ier décide de le céder à la ville de Blois le 10 août 1810. Néanmoins, par manque d’argent, le château est à nouveau utilisé comme caserne par l’armée. En 1834, la moitié sud de l’aile Charles d’Orléans est détruite pour y établir des cuisines militaires. La présence militaire au château n’empêche pas l’ouverture au public de l’aile François Ier sous la Restauration. Le château est ainsi visité par Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac, ou encore Alexandre Dumas.

En 18404, sous le règne de Louis-Philippe, le château est classé monument historique17 grâce à l’action de Prosper Mérimée qui obtient la remise en état du bâtiment le 24 juillet 1844. Félix Duban est chargé en 1846 de la restauration des appartements royaux de l’aile François Ier. Il associe des couleurs profondes (rouge et bleu) à de l’or18. Secondé par Jules de La Morandière, Duban s’inspire pour les décorations intérieures d’estampes d’époque et des travaux menés par l’érudit Louis de la Saussaye19. La restauration se poursuit jusqu’à la mort de Félix Duban en 1871. Le château est alors transformé en musée. Les restaurations entreprises entre 1870 et 1879 sont sous la direction de Jules de La Morandière.

C’est en 1850 que Pierre-Stanislas Maigreau-Blau, maire de Blois, fonde le musée des beaux-arts de Blois, qu’il installe dans l’aile François Ier. C’est en effet à cette époque que les provinces se dotent de leurs propres musées, encourageant ainsi l’étude des arts. Le maire de Blois défend son projet : « Il n’y a pas de chef-lieu de département en France qui ne soit aujourd’hui doté d’un musée. […] Il serait superflu d’examiner les avantages de ces sortes d’établissements. On sait de quel encouragement puissant ils sont pour les arts et les sciences, par les modèles ou les collections qu’ils offrent à l’étude ». Le musée sera finalement ouvert dans l’aile Louis XII en 1869.

Une seconde restauration est entreprise entre 1880 et 1913. Elle est confiée à un inspecteur général des monuments historiques, Anatole de Baudot, qui dirige essentiellement les travaux sur la restauration de la charpente et du plancher, sur quelques ornements, et sur l’élaboration d’un système d’évacuation des eaux de pluie. Alphonse Goubert, successeur de Baudot à la tête du chantier, décide de restaurer l’aile Gaston d’Orléans. C’est ainsi qu’il fait construire un escalier monumental en pierre, à partir d’esquisses de Mansart. En 1921, il crée également un musée lapidaire dans les anciennes cuisines du château.

Pendant la seconde guerre mondiale, la façade sud du château (principalement l’aile Louis XII) est endommagée par les bombardements. Les vitraux de la chapelle sont notamment détruits. Les travaux de remise en état, commencés en 1946, sont confiés à Michel Ranjard.

Le 23 mai 1960, un timbre-poste représentant le château est émis.

Époque contemporaine

Le château est aujourd’hui la propriété de la ville de Blois. Dans les années 1990, une nouvelle restauration est conduite par Pierre Lebouteu et Patrick Ponsot. En particulier, les toitures, les façades extérieures et les planchers de l’aile François Ier ont été restaurés. Gilles Clément, paysagiste, a été chargé de travailler sur le parc. Pour faire vivre le château, un spectacle son et lumière utilisant les voix de Robert Hossein, Pierre Arditi ou Fabrice Luchini, écrit par Alain Decaux et mis en musique par Éric Demarsan, a été conçu dans les années 1990 : Ainsi Blois vous est conté...20.

Aujourd’hui encore, des restaurations ciblées continuent. Le château a accueilli 353 521 visiteurs en 201921.

Architecture et décoration intérieure

Le château de Blois, tel qu’il peut être admiré de nos jours, est principalement constitué de trois ailes où se mêlent les styles gothique, Renaissance et Classique, même si des traces subsistent du château du Moyen Âge.

Château médiéval

Salle des États

.

Construite par le comte Thibaut VI en 1214 (la datation exacte a pu être établie grâce au procédé de dendrochronologie, effectué sur la charpente), la salle des États est la plus ancienne salle civile gothique de France22, et un élément architectural marquant du gothique du XIIIe siècle. Salle de justice sous les comtes de Blois, elle abrite les États généraux en 1576 et 1588. Elle est restaurée en 2006 et 2007, notamment afin de préserver d’importantes traces de polychromie et de conserver la charpente en chêne. Elle est située à l’extrémité nord de l’aile François Ier. Lambrissée, mesurant près de trente mètres sur dix-huit, elle est composée de deux nefs, séparées par une file de six colonnes aux chapiteaux à crochets supportant les deux voûtes en berceau juxtaposées à la charpente en chêne.

Le décor peint est l’œuvre de Félix Duban qui l’a restauré de 1861 à 1866, mais s’inspire de la polychromie en usage au XIIIe siècle. C’est à lui que l’on doit les quelque 6 720 fleurs de lys peintes au lambris. Le pignon percé de grandes fenêtres, la cheminée ainsi que l’escalier néo-gothique sont également de Félix Duban (seule la petite fenêtre en ogive du pignon ouest est d’origine, les grandes fenêtres à meneau, elles, sont du XVe siècle)23. Les vitraux aux emblèmes de Louis XII et Anne de Bretagne sont l’œuvre du peintre-verrier Paul-Charles Nicod, tandis que le parement en terre cuite polychrome est dû au céramiste Jules Loebnitz23.

Musée lapidaire

Le musée lapidaire, accolé à la salle des États, dans les anciennes cuisines de François Ier, rassemble les sculptures des XVIe et XVIIe siècles des différentes ailes du château (gargouilles en pierre, salamandres en plâtre réalisées sous la direction de Félix Duban pour remplacer les insignes royaux détruits à la Révolution, fronton en pierre et plâtre de l’aile Gaston d’Orléans réalisé par le sculpteur Simon Guillain et restauré par Alfred Jean Halou), la tête du Buste de Gaston d’Orléans en Hercule en plâtre, réalisée par Alfred Jean Halou vers 1915, le produit de fouilles du Loir-et-Cher, des objets provenant du promontoire du château à l’époque médiévale, un ensemble daté de la période carolingienne, ainsi que les moulages et les études en plâtre réalisés par Félix Duban.

Tour du Foix

La tour circulaire du Foix, située légèrement en retrait, près de l’aile Gaston d’Orléans, est un vestige des fortifications féodales du XIIIe siècle. Plus caractéristique d’une forteresse médiévale, elle offre un panorama sur la ville, la Loire et l’église Saint-Nicolas de Blois.

Cette tour défendait au Moyen Âge l’angle sud-ouest du château ainsi que la porte du Foix, située au pied de l’éperon rocheux. Perdant son rôle défensif au XVIe siècle, Catherine de Médicis fit aménager à son sommet un observatoire astronomique qui se présente sous la forme d’un petit pavillon en briques rouges et pierres24, accessible par une tourelle d’escalier garnie de bardeaux de bois23, elle aussi édifiée.

S’élevant sur quatre niveaux, dont trois voûtés, éclairés par des meurtrières en étrier, son niveau inférieur aujourd’hui situé en sous-sol formait autrefois le rez-de-chaussée avant le remblaiement de la terrasse au XVIIe siècle.

Les fortifications de la ville et du château sont inscrites aux monuments historiques depuis le 6 novembre 194225.

Aile Louis XII

On pénètre dans le château par l’aile Louis XII, remarquable par son appareil de briques rouges chaînées de pierres blanches, construction courante dans les édifices de style franco-flamand. L’entrée est surmontée par la statue équestre de Louis XII (copie réalisée par le sculpteur Charles Émile Seurre en 1857 à partir d’un original perdu en 1792) présentée plus haut.

alliant le style gothique flamboyant à des éléments appartenant déjà au style Renaissance6.

Le gothique flamboyant se développe dans les moulurations, les trilobes, les pinacles des lucarnes et les culots sculptés encadrant les baies mais sont mêlés à certains éléments, comme des candélabres sur les piliers, l’emploi de l’arc surbaissé, les piliers triangulaires décorés d’arabesques26 ou des coquilles sous la corniche de l’escalier, qui sont toutefois déjà de style Renaissance6.

La haute toiture en ardoise percée de lucarnes, au comble habitable, est aussi caractéristique du gothique tardif.

Le château de Louis XII est souvent comparé au Château du Verger de Seiches-sur-le-Loir, où Colin Biart aurait également travaillé.

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Blois

Un couloir dessert les différentes pièces, afin d’éviter de devoir parcourir toutes les pièces en enfilade pour traverser l’aile, ce qui est une nouveauté par rapport à l’agencement du château médiéval27.

L’aile contient depuis 1869 le musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Blois. Les huit salles de la galerie présentent un choix de peintures et de sculptures allant du XVIe au XIXe siècle. La galerie regroupe un ensemble de tapisseries françaises et flamandes des XVIe et XVIIe siècles. Les cheminées ont été refaites à l’emblématique de Louis XII et de sa femme Anne de Bretagne, d’après le célèbre livre d’heures de la reine ; destinées au « comte de Chambord »[réf. nécessaire], elles sont l’œuvre de Louis Delcros. Le cabinet des portraits contient des tableaux des XVIe et XVIIe siècles provenant des châteaux de Saint-Germain-Beaupré et de Beauregard : Madame de Noailles, le duc de Chevreuse, la Grande Mademoiselle, la duchesse de Beaufort, Anne d’Autriche ou encore Marie de Médicis d’après Rubens y sont visibles. Dans une salle des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, est conservée une série de cinquante médaillons en terre cuite de Jean-Baptiste Nini28.

Tour des Champs

La tour des Champs, visible côté cour, accolée à l’aile Louis XII, flanque le pignon près de la Salle des États. Également de style gothique flamboyant, construite en brique et pierre, elle présente sa haute toiture d’ardoise aux lucarnes décorées d’acrotères, entourée d’une corniche finement sculptée d’une frise d’oves26. On peut y voir plusieurs sculptures dont le porc-épic de Louis XII en bas-relief.

Les restaurateurs auraient dissimulé, avec humour, au niveau d’une fenêtre du premier étage, un angelot en cul-de-lampe doté de la chevelure, du nez et du sourire de l’ancien maire de Blois, Jack Lang29.

Chapelle Saint-Calais

La chapelle Saint-Calais est située au bout de l’aile Louis XII, dans la cour intérieure du château.

Article détaillé : Chapelle Saint-Calais du château de Blois.

Recconstruite à partir de 1498 lorsque Louis XII accède au trône, puis consacrée en 1508 par Antoine Dufour, évêque de Marseille et confesseur de la reine, il ne subsiste aujourd’hui de cet oratoire privé du roi que le chœur gothique aux voûtes à liernes et tiercerons, la nef ayant été détruite par Mansart lors des travaux de l’aile Gaston d’Orléans. Des vitraux modernes de Max Ingrand, datant de 1957, évoquent plusieurs figures de l’histoire, dont Jeanne d'Arc et Charles de Blois. La façade fut créée par Félix Duban et Jules de La Morandière en 1870.

Galerie Charles d’Orléans

La galerie Charles d’Orléans, collée à la chapelle Saint-Calais, était autrefois deux fois plus longue, mais fut, comme la chapelle, détruite en partie au XVIIe siècle. Construite au milieu du XVe siècle, il s’agit du premier édifice dans lequel la pierre et la brique sont employées simultanément30. La galerie est portée par des arcades en anse de panier très surbaissées. Des colonnes aux fûts losangés, timbrés de la fleur de lys et de l’hermine royales, alternent avec des piliers dont le dessin superpose cercle et carré.

Aile François Ier

sont marquées par l’influence italienne. Même si seulement douze ans séparent la construction de l’aile François Ier de celle de l’aile Louis XII, l’inspiration italienne a non seulement influencé les motifs décoratifs, mais aussi l’agencement et la forme complète de l’édifice.

Sa construction ne fut pas homogène. Une première campagne commence en 1515-16 par l’est de l’aile, s’appuyant sur un logis plus ancien. La partie ouest avec son célèbre escalier fut entreprises dans un second temps. D’autre part, deux phases distinctes dans les combles indiquent que les pièces sur la cour furent construites indépendamment de la galerie des loges, commencée par l’ouest contre le logis médiéval avant de recouvrir la partie orientale quelques années plus tard31.

L’escalier

L’élément central de cette aile est l’escalier monumental, de type vis hors-œuvre, octogonal, dont trois côtés sont encastrés dans le bâtiment lui-même. L’escalier, « fouillé comme un ivoire de Chine » selon Balzac, couvert de fines sculptures Renaissance, d’ornements italianisants (statues, balustres, candélabres) et d’emblèmes royaux (salamandres, couronnes, « F » pour François Ier, « C » pour Claude de France), s’ouvre entre les contreforts par de larges baies sur la cour du château. Sa voûte dallée, de forme hélicoïdale, soutenue par des contreforts rectangulaires extérieurs, en font un symbole récurrent de l’architecture française à la Renaissance et annoncent les innovations de l’époque sur l’architecture des escaliers, qui deviennent, plus qu’un élément fonctionnel, un ajout esthétique majeur.

Les façades

Au revers de l’aile, accessible depuis la galerie de la Reine, se trouve la façade des Loges, construite à sept mètres en avant de l’ancienne courtine, caractérisée par une suite de niches non-communicantes. Ces loges, bien qu’inspirées par les façades de Bramante32 de la cour Saint-Damase au Vatican (alternance rythmique bien qu’inconstante entre les travées de baies et les trumeaux pleins), montrent dans leur construction quelques gallicismes (arcs en anse de panier, présence d’échauguettes, ordonnance irrégulière des travées, ouvrages en surplomb etc.)33. Sa décoration présente entre autres des bas-reliefs sur les allèges des échauguettes représentant les douze travaux d’Hercule et d’autres scènes représentant le héros grec (Hercule et le centaure, Hercule et l’hydre de Lerne, Hercule et le taureau de Crète, Hercule et Antée, Hercule et Cacus notamment). Cette façade donnait autrefois sur les jardins créés par Louis XII.

Côté cour, la façade est ornée de fenêtres à meneaux alternés de pilastres aux chapiteaux italianisants, qui croisent les moulures entre les étages. La corniche au sommet de cette façade présente, superposés, une série de motifs de la première Renaissance. Elle court le long de la façade et contourne l’escalier monumental. La haute toiture et la présence de gargouilles le long de la façade montre néanmoins un héritage du style gothique qui n’a pas encore été complètement abandonné par les architectes.

Malgré son apparente homogénéité, l’aile François Ier englobe la salle des États, à gauche de la façade des Loges.

Appartements royaux

Les appartements royaux situés dans l’aile François Ier ont été restaurés. Ils avaient été reconstitués par Félix Duban dans l’esprit romantique de son époque. En effet, Gaston d’Orléans détruisit un quart de l’aile François Ier, dont les appartements privés de Francois Ier. Félix Duban s’inspira du principe selon lequel les appartements publics donnaient sur la cour du château et les appartements privés sur les jardins aujourd’hui disparus.

Le premier étage est l’étage des appartements de la reine.

Galerie de la Reine

Le carrelage de la galerie de la Reine, créé par Félix Duban en terre cuite vernissée sur un modèle du XVe siècle, a été restauré à la fin du XXe siècle. Il se présente sous la forme d’un réseau de formes géométriques bleues, blanches et jaunes. On peut y voir une exposition d’instruments anciens parmi lesquels :

•un clavecin italien de Giovanni Antonio Baffo datant de 1572, remanié vers 1880 par Leopoldo Franciolini,

•une mandoline en faïence de 1875 réalisée par Josaphat Tortat,

•un violon en faïence de 1867, œuvre d’Ulysse Besnard,

•une pochette de maître à danser en bois, marqueterie et ivoire.

La galerie est également ornée de bustes de rois de France, dont :

•un buste de Henri II en bronze et marbre d’après Germain Pilon,

•un buste de François Ier en armure du XVIe siècle à l’auteur anonyme, acquis en 1926, remanié par Louis-Claude Vassé en 1756, moulage en plâtre patiné d’après une œuvre en bronze conservée au Louvre,

•un buste de Charles IX en plâtre patiné,

•un buste de Henri III en plâtre patiné,

•un buste de Henri IV en plâtre.

On peut aussi observer un buste anonyme en plâtre du XIXe siècle représentant Pierre de Ronsard, orné d’un épitaphe en marbre noir datant de 1607. La galerie conserve également plusieurs tableaux, dont une huile sur cuivre qui serait un portrait présumé de la princesse de Conti, vers 1610, et une huile sur toile de C. Martin, Marie de Médicis et le dauphin, 1603. En outre, la galerie abrite un ensemble de monnaies anciennes à l’effigie de Louis XII, François Ier, Henri II, Charles IX, Henri III et Henri IV.

Cabinet de la Reine

On trouve au premier étage le cabinet de Catherine de Médicis ou studiolo, dans lequel des panneaux de bois dissimulent quatre placards à mécanisme secret (armoires que l’on ouvre en actionnant une pédale cachée dans une plinthe), ce qui lui a donné le nom de chambre des secrets34. Les panneaux de bois sont d’origine et attribués à l’atelier de Francesco Scibec da Carpi qui travaille également à Fontainebleau. Mais la cheminée ainsi que le plafond ont été recréés par Félix Duban. Les 237 panneaux sculptés de candélabres à l’italienne datent des années 1520. Les placards n’étaient pas destinés à dissimuler des poisons comme certains auteurs romantiques le prétendent, mais servaient à exposer des œuvres d’art (verres à jambe, faïencerie) et des livres précieux. Le plafond est orné de fleurs de lys et, en son centre, d’un ouvrage carré où figurent le H et les deux C entrelacés de Henri II et Catherine de Médicis. Un escalier permet d’accéder au cabinet neuf, à l’étage supérieur.

Chambre de la Reine

La chambre de la Reine, autrefois galerie des appartements de François Ier, devint la chambre royale de Catherine de Médicis qui y mourut le 5 janvier 1589. Le monogramme de Henri II et de Catherine de Médicis composé d’un H et de deux C entrelacés est omniprésent dans cette pièce, notamment sur la cheminée, Félix Duban l’ayant restauré en 1845 d’après une tenture de cuir doré et peint. La pièce est richement meublée, avec :

•un lit à torchères en chêne et hêtre de la fin du XVIe siècle, remanié au XIXe siècle, orné aux angles de colonnes torses sommées de pots à feu. Le châssis et les pieds à godrons sont caractéristiques du règne de Henri IV ;

•un coffre à couvercle bombé, dans le style français du XVIIe siècle en chêne, orné d’un panneau représentant la décollation de saint Jean-Baptiste ;

•une armoire à deux corps du XVIe siècle, remaniée au XIXe siècle, en noyer avec des incrustations de nacre et d’ivoire ;

•un cabinet espagnol dit Bargueno du XVIe siècle, aux piètements du XIXe siècle, en noyer, ivoire et métal.

Les salles des gardes

La salle des capitaines des gardes de la reine, formée par la réunion de deux pièces, est ornée de deux cheminées au décor Renaissance, sur lesquelles sont visibles la salamandre de François Ier et l’hermine de Claude de France. L’une d’elles est ornée de niches dorées. On peut y observer un buste de François Ier en plâtre, réalisé par Jean-Baptiste Halou, datant de 1850, une armoire en bois sculptée, un tableau d’Isidore Patrois François Ier confère au Rosso les titres et bénéfices de l’abbaye de Saint-Martin, et une sculpture moderne de Goudji, Salamandre, nutrisco et extinguo en argent, serpentine, ébène teintée et or, donné par l’artiste en 2007.

La salle des gardes fut construite de part et d’autre de la courtine médiévale de l’édifice. Les murs furent peints par Vitet entre 1845 et 1847, celui-ci s’inspirant des enluminures de la Renaissance. Elle est actuellement consacrée à l’histoire de l’armement et de son évolution du XVe au XVIIe siècle. Elle présente ainsi une importante collection d’armes anciennes, parmi lesquelles :

•plusieurs armes d’hast, dont un fauchart, une pertuisane, une corsèque et une hallebarde,

•une armure.

La salle est également meublée d’un coffre espagnol du XIXe siècle en bois de chêne sculpté orné de scènes de batailles et de sièges, et d’un autre coffre de bois sculpté aux ornements géométriques.

Les murs sont décorés de plusieurs tableaux dont :

•Le départ des lansquenets, huile sur toile de Gustave Jacquet, donné par l’État en 1868.

•Baillard adoubant François Ier.

•Bourguignon dans son atelier, huile sur toile de Jean-Alexandre-Rémi Couder, 1851.

La salle des gardes conserve également une collection de bronzes, dont :

•Le combat du duc de Clarence, par Alfred Émilien O’Hara, comte de Nieuwerkerke, 1839.

•Richard de Warwick combattant, par Théodore Gechter, XIXe siècle.

•Chasse au sanglier.

L’oratoire

L’oratoire, lambrissé, s’inspire de celui de la bibliothèque du Connétable de Montmorency au château d’Écouen vers 1550. Les vitraux datent du XIXe siècle. Il contient aussi un triptyque appartenant à la reine.

Cabinet neuf

Le deuxième étage abrite les appartements du roi, dans lesquels figure le cabinet neuf (cabinet de travail de Henri III), reconstitué par Félix Duban d’après un fragment représentant une sirène. Le mur est orné d’une tapisserie représentant Pâris, le prince de Troie. Sur le balcon subsistent les boiseries peintes d’un cabinet du XVIIe siècle.

Galerie Duban

La galerie Duban présente des dessins, gravures et objets évoquant l’œuvre de l’architecte, notamment au château de Blois.

Salle des Guises

La salle des Guises abrite une collection de tableaux présentant les principaux personnages et les événements tragiques liés aux guerres de religion. De nombreux peintres historicistes du XIXe siècle ont été inspirés par l’assassinat du duc de Guise. On trouve dans cette salle plusieurs tableaux dont certains sont devenus célèbres :

•Henri III et ses mignons, Ulysse, XIXe siècle.

•Henri III poussant du pied le cadavre du duc de Guise, huile sur toile de Barthélémy Charles Durupt, 1833.

•La duchesse de Nemours et Henri III, d’Arnold Scheffer.

•Procession et cérémonie funèbre en l’honneur du duc de Guise, d’Arnold Scheffer, 1868.

•Le cardinal de Lorraine sortant de sa prison ou Assassinat du cardinal de Guise, huile sur toile d’Alebert de Médine, 1857.

•Henri de Lorraine, duc de Guise, dit le Balafré, huile sur toile anonyme, XIXe siècle.

•L’assassinat du duc de Guise, huile sur toile d’après Paul Delaroche.

Salle du conseil

La salle du conseil à la cheminée monumentale ornée d’une salamandre dorée, réunit de riches meubles réalisés au XIXe siècle dans le style Renaissance, rappelant le luxe princier du XVIe siècle :

•un rafraîchissoir en bois de châtaignier, de Taylor-et-fils, présenté à l’exposition universelle de 1862 ;

•une table octogonale en bois et marbre du XIXe siècle soutenue par des pieds sculptés en forme de sirènes, sur laquelle est posé un vase en granit orbiculaire de Corse du XIXe siècle ;

•une armoire à deux corps en noyer, ivoire, émail, et pierres dures datant de 1862, réalisée par John Deeble Crace ;

•un buffet à deux corps en noyer, ivoire, émail et pierres dures datant de 1862, œuvre de Joseph Pierre Janselme.

La salle du conseil est également ornée de plusieurs statues, dont :

•un Sonneur à l’olifant et une Châtelaine au faucon en bronze d’Antonin Moine, des fondeurs Susse frères, vers 1840 ;

•une statue de Henri IV enfant en plâtre, d’après François Joseph Bosio. L’original, commandé à l’artiste par la Ville de Paris, fut envoyé au salon en 1824.

La salle du conseil est également décorée de plusieurs tableaux, dont Un page, huile sur toile de Ferdinand Roybet.

Salle du roi

La salle du roi est richement meublée. Elle possède notamment :

•un siège pliant de style Renaissance italienne sous un dais décoré de fleurs de lys du XIXe siècle en bois sculpté et doré ;

•une crédence française en chêne du XIXe siècle ;

•une chaire à l’emblème de François Ier en noyer du XIXe siècle ;

•une armoire à deux corps française en noyer du XIXe siècle ;

•une table à rallonges à l’italienne, des XVIe et XIXe siècle en noyer.

•plusieurs tapisseries.

Sa cheminée monumentale est l’une des plus grandes et des plus imposantes du château. Peinte et dorée à l’effigie de François Ier (salamandre et fleurs de lys) et de Claude de France (hermine), et également décorée d’un mélange d’éléments de style italien comme des putti (petits angelots), des guirlandes de fleurs et de fruits, des rinceaux, candélabres et festons, et d’autres de style médiéval, comme des dragons. Néanmoins, cette décoration chargée n’est pas le travail exclusif de Félix Duban. De récentes restaurations ont révélé des traces de polychromie datant des années 1515-1520, laissant croire que Duban n’a fait que raviver des couleurs déjà existantes.

Galerie du roi

La galerie du roi présente une belle collection de faïences néo-Renaissance des XIXe et XXe siècle, dont de nombreuses œuvres des blésois Ulysse Besnard (1826-1899) et Adrien Thibault (1844-1918) parmi lesquelles :

•un cache-pot sur pied colonne réalisé par Émile Balon en 1919 ;

•un coffret à bijoux réalisé par Isabelle Besnard en 1872 ;

•une assiette à l’autoportrait d’Ulysse Besnard, par Ulysse Besnard, 1882 ;

•un grand vase créé par Ulysse Besnard en 1868 ;

•un vase à motifs de guerriers antiques, par Ulysse Besnard, 1872 ;

•un vase couvert d’Ulysse Besnard, 1881 ;

•une jardinière d’Ulysse Besnard, 1887.

On peut également y voir un tableau d’Ulysse Besnard : Hallebardier devant un château-fort, huile sur toile de 1889.

Chambre du roi

La chambre du roi est celle dans laquelle la légende veut que le duc de Guise soit mort, se jetant au pied du lit du roi après avoir été frappé par huit spadassins. Pour évoquer le roi, Duban a volontairement enrichi d’or le décor de la salle et a serti l’alcôve royale de fleurs de lys. Il est meublé d’un lit monumental d’Italie du XVIe siècle, remanié au XIXe siècle, en bois sculpté, peint et doré, ainsi que d’une armoire à deux corps française de la fin du XVIe siècle, en bois de noyer.

Tour Château-Renault

La tour Château-Renault se trouve dans la continuité de l’aile François Ier, qu’elle domine de son chemin de ronde et de sa haute toiture. Côté jardin, elle poursuit la façade des loges par des baies plus petites et un décor similaire (panneaux sculptés, pilastres). Ouverte au public par beau temps depuis les restaurations de 2003, elle dévoile un panorama sur les anciens jardins royaux où subsistent le pavillon Anne de Bretagne et l’orangerie.

Le pavillon d’Anne de Bretagne est aussi appelé Bains de la Reine ; il est classé aux monuments historiques depuis le 12 juillet 188635.

Aile Gaston d’Orléans

La réalisation de l’aile Gaston d’Orléans a été confiée à François Mansart entre 1635 et 1638, date à laquelle le manque de subsides contraint à l’arrêt des travaux. Elle est de style classique. Cette aile occupe le fond de la cour, face à l’aile Louis XII, et remplace la « perche aux Bretons », le pavillon de Marie de Médicis et le logis de Charles IX. L’avant-corps central comporte trois travées où l’on peut distinguer la superposition des ordres dorique, ionique et corinthien. Le fronton central est notamment décoré de deux sculptures représentant à gauche Minerve et à droite Mars. Son aspect inachevé a d’ailleurs provoqué quelques réactions mémorables : si Félibien vers 1680 ne faisait que regretter l’inachèvement de l’édifice, Gustave Flaubert s’emporte en 1847 contre « un corps de logis au goût sobre qui est le goût pauvre »36.

d’une double-coupole emboîtée, ornée de sculptures allégoriques attribuées à Simon Guillain et Michel Anguier, qui sera l’une des nouveautés apportées par l’édifice, tout comme la charpente à comble brisé, qui fera école durant les XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. Un portique concave vient adoucir l’avant-corps central, avec ses colonnes cannelées (dont certaines néanmoins resteront inachevées après l’abandon des travaux).

L’aile abrite une salle d’histoire du château et des salles destinées à des expositions temporaires et à des congrès. Elle a aussi abrité entre 1903 et 1914 le muséum d’Histoire naturelle de Blois avant qu’il ne soit déplacé dans l’ancien palais de l’Évêché où il sera inauguré en 1922. De retour au château après les bombardements de la deuxième guerre mondiale, il restera dans les combles de l’aile Gaston d’Orléans jusqu’en 1984, date à laquelle les collections restaurées sont transférées aux Jacobins où le musée rouvre ses portes.

Lieu de tournage

Une équipe de l’émission Secrets d’Histoire a tourné plusieurs séquences au château dans le cadre d’un numéro consacré à Marie de Médicis, intitulé Marie de Médicis ou l’obsession du pouvoir, diffusé le 19 juillet 2018 sur France 237.

Personnes liées au Château

Personnes nées au Château de Blois

Sont nés dans l’enceinte du château les personnages historiques suivants :

•Charles de Blois (en 1319) ;

•Louis XII (en 1462), roi de France de 1498 à 1515 ;

•Marguerite-Louise d’Orléans (en 1645), fille du duc Gaston d’Orléans.

Personnes décédées au Château de Blois

Sont décédés dans l’enceinte du château les personnages historiques suivants :

•Anne de Bretagne (en 1514), dernière reine de Bretagne, mariée à Charles VIII puis Louis XII ;

•Claude de France (en 1524), fille de Louis XII et d’Anne de Bretagne, mariée à François Ier ;

•Henri Ier de Guise (en 1588), 3e duc de Guise, assassiné (en la chambre du roi de l'aile François Ier) en raison de sa participation à la Journée des Barricades ;

•Louis de Lorraine (en 1588), frère du duc de Guise ;

•Catherine de Médicis (en 1589) ;

•Gaston d’Orléans (en 1660), fils d’Henri IV, dernier comte de Blois.

Modell des Kastell - Castrum Vindonissense des römischen Legionslager Vindonissa ( Lager Besetzt 14 - 101 und 270 - ca. 406. n. Chr ) im Vindonissa - Museum zur Geschichte der Römer in der Stadt Brugg im Kanton Aargau der Schweiz

.

.

.

***************************************************************************************************************

.

.

Ausflug nach S.chaffh.ausen und in den A.argau am Mittwoch den 30. Oktober 2013

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von B.ern - Z.ürich - S.chaffh.ausen nach N.eunk.irch

und weiter mit dem B.us bis H.allau

.

.

Kurzer S.paziergang zur B.ergk.irche S.t. M.oritz H.allau

.

.

Mit dem B.us von H.allau nach N.eunkirch

.

.

Besichtigung der S.tadt N.eunkirch

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von N.eunkirch nach S.chaffh.ausen

.

.

Besuch des M.useum A.llerh.eilligen in S.chaffh.ausen

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von S.chaffh.ausen über Z.ürich nach B.aden

.

.

Besuch des h.istorischen M.useum B.aden

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von B.aden nach B.rugg und einen kurze S.trecke weiter mit dem B.us

.

.

Besuch K.losterk.irche K.önigsf.elden und des V.indonissa - M.useum in B.rugg

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von B.rugg zurück nach B.ern

.

.

***************************************************************************************************************

Hurni131030 AlbumZZZZ131030H.allauB.rugg AlbumRömerinderSchweiz KantonAargau

E - Mail : chrigu.hurni@bluemail.ch

***************************************************************************************************************

Letzte Aktualisierung - Ergänzung des Textes : 121223

***************************************************************************************************************

NIF

Foto di Alvaro, Elisabetta ed Ombretta de Alvariis in Ostia Antica;

À cet emplacement fut élevé en 1525 un hôtel pour Claude Patarin, seigneur de Croy, premier président au Parlement de Bourgogne. L'immeuble actuel a été construit en 1733 pour Jules Pérard, conseil-ler au Parlement, dont un ancêtre avait acquis l'ancien hôtel.

Visible depuis la cour intérieure -comme depuis l'hôtel Duport de Montplaisant voisin- la tour du Petit Saint-Bénigne, un des vestiges du castrum gallo-romain, encore utilisé au Moyen-Âge comme en-ceinte défensive de la ville. Aménagée un temps en chapelle, cette tour est aussi appelée tour du Vicomté.

Very elegant, ancient and silent small streets in the Castrum area of Pays de Belvés. A very nice detail about this area is that you can't see any modern elements, it gives a view of timeless beauty. An excellent area for a nice walk and to discover a wealth in timeless photography

Photo: Very elegant, ancient and silent small streets - by © Richard Poppelaars #About_Pixels #Photography (Nikon D90) / #architecture - #urban #medieval #fortifiedvillage / #ArchitecturePhotography at #Bastide #Castrum in #PaysdeBelves, #Dordogne - #France

Castrum Belvès (Est 11th century, +/- 1095), photo August 2013 after +/-918 years. The year 2045 marks 950 years ago in time.

---

Pays de Belves: Castrum - Architecture Photography

The village Pays-de-Belvès used to be called Belvès, it's fortified in the Middle Ages because of its strategic position and came to be known as the "Pope’s city" as it was under Clement V protection. Belvès still bears witness to a tormented past with fortified walls, a castrum (fortified camp), an 11th century auditeur’s tower, 14th-15th century castle and belfry, city hall tower, covered market, hotel with a Renaissance façade and even some ancient troglodyte dwellings. It has been designated as one of the most beautiful towns in France with impressive panoramic views on top of a hill, enough reason to be member of the "Plus Beaux Villages de France".

---

Published at - Flickr - Instagram - X Media

credits: Maarten Nauw

Mainz (Germany) '24

Landesmuseum Mainz

Mainz, 1st Century AD

Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the England-Wales border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011, it is the most populous settlement of Cheshire West and Chester (a unitary authority which had a population of 329,608 in 2011) and serves as its administrative headquarters. It is also the historic county town of Cheshire and the second-largest settlement in Cheshire after Warrington.

Chester was founded in 79 AD as a "castrum" or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. One of the main army camps in Roman Britain, Deva later became a major civilian settlement. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia, which later became Chester's first cathedral, and the Angles extended and strengthened the walls to protect the city against the Danes. Chester was one of the last cities in England to fall to the Normans, and William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border. Chester was granted city status in 1541.

The city walls of Chester are some of the best-preserved in the country and have Grade I listed status. It has a number of medieval buildings, but many of the black-and-white buildings within the city centre are Victorian restorations, originating from the Black-and-white Revival movement. Apart from a 100-metre (330 ft) section, the walls are almost complete. The Industrial Revolution brought railways, canals, and new roads to the city, which saw substantial expansion and development; Chester Town Hall and the Grosvenor Museum are examples of Victorian architecture from this period. Tourism, the retail industry, public administration, and financial services are important to the modern economy. Chester signs itself as Chester International Heritage City on road signs on the main roads entering the city.

The history of Chester extends back nearly two millennia, covering all periods of British history in between then and the present day. The city of Chester was founded as a fort, known as Deva Vitrix, by the Romans in AD 70s, as early as AD 74 based on discovered lead pipes. The city was the scene of battles between warring Welsh and Saxon kingdoms throughout the post-Roman years until the Saxons strengthened the fort against raiding Danes.

Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Chester came under the Earl of Chester. It became a centre of the defence against Welsh raiders and a launch point for raids on Ireland.

The city grew as a trading port until the power of the Port of Liverpool overtook it. However the city did not decline and during the Georgian and Victorian periods was seen as a place of escape from the more industrial cities of Manchester and Liverpool.

Roman

The Romans founded Chester as Deva Victrix in AD 70s in the land of the Celtic Cornovii, according to ancient cartographer Ptolemy, as a fortress during the Roman expansion north.

It was named Deva either after the goddess of the Dee, or directly from the British name for the river. The 'victrix' part of the name was taken from the title of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix who were based at Deva. A civilian settlement grew around the settlement, probably starting as a group of traders and their families who were profiting from trade with the fortress. The fortress was 20% larger than other fortresses in Britannia built around the same time at York (Eboracum) and Caerleon (Isca Augusta); this has led to the suggestion that the fortress may have been intended to become the capital of the province rather than London (Londinium).

The civilian amphitheatre which was built in 1st century could sit between 8,000 and 10,000 people, is the largest known military amphitheatre in Britain, and is also a Scheduled Monument. The Minerva Shrine in the Roman quarry is the only rock cut Roman shrine still in situ in Britain. The fortress was garrisoned by the legion until at least the late 4th century. Although the army would have abandoned the fortress by 410 when the Romans retreated from Britannia the civilians settlement continued and its occupants probably continued to use the fortress and its defences as protection from raiders in the Irish Sea.

Sub-Roman and Saxon period

The Roman withdrawal from Britain was effectively complete by 410 and the Britons established a number of successor states. The area of Chester is thought to have formed part of the kingdom of Powys, whose early kings claimed descent from the exile Vortigern. Chester is generally identified with the Cair Legion ("Fort Legion") listed as one of the 28 cities of Britain in the History of the Britons traditionally attributed to Nennius. In Welsh legend, King Arthur is said to have fought his ninth battle against the Saxon invasion at the "city of the legions" and later St Augustine came to the city to try and subjugate the Welsh bishops to his mission. In 616, Æthelfrith of Northumbria defeated a Welsh army at the Battle of Chester and probably established the Anglo-Saxon position in the area from then on.

The Anglo-Saxons adopted the native name as the calque Legeceaster, which over time was shortened to Ceaster and finally corrupted to Chester. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia on what is considered to be an early Christian site and known as the Minster of St John the Baptist, Chester (now St John the Baptist's Church), which later became the city's first cathedral. In the 9th century, the body of Æthelred's niece, St Werburgh was removed from Hanbury in Staffordshire; in order to save its desecration by Danish marauders, she was reburied in the Church of SS Peter & Paul—later to become the Abbey Church and present cathedral. Her name is still remembered by the St Werburgh's Street which passes beside the cathedral. The Saxons extended and strengthened the city walls to protect the city against the Danes, who occupied it for a short time until Alfred seized all the cattle and laid waste the surrounding land to drive them out. In fact it was Alfred's daughter Æthelfleda, "Lady of the Mercians", who rebuilt the Saxon burh. In 907, she dedicated a new church to St Peter.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that, in 973, King Edgar came to Chester following his coronation at Bath. He held his court in a place located in what is now called "Edgar's Field", near the old Dee bridge in Handbridge. Taking a barge up the River Dee from his court to the Minster of St John the Baptist, Edgar supposedly took the helm of the vessel while it was rowed by six or eight tributary "kings" (Latin: reguli, lit. "little kings").

The Chronicles of Melrose and of Florence of Worcester describe that "eight petty kings, namely, Kynath, king of the Scots, Malcolm, king of the Cumbrians, Maccus, king of several isles and five others, named Dufnall, Siferth, Huwall, Jacob and Juchill, met him there as he had appointed and swore that they would be faithful to him, and assist him by land and by sea".

After the kings swore fealty and allegiance they rowed him back to the palace. As he entered he is reported to have said that with so many kings' allegiance his successors could boast themselves to be kings of the English.

Middle Ages

After the 1066 Norman Conquest and the Harrying of the North, the Normans took Chester, destroying 200 houses in the city. Hugh d'Avranches, the first Norman earl (it was first given to a Fleming, Gherbod, who never took up residence but returned to Flanders where he was captured, and later killed) was William's nephew. He built a motte and bailey near the river, as another defence from the Celts. It is now known as Chester Castle and was rebuilt in stone by Henry III in 1245, after the last of six Norman earls died without issue.

Chester's earls were a law unto themselves. They kept huge hunting forests - Hugo was said to have 'preferred falconers and huntsmen to the cultivators of the soil', and Ranulf I converted the Wirral farmlands into another hunting forest. Before Ranulph, Hugo's son had inherited at the age of seven but died in the White Ship, along with the king's heir, William, on his way to England from France, where he was educated under the guardianship of Henry I. Earl Ranulf II, Ranulph's son, even helped to capture King Stephen in 1140, and ended up controlling a third of England after supporting Henry II's claim to the throne.

Other earls were Hugh II, Ranulf III and John the Scot. The traditional independence that Chester had under the earls was confirmed by a charter of Richard II in 1398 stating that 'the said county of Chester shall be the principality of Chester'. The earls are remembered with their shields on the suspension bridge over the river Dee, and again on the Grosvenor Park lodge.

The first earl had endowed a great Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Werburgh in 1092 (on the site of the church of dedicated to St Peter and St Paul). The monastery was dissolved under Henry VIII in 1540 and was rededicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary to become Chester Cathedral. Previously, the first Chester Cathedral was begun in 1075 by the first Norman Bishop of Mercia, Peter de Leya after the See was moved from Lichfield in Chester. De Leya's successor moved the See to Coventry and it later returned to Lichfield. St John's became the co-Cathedral and Collegiate Church.

There is a popular belief that it was the silting of the River Dee that created the land which is now Chester's racecourse (known as the Roodee), on which a stone cross still stands which is said to have been erected in memory of Lady Trawst who died as a result of an image of the Virgin Mary called Holy Rood falling upon her in Hawarden church a few miles down the river). But the Roodee was in existence as early as the 13th and 14th centuries, so it cannot have been created by later silting. The silting which led to the creation of the Roodee, in its current form, is well established on a sequence of post-medieval maps dating from the later 16th century. It has also been established by archaeological evaluations and excavations in the area of the Old Port, known as the Roodee tail. Physical evidence for the silting of this area of the city is shown by the building of the 14th-century port watch tower, now known as the Water Tower, which projects from the north-west corner of the city walls. This tower was originally built out into the river. Maps of the 16th century, its archaeological form and related documentary evidence all demonstrate this.

Despite stories to the contrary, the weir above the Old Dee Bridge was not built by the Romans but by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester between 1077 and 1101 to hold water for his river mills. The purpose of the weir on the river was to keep water levels high for these mills, one of which gave rise to the traditional song "Miller of Dee", which reflects the attitude of the happy miller who was granted a monopoly on grinding. It also prevents the salty tidal waters from entering the Dee fresh water basin.

Chester's port flourished under Norman rule. In 1195 a monk, Lucian, wrote 'ships from Aquitaine, Spain, Ireland and Germany unload their cargoes of wine and other merchandise'. In fact wine was imported through only four other English ports. During the 13th century Chester was famous for its fur trade and even by the mid-16th century the port was importing large amounts of fur and skins. In 1543 one ship alone brought in '1600 shhep fells, 68 dere, 69 fawne skins and 6300 broke (badger skins)' .

However the estuary was silting up so that trading ships to the port of Chester had to harbour downstream at Neston, Parkgate, and "Hoyle Lake" or Hoylake.

Chester's first known mayor was William the Clerk. The second known mayor was Walter of Coventry, who served between 1241 and 1245. The town's third mayor was Walter de Livet (Levett) who was named as mayor in a royal decree from May 1246. (Walter of Coventry and Walter de Livet may be the same person.) During early Chester history, the mayor often held his position for 10 years or more; apparently the early mayor's terms were open-ended.

Tudor and Stuart times

Originally the port was located to the north of the Watergate just below the city wall. To the south of the Watergate the Roodee existed in smaller form than today. The map sequence shows the river moving its course from against the wall north of the Watergate out to its current location between 1580 and approximately the 1830s. By the first edition OS map the river had reached its current position. However, it is apparent that some rivulets and inlets have been lost since, although some have been identified in archaeological work on the site of the former House of Industry and Gasworks.

In September 1642 tension between King Charles I and Parliament was growing and civil war looked like it might be a possibility. Charles visited Chester and ensured the election of pro-royalist mayor William Ince. In March 1643, leading Chester royalist Francis Gamull was commissioned to raise a regiment of foot to defend the city. Colonel Robert Ellis, an experienced soldier, was asked to construct outer defences to the city. A series of earthworks were constructed around the city from Boughton through Hoole and Newton to the Water Tower. The earthworks consisted of a ditch and mud wall with a series of 'mounts' or gun platforms were added along with turnpike gates on incoming roads.

Parliamentary forces began to lay siege to the city of Chester. In the early morning of 20 September 1645, parliamentary forces overran the eastern earthworks at the Boughton turnpike and captured the east suburbs of the city up to the walls. They began to construct cannon batteries within range of the city.

A cannon battery placed in St John's churchyard breached the city walls on 22 September near the Roman amphitheatre. A hole some 25 feet wide was made with thirty-two cannon shots. Following the breach an attempt was made to storm the city, but the defenders repelled the charge. According to an account at the time by Lord Byron, the breach was stopped up with woolpacks and featherbeds from all parts of the town. One can see to this day the repairs made to the wall, the section of which is next to the Roman Gardens (see photo below).

On the evening of 23 September 1645, King Charles I entered the City of Chester with 600 men via the Old Dee Bridge. He stayed the night at Sir Francis Gamull's house on Bridge Street. Also during the evening Sydenham Poyntz, a Parliamentarian in pursuit of the King's forces, entered Whitchurch (15 miles to the south) with 3000 horse. A battle looked likely.

Later that evening the King became aware of Poyntz's movements, as a messenger was intercepted at Holt. A decision was made to send out Lord Gerrard's horse troops and five hundred foot soldiers in the morning.

On the morning of 24 September 1645 the Battle of Rowton Heath occurred in moor land called Miller's Heath near the village of Rowton, two miles to the south east of Chester on the modern A41 road. Parliamentary forces crushed the Royalist loyal Cavaliers. The city was under siege at the time by the Parliamentary army. Royalist forces were coming to lift the siege and join up with Scottish allies, but were intercepted by Parliamentary Forces outside Chester.

The engagement lasted all day starting at 9am and continued throughout the day in three stages as Royalists were pushed back towards the City and its walls. The battle was mainly conducted on horseback with musketeers supporting the cavalry's flanks. As the battle went on into the afternoon, more troops were ordered to march out of the Northgate in support of the Royalists on Rowton Moor, but this decision was too late—the battle was already lost.

As the fighting reached the suburbs it was watched by King Charles I and Sir Francis Gamull from Chester's Phoenix Tower (now also called King Charles' Tower) on the city walls. The King quickly withdrew to the Cathedral tower, but even this was not safe, as the captain standing next to him was shot in the head by musket fire from the victorious Parliamentarians who took residence in the St John's Church tower.

The battle cost the lives of 600 Royalists and an unknown number of Parliamentarians. Among the Royalist dead was Lord Bernard Stuart (1622–1645) Earl of Lichfield, the king's cousin. His portrait is displayed in the National Gallery.

Also slain at the same time was William Lawes (1602–1645) a noted English composer and musician. He was buried in Chester Cathedral without a memorial. He was remembered by the king as the 'Father of Musick' and his portrait as a cavalier hangs in the Faculty of Music at Oxford.

Today there is a small memorial to the battle in the village of Rowton. It consists of a brief history and a battle plan of field at the time.

The next day the king slipped out of Chester and crossed the Old Dee Bridge en route to Denbigh. He left instructions for the city to hold out for 10 days more.

By 1646, after having refused to surrender nine times and with Lord Byron at the head of the city's defences, having only spring water and boiled wheat for lunch — the citizens (17,000) had already eaten their dogs — a treaty was signed. The mills and the waterworks lay in ruins. When the exultant Puritan forces were let loose on the city, despite the treaty, they destroyed religious icons including the high cross, which was not erected again for over three centuries. In 1646 King Charles I was proclaimed a traitor beside its base.

Worse was to come. The starved citizens then bore the full brunt of the plague, with 2099 people dead from the summer of 1647 to the following spring.

In 1643 Sir Richard Grosvenor petitioned the Assembly to enclose the Row which ran through the front of his town house on Lower Bridge Street, and his request was granted. At the time he was employed in the Royalist army as a Commander. Some speculate that perhaps the room was being used to organise the Royalist Resistance in Chester. In the years after the war, people further down the street also asked for the Row to be enclosed. Eventually Lower Bridge Street lost its rows. The only trace can now be found at number 11.

Most of Chester was rebuilt after the Civil War. There are many fine half-timbered houses dating from this time still standing today.

Chester port declined with most of the ships going from the colonies now going to Liverpool, although it was still the major port of passenger embarkation for Ireland until the early 19th century. A new port was established on the Wirral called Parkgate, but this also fell out of use. The road to the port of Chester was called the 'Great Irish Road' and ran from Bristol to Chester.

Georgian and Victorian eras

The port declined seriously from 1762 onwards. By 1840 it could no longer effectively compete with Liverpool as a port, although significant shipbuilding and ropemaking continued at Chester. It was once thought that Chester's maritime trade was brought to an end by the silting of the River Dee, although recent research has shown this was not the case. It was the use of larger ocean-going ships that led to the diversion of the trade to the relatively young town of Liverpool and other locations on the River Mersey, which had long been rivals to Chester, such as Runcorn.

In the Georgian era, Chester became again a centre of affluence, a town with elegant terraces where the landed aristocracy lived. This trend continued into the Industrial Revolution, when the city was populated with the upper classes in fleeing to a safe distance from the industrial sprawls of Manchester and Liverpool.

Edmund Halley (of comet fame) was the deputy controller of Chester Castle for a short time and on 10 May 1697 recorded a fall of one inch hailstones in the area. William Molyneux was in exile here from Ireland in 1691 and was working on his book Dioptrics published in London the following year.

The Industrial Revolution brought the Chester Canal (now part of the Shropshire Union Canal) to the city (which was dubbed 'England's first unsuccessful canal', after its failure to bring heavy industry to Chester) as well as railways and two large central stations, only one of which remains. The building of the route to Holyhead involved one particularly notable tragedy, when a cast iron bridge over the river Dee just by the Roodee race course, collapsed. The Dee bridge disaster sent shock waves through the whole nation because there were many other bridges of similar design on the growing national rail network. Robert Stephenson was the engineer to the new line, and he came in for heavy criticism at the inquest held locally. The design was faulty, and many other bridges had to be demolished or replaced. In an attempt to strengthen the brittle cast iron girders of the bridge, Stephenson added tough wrought iron straps along the length of the spans, but, far from improving the structure, added little or no extra strength. A Royal Commission was set up to investigate the problem, and they confirmed the conclusions of the Railway Inspectorate that the design was wrong.

A leadworks was established by the canal in 1799; its shot tower, which was used for making lead shot for the Napoleonic Wars, is the oldest remaining shot tower in the UK.

The Ruskinian Venetian Gothic Town Hall was ceremoniously opened by Prince of Wales in 1869; its design, following a public competition held to replace the Exchange building, which had stood at the centre of Northgate Street until it burnt down in 1862, was by William Henry Lynn (1829–1915) an Irish architect with a practice in Belfast. Along with the Cathedral Church of Christ & the Blessed Virgin Mary, it still dominates the city skyline. The Volunteer Street drill hall was completed in 1868. The three clock faces were added in 1980.

The Eastgate clock was also built at this time, and is a central feature as it crosses Eastgate street, and is part of the city walls. The clock is very popular with tourists, and this has given it the grand title of the second most photographed clock in the UK (perhaps even the World) after Big Ben.

credits: Maarten Nauw

Photo Julien Mudry

Spectacle "Page Blanche"

Par la Cie Luc Amoros (F) avec Agnès Bourgeois, Katharina Ernst, Lou Amoros-Augustin ou Aude Ardoin, Pierre Biebuyck, Suzanne Berelowitch, Sylvie Eder, Jérôme Fohrer

Festival des arts scéniques les Jeux du Castrum, Yverdon-les-Bains, édition 2012

Direction artistique David Deppierraz & Laurence Iseli

www.jeuxducastrum.ch

Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the England-Wales border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011, it is the most populous settlement of Cheshire West and Chester (a unitary authority which had a population of 329,608 in 2011) and serves as its administrative headquarters. It is also the historic county town of Cheshire and the second-largest settlement in Cheshire after Warrington.

Chester was founded in 79 AD as a "castrum" or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. One of the main army camps in Roman Britain, Deva later became a major civilian settlement. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia, which later became Chester's first cathedral, and the Angles extended and strengthened the walls to protect the city against the Danes. Chester was one of the last cities in England to fall to the Normans, and William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border. Chester was granted city status in 1541.

The city walls of Chester are some of the best-preserved in the country and have Grade I listed status. It has a number of medieval buildings, but many of the black-and-white buildings within the city centre are Victorian restorations, originating from the Black-and-white Revival movement. Apart from a 100-metre (330 ft) section, the walls are almost complete. The Industrial Revolution brought railways, canals, and new roads to the city, which saw substantial expansion and development; Chester Town Hall and the Grosvenor Museum are examples of Victorian architecture from this period. Tourism, the retail industry, public administration, and financial services are important to the modern economy. Chester signs itself as Chester International Heritage City on road signs on the main roads entering the city.

The history of Chester extends back nearly two millennia, covering all periods of British history in between then and the present day. The city of Chester was founded as a fort, known as Deva Vitrix, by the Romans in AD 70s, as early as AD 74 based on discovered lead pipes. The city was the scene of battles between warring Welsh and Saxon kingdoms throughout the post-Roman years until the Saxons strengthened the fort against raiding Danes.

Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Chester came under the Earl of Chester. It became a centre of the defence against Welsh raiders and a launch point for raids on Ireland.

The city grew as a trading port until the power of the Port of Liverpool overtook it. However the city did not decline and during the Georgian and Victorian periods was seen as a place of escape from the more industrial cities of Manchester and Liverpool.

Roman

The Romans founded Chester as Deva Victrix in AD 70s in the land of the Celtic Cornovii, according to ancient cartographer Ptolemy, as a fortress during the Roman expansion north.

It was named Deva either after the goddess of the Dee, or directly from the British name for the river. The 'victrix' part of the name was taken from the title of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix who were based at Deva. A civilian settlement grew around the settlement, probably starting as a group of traders and their families who were profiting from trade with the fortress. The fortress was 20% larger than other fortresses in Britannia built around the same time at York (Eboracum) and Caerleon (Isca Augusta); this has led to the suggestion that the fortress may have been intended to become the capital of the province rather than London (Londinium).

The civilian amphitheatre which was built in 1st century could sit between 8,000 and 10,000 people, is the largest known military amphitheatre in Britain, and is also a Scheduled Monument. The Minerva Shrine in the Roman quarry is the only rock cut Roman shrine still in situ in Britain. The fortress was garrisoned by the legion until at least the late 4th century. Although the army would have abandoned the fortress by 410 when the Romans retreated from Britannia the civilians settlement continued and its occupants probably continued to use the fortress and its defences as protection from raiders in the Irish Sea.

Sub-Roman and Saxon period

The Roman withdrawal from Britain was effectively complete by 410 and the Britons established a number of successor states. The area of Chester is thought to have formed part of the kingdom of Powys, whose early kings claimed descent from the exile Vortigern. Chester is generally identified with the Cair Legion ("Fort Legion") listed as one of the 28 cities of Britain in the History of the Britons traditionally attributed to Nennius. In Welsh legend, King Arthur is said to have fought his ninth battle against the Saxon invasion at the "city of the legions" and later St Augustine came to the city to try and subjugate the Welsh bishops to his mission. In 616, Æthelfrith of Northumbria defeated a Welsh army at the Battle of Chester and probably established the Anglo-Saxon position in the area from then on.

The Anglo-Saxons adopted the native name as the calque Legeceaster, which over time was shortened to Ceaster and finally corrupted to Chester. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia on what is considered to be an early Christian site and known as the Minster of St John the Baptist, Chester (now St John the Baptist's Church), which later became the city's first cathedral. In the 9th century, the body of Æthelred's niece, St Werburgh was removed from Hanbury in Staffordshire; in order to save its desecration by Danish marauders, she was reburied in the Church of SS Peter & Paul—later to become the Abbey Church and present cathedral. Her name is still remembered by the St Werburgh's Street which passes beside the cathedral. The Saxons extended and strengthened the city walls to protect the city against the Danes, who occupied it for a short time until Alfred seized all the cattle and laid waste the surrounding land to drive them out. In fact it was Alfred's daughter Æthelfleda, "Lady of the Mercians", who rebuilt the Saxon burh. In 907, she dedicated a new church to St Peter.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that, in 973, King Edgar came to Chester following his coronation at Bath. He held his court in a place located in what is now called "Edgar's Field", near the old Dee bridge in Handbridge. Taking a barge up the River Dee from his court to the Minster of St John the Baptist, Edgar supposedly took the helm of the vessel while it was rowed by six or eight tributary "kings" (Latin: reguli, lit. "little kings").

The Chronicles of Melrose and of Florence of Worcester describe that "eight petty kings, namely, Kynath, king of the Scots, Malcolm, king of the Cumbrians, Maccus, king of several isles and five others, named Dufnall, Siferth, Huwall, Jacob and Juchill, met him there as he had appointed and swore that they would be faithful to him, and assist him by land and by sea".

After the kings swore fealty and allegiance they rowed him back to the palace. As he entered he is reported to have said that with so many kings' allegiance his successors could boast themselves to be kings of the English.

Middle Ages

After the 1066 Norman Conquest and the Harrying of the North, the Normans took Chester, destroying 200 houses in the city. Hugh d'Avranches, the first Norman earl (it was first given to a Fleming, Gherbod, who never took up residence but returned to Flanders where he was captured, and later killed) was William's nephew. He built a motte and bailey near the river, as another defence from the Celts. It is now known as Chester Castle and was rebuilt in stone by Henry III in 1245, after the last of six Norman earls died without issue.

Chester's earls were a law unto themselves. They kept huge hunting forests - Hugo was said to have 'preferred falconers and huntsmen to the cultivators of the soil', and Ranulf I converted the Wirral farmlands into another hunting forest. Before Ranulph, Hugo's son had inherited at the age of seven but died in the White Ship, along with the king's heir, William, on his way to England from France, where he was educated under the guardianship of Henry I. Earl Ranulf II, Ranulph's son, even helped to capture King Stephen in 1140, and ended up controlling a third of England after supporting Henry II's claim to the throne.

Other earls were Hugh II, Ranulf III and John the Scot. The traditional independence that Chester had under the earls was confirmed by a charter of Richard II in 1398 stating that 'the said county of Chester shall be the principality of Chester'. The earls are remembered with their shields on the suspension bridge over the river Dee, and again on the Grosvenor Park lodge.

The first earl had endowed a great Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Werburgh in 1092 (on the site of the church of dedicated to St Peter and St Paul). The monastery was dissolved under Henry VIII in 1540 and was rededicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary to become Chester Cathedral. Previously, the first Chester Cathedral was begun in 1075 by the first Norman Bishop of Mercia, Peter de Leya after the See was moved from Lichfield in Chester. De Leya's successor moved the See to Coventry and it later returned to Lichfield. St John's became the co-Cathedral and Collegiate Church.

There is a popular belief that it was the silting of the River Dee that created the land which is now Chester's racecourse (known as the Roodee), on which a stone cross still stands which is said to have been erected in memory of Lady Trawst who died as a result of an image of the Virgin Mary called Holy Rood falling upon her in Hawarden church a few miles down the river). But the Roodee was in existence as early as the 13th and 14th centuries, so it cannot have been created by later silting. The silting which led to the creation of the Roodee, in its current form, is well established on a sequence of post-medieval maps dating from the later 16th century. It has also been established by archaeological evaluations and excavations in the area of the Old Port, known as the Roodee tail. Physical evidence for the silting of this area of the city is shown by the building of the 14th-century port watch tower, now known as the Water Tower, which projects from the north-west corner of the city walls. This tower was originally built out into the river. Maps of the 16th century, its archaeological form and related documentary evidence all demonstrate this.

Despite stories to the contrary, the weir above the Old Dee Bridge was not built by the Romans but by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester between 1077 and 1101 to hold water for his river mills. The purpose of the weir on the river was to keep water levels high for these mills, one of which gave rise to the traditional song "Miller of Dee", which reflects the attitude of the happy miller who was granted a monopoly on grinding. It also prevents the salty tidal waters from entering the Dee fresh water basin.

Chester's port flourished under Norman rule. In 1195 a monk, Lucian, wrote 'ships from Aquitaine, Spain, Ireland and Germany unload their cargoes of wine and other merchandise'. In fact wine was imported through only four other English ports. During the 13th century Chester was famous for its fur trade and even by the mid-16th century the port was importing large amounts of fur and skins. In 1543 one ship alone brought in '1600 shhep fells, 68 dere, 69 fawne skins and 6300 broke (badger skins)' .

However the estuary was silting up so that trading ships to the port of Chester had to harbour downstream at Neston, Parkgate, and "Hoyle Lake" or Hoylake.

Chester's first known mayor was William the Clerk. The second known mayor was Walter of Coventry, who served between 1241 and 1245. The town's third mayor was Walter de Livet (Levett) who was named as mayor in a royal decree from May 1246. (Walter of Coventry and Walter de Livet may be the same person.) During early Chester history, the mayor often held his position for 10 years or more; apparently the early mayor's terms were open-ended.

Tudor and Stuart times

Originally the port was located to the north of the Watergate just below the city wall. To the south of the Watergate the Roodee existed in smaller form than today. The map sequence shows the river moving its course from against the wall north of the Watergate out to its current location between 1580 and approximately the 1830s. By the first edition OS map the river had reached its current position. However, it is apparent that some rivulets and inlets have been lost since, although some have been identified in archaeological work on the site of the former House of Industry and Gasworks.

In September 1642 tension between King Charles I and Parliament was growing and civil war looked like it might be a possibility. Charles visited Chester and ensured the election of pro-royalist mayor William Ince. In March 1643, leading Chester royalist Francis Gamull was commissioned to raise a regiment of foot to defend the city. Colonel Robert Ellis, an experienced soldier, was asked to construct outer defences to the city. A series of earthworks were constructed around the city from Boughton through Hoole and Newton to the Water Tower. The earthworks consisted of a ditch and mud wall with a series of 'mounts' or gun platforms were added along with turnpike gates on incoming roads.

Parliamentary forces began to lay siege to the city of Chester. In the early morning of 20 September 1645, parliamentary forces overran the eastern earthworks at the Boughton turnpike and captured the east suburbs of the city up to the walls. They began to construct cannon batteries within range of the city.

A cannon battery placed in St John's churchyard breached the city walls on 22 September near the Roman amphitheatre. A hole some 25 feet wide was made with thirty-two cannon shots. Following the breach an attempt was made to storm the city, but the defenders repelled the charge. According to an account at the time by Lord Byron, the breach was stopped up with woolpacks and featherbeds from all parts of the town. One can see to this day the repairs made to the wall, the section of which is next to the Roman Gardens (see photo below).

On the evening of 23 September 1645, King Charles I entered the City of Chester with 600 men via the Old Dee Bridge. He stayed the night at Sir Francis Gamull's house on Bridge Street. Also during the evening Sydenham Poyntz, a Parliamentarian in pursuit of the King's forces, entered Whitchurch (15 miles to the south) with 3000 horse. A battle looked likely.

Later that evening the King became aware of Poyntz's movements, as a messenger was intercepted at Holt. A decision was made to send out Lord Gerrard's horse troops and five hundred foot soldiers in the morning.

On the morning of 24 September 1645 the Battle of Rowton Heath occurred in moor land called Miller's Heath near the village of Rowton, two miles to the south east of Chester on the modern A41 road. Parliamentary forces crushed the Royalist loyal Cavaliers. The city was under siege at the time by the Parliamentary army. Royalist forces were coming to lift the siege and join up with Scottish allies, but were intercepted by Parliamentary Forces outside Chester.

The engagement lasted all day starting at 9am and continued throughout the day in three stages as Royalists were pushed back towards the City and its walls. The battle was mainly conducted on horseback with musketeers supporting the cavalry's flanks. As the battle went on into the afternoon, more troops were ordered to march out of the Northgate in support of the Royalists on Rowton Moor, but this decision was too late—the battle was already lost.

As the fighting reached the suburbs it was watched by King Charles I and Sir Francis Gamull from Chester's Phoenix Tower (now also called King Charles' Tower) on the city walls. The King quickly withdrew to the Cathedral tower, but even this was not safe, as the captain standing next to him was shot in the head by musket fire from the victorious Parliamentarians who took residence in the St John's Church tower.

The battle cost the lives of 600 Royalists and an unknown number of Parliamentarians. Among the Royalist dead was Lord Bernard Stuart (1622–1645) Earl of Lichfield, the king's cousin. His portrait is displayed in the National Gallery.

Also slain at the same time was William Lawes (1602–1645) a noted English composer and musician. He was buried in Chester Cathedral without a memorial. He was remembered by the king as the 'Father of Musick' and his portrait as a cavalier hangs in the Faculty of Music at Oxford.

Today there is a small memorial to the battle in the village of Rowton. It consists of a brief history and a battle plan of field at the time.

The next day the king slipped out of Chester and crossed the Old Dee Bridge en route to Denbigh. He left instructions for the city to hold out for 10 days more.

By 1646, after having refused to surrender nine times and with Lord Byron at the head of the city's defences, having only spring water and boiled wheat for lunch — the citizens (17,000) had already eaten their dogs — a treaty was signed. The mills and the waterworks lay in ruins. When the exultant Puritan forces were let loose on the city, despite the treaty, they destroyed religious icons including the high cross, which was not erected again for over three centuries. In 1646 King Charles I was proclaimed a traitor beside its base.

Worse was to come. The starved citizens then bore the full brunt of the plague, with 2099 people dead from the summer of 1647 to the following spring.

In 1643 Sir Richard Grosvenor petitioned the Assembly to enclose the Row which ran through the front of his town house on Lower Bridge Street, and his request was granted. At the time he was employed in the Royalist army as a Commander. Some speculate that perhaps the room was being used to organise the Royalist Resistance in Chester. In the years after the war, people further down the street also asked for the Row to be enclosed. Eventually Lower Bridge Street lost its rows. The only trace can now be found at number 11.

Most of Chester was rebuilt after the Civil War. There are many fine half-timbered houses dating from this time still standing today.

Chester port declined with most of the ships going from the colonies now going to Liverpool, although it was still the major port of passenger embarkation for Ireland until the early 19th century. A new port was established on the Wirral called Parkgate, but this also fell out of use. The road to the port of Chester was called the 'Great Irish Road' and ran from Bristol to Chester.

Georgian and Victorian eras

The port declined seriously from 1762 onwards. By 1840 it could no longer effectively compete with Liverpool as a port, although significant shipbuilding and ropemaking continued at Chester. It was once thought that Chester's maritime trade was brought to an end by the silting of the River Dee, although recent research has shown this was not the case. It was the use of larger ocean-going ships that led to the diversion of the trade to the relatively young town of Liverpool and other locations on the River Mersey, which had long been rivals to Chester, such as Runcorn.

In the Georgian era, Chester became again a centre of affluence, a town with elegant terraces where the landed aristocracy lived. This trend continued into the Industrial Revolution, when the city was populated with the upper classes in fleeing to a safe distance from the industrial sprawls of Manchester and Liverpool.

Edmund Halley (of comet fame) was the deputy controller of Chester Castle for a short time and on 10 May 1697 recorded a fall of one inch hailstones in the area. William Molyneux was in exile here from Ireland in 1691 and was working on his book Dioptrics published in London the following year.

The Industrial Revolution brought the Chester Canal (now part of the Shropshire Union Canal) to the city (which was dubbed 'England's first unsuccessful canal', after its failure to bring heavy industry to Chester) as well as railways and two large central stations, only one of which remains. The building of the route to Holyhead involved one particularly notable tragedy, when a cast iron bridge over the river Dee just by the Roodee race course, collapsed. The Dee bridge disaster sent shock waves through the whole nation because there were many other bridges of similar design on the growing national rail network. Robert Stephenson was the engineer to the new line, and he came in for heavy criticism at the inquest held locally. The design was faulty, and many other bridges had to be demolished or replaced. In an attempt to strengthen the brittle cast iron girders of the bridge, Stephenson added tough wrought iron straps along the length of the spans, but, far from improving the structure, added little or no extra strength. A Royal Commission was set up to investigate the problem, and they confirmed the conclusions of the Railway Inspectorate that the design was wrong.

A leadworks was established by the canal in 1799; its shot tower, which was used for making lead shot for the Napoleonic Wars, is the oldest remaining shot tower in the UK.

The Ruskinian Venetian Gothic Town Hall was ceremoniously opened by Prince of Wales in 1869; its design, following a public competition held to replace the Exchange building, which had stood at the centre of Northgate Street until it burnt down in 1862, was by William Henry Lynn (1829–1915) an Irish architect with a practice in Belfast. Along with the Cathedral Church of Christ & the Blessed Virgin Mary, it still dominates the city skyline. The Volunteer Street drill hall was completed in 1868. The three clock faces were added in 1980.

The Eastgate clock was also built at this time, and is a central feature as it crosses Eastgate street, and is part of the city walls. The clock is very popular with tourists, and this has given it the grand title of the second most photographed clock in the UK (perhaps even the World) after Big Ben.

Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the England-Wales border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011, it is the most populous settlement of Cheshire West and Chester (a unitary authority which had a population of 329,608 in 2011) and serves as its administrative headquarters. It is also the historic county town of Cheshire and the second-largest settlement in Cheshire after Warrington.

Chester was founded in 79 AD as a "castrum" or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. One of the main army camps in Roman Britain, Deva later became a major civilian settlement. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia, which later became Chester's first cathedral, and the Angles extended and strengthened the walls to protect the city against the Danes. Chester was one of the last cities in England to fall to the Normans, and William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border. Chester was granted city status in 1541.

The city walls of Chester are some of the best-preserved in the country and have Grade I listed status. It has a number of medieval buildings, but many of the black-and-white buildings within the city centre are Victorian restorations, originating from the Black-and-white Revival movement. Apart from a 100-metre (330 ft) section, the walls are almost complete. The Industrial Revolution brought railways, canals, and new roads to the city, which saw substantial expansion and development; Chester Town Hall and the Grosvenor Museum are examples of Victorian architecture from this period. Tourism, the retail industry, public administration, and financial services are important to the modern economy. Chester signs itself as Chester International Heritage City on road signs on the main roads entering the city.

The history of Chester extends back nearly two millennia, covering all periods of British history in between then and the present day. The city of Chester was founded as a fort, known as Deva Vitrix, by the Romans in AD 70s, as early as AD 74 based on discovered lead pipes. The city was the scene of battles between warring Welsh and Saxon kingdoms throughout the post-Roman years until the Saxons strengthened the fort against raiding Danes.

Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Chester came under the Earl of Chester. It became a centre of the defence against Welsh raiders and a launch point for raids on Ireland.

The city grew as a trading port until the power of the Port of Liverpool overtook it. However the city did not decline and during the Georgian and Victorian periods was seen as a place of escape from the more industrial cities of Manchester and Liverpool.

Roman

The Romans founded Chester as Deva Victrix in AD 70s in the land of the Celtic Cornovii, according to ancient cartographer Ptolemy, as a fortress during the Roman expansion north.

It was named Deva either after the goddess of the Dee, or directly from the British name for the river. The 'victrix' part of the name was taken from the title of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix who were based at Deva. A civilian settlement grew around the settlement, probably starting as a group of traders and their families who were profiting from trade with the fortress. The fortress was 20% larger than other fortresses in Britannia built around the same time at York (Eboracum) and Caerleon (Isca Augusta); this has led to the suggestion that the fortress may have been intended to become the capital of the province rather than London (Londinium).

The civilian amphitheatre which was built in 1st century could sit between 8,000 and 10,000 people, is the largest known military amphitheatre in Britain, and is also a Scheduled Monument. The Minerva Shrine in the Roman quarry is the only rock cut Roman shrine still in situ in Britain. The fortress was garrisoned by the legion until at least the late 4th century. Although the army would have abandoned the fortress by 410 when the Romans retreated from Britannia the civilians settlement continued and its occupants probably continued to use the fortress and its defences as protection from raiders in the Irish Sea.

Sub-Roman and Saxon period

The Roman withdrawal from Britain was effectively complete by 410 and the Britons established a number of successor states. The area of Chester is thought to have formed part of the kingdom of Powys, whose early kings claimed descent from the exile Vortigern. Chester is generally identified with the Cair Legion ("Fort Legion") listed as one of the 28 cities of Britain in the History of the Britons traditionally attributed to Nennius. In Welsh legend, King Arthur is said to have fought his ninth battle against the Saxon invasion at the "city of the legions" and later St Augustine came to the city to try and subjugate the Welsh bishops to his mission. In 616, Æthelfrith of Northumbria defeated a Welsh army at the Battle of Chester and probably established the Anglo-Saxon position in the area from then on.

The Anglo-Saxons adopted the native name as the calque Legeceaster, which over time was shortened to Ceaster and finally corrupted to Chester. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia on what is considered to be an early Christian site and known as the Minster of St John the Baptist, Chester (now St John the Baptist's Church), which later became the city's first cathedral. In the 9th century, the body of Æthelred's niece, St Werburgh was removed from Hanbury in Staffordshire; in order to save its desecration by Danish marauders, she was reburied in the Church of SS Peter & Paul—later to become the Abbey Church and present cathedral. Her name is still remembered by the St Werburgh's Street which passes beside the cathedral. The Saxons extended and strengthened the city walls to protect the city against the Danes, who occupied it for a short time until Alfred seized all the cattle and laid waste the surrounding land to drive them out. In fact it was Alfred's daughter Æthelfleda, "Lady of the Mercians", who rebuilt the Saxon burh. In 907, she dedicated a new church to St Peter.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that, in 973, King Edgar came to Chester following his coronation at Bath. He held his court in a place located in what is now called "Edgar's Field", near the old Dee bridge in Handbridge. Taking a barge up the River Dee from his court to the Minster of St John the Baptist, Edgar supposedly took the helm of the vessel while it was rowed by six or eight tributary "kings" (Latin: reguli, lit. "little kings").

The Chronicles of Melrose and of Florence of Worcester describe that "eight petty kings, namely, Kynath, king of the Scots, Malcolm, king of the Cumbrians, Maccus, king of several isles and five others, named Dufnall, Siferth, Huwall, Jacob and Juchill, met him there as he had appointed and swore that they would be faithful to him, and assist him by land and by sea".

After the kings swore fealty and allegiance they rowed him back to the palace. As he entered he is reported to have said that with so many kings' allegiance his successors could boast themselves to be kings of the English.

Middle Ages

After the 1066 Norman Conquest and the Harrying of the North, the Normans took Chester, destroying 200 houses in the city. Hugh d'Avranches, the first Norman earl (it was first given to a Fleming, Gherbod, who never took up residence but returned to Flanders where he was captured, and later killed) was William's nephew. He built a motte and bailey near the river, as another defence from the Celts. It is now known as Chester Castle and was rebuilt in stone by Henry III in 1245, after the last of six Norman earls died without issue.

Chester's earls were a law unto themselves. They kept huge hunting forests - Hugo was said to have 'preferred falconers and huntsmen to the cultivators of the soil', and Ranulf I converted the Wirral farmlands into another hunting forest. Before Ranulph, Hugo's son had inherited at the age of seven but died in the White Ship, along with the king's heir, William, on his way to England from France, where he was educated under the guardianship of Henry I. Earl Ranulf II, Ranulph's son, even helped to capture King Stephen in 1140, and ended up controlling a third of England after supporting Henry II's claim to the throne.

Other earls were Hugh II, Ranulf III and John the Scot. The traditional independence that Chester had under the earls was confirmed by a charter of Richard II in 1398 stating that 'the said county of Chester shall be the principality of Chester'. The earls are remembered with their shields on the suspension bridge over the river Dee, and again on the Grosvenor Park lodge.

The first earl had endowed a great Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Werburgh in 1092 (on the site of the church of dedicated to St Peter and St Paul). The monastery was dissolved under Henry VIII in 1540 and was rededicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary to become Chester Cathedral. Previously, the first Chester Cathedral was begun in 1075 by the first Norman Bishop of Mercia, Peter de Leya after the See was moved from Lichfield in Chester. De Leya's successor moved the See to Coventry and it later returned to Lichfield. St John's became the co-Cathedral and Collegiate Church.

There is a popular belief that it was the silting of the River Dee that created the land which is now Chester's racecourse (known as the Roodee), on which a stone cross still stands which is said to have been erected in memory of Lady Trawst who died as a result of an image of the Virgin Mary called Holy Rood falling upon her in Hawarden church a few miles down the river). But the Roodee was in existence as early as the 13th and 14th centuries, so it cannot have been created by later silting. The silting which led to the creation of the Roodee, in its current form, is well established on a sequence of post-medieval maps dating from the later 16th century. It has also been established by archaeological evaluations and excavations in the area of the Old Port, known as the Roodee tail. Physical evidence for the silting of this area of the city is shown by the building of the 14th-century port watch tower, now known as the Water Tower, which projects from the north-west corner of the city walls. This tower was originally built out into the river. Maps of the 16th century, its archaeological form and related documentary evidence all demonstrate this.

Despite stories to the contrary, the weir above the Old Dee Bridge was not built by the Romans but by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester between 1077 and 1101 to hold water for his river mills. The purpose of the weir on the river was to keep water levels high for these mills, one of which gave rise to the traditional song "Miller of Dee", which reflects the attitude of the happy miller who was granted a monopoly on grinding. It also prevents the salty tidal waters from entering the Dee fresh water basin.

Chester's port flourished under Norman rule. In 1195 a monk, Lucian, wrote 'ships from Aquitaine, Spain, Ireland and Germany unload their cargoes of wine and other merchandise'. In fact wine was imported through only four other English ports. During the 13th century Chester was famous for its fur trade and even by the mid-16th century the port was importing large amounts of fur and skins. In 1543 one ship alone brought in '1600 shhep fells, 68 dere, 69 fawne skins and 6300 broke (badger skins)' .

However the estuary was silting up so that trading ships to the port of Chester had to harbour downstream at Neston, Parkgate, and "Hoyle Lake" or Hoylake.

Chester's first known mayor was William the Clerk. The second known mayor was Walter of Coventry, who served between 1241 and 1245. The town's third mayor was Walter de Livet (Levett) who was named as mayor in a royal decree from May 1246. (Walter of Coventry and Walter de Livet may be the same person.) During early Chester history, the mayor often held his position for 10 years or more; apparently the early mayor's terms were open-ended.

Tudor and Stuart times

Originally the port was located to the north of the Watergate just below the city wall. To the south of the Watergate the Roodee existed in smaller form than today. The map sequence shows the river moving its course from against the wall north of the Watergate out to its current location between 1580 and approximately the 1830s. By the first edition OS map the river had reached its current position. However, it is apparent that some rivulets and inlets have been lost since, although some have been identified in archaeological work on the site of the former House of Industry and Gasworks.

In September 1642 tension between King Charles I and Parliament was growing and civil war looked like it might be a possibility. Charles visited Chester and ensured the election of pro-royalist mayor William Ince. In March 1643, leading Chester royalist Francis Gamull was commissioned to raise a regiment of foot to defend the city. Colonel Robert Ellis, an experienced soldier, was asked to construct outer defences to the city. A series of earthworks were constructed around the city from Boughton through Hoole and Newton to the Water Tower. The earthworks consisted of a ditch and mud wall with a series of 'mounts' or gun platforms were added along with turnpike gates on incoming roads.

Parliamentary forces began to lay siege to the city of Chester. In the early morning of 20 September 1645, parliamentary forces overran the eastern earthworks at the Boughton turnpike and captured the east suburbs of the city up to the walls. They began to construct cannon batteries within range of the city.

A cannon battery placed in St John's churchyard breached the city walls on 22 September near the Roman amphitheatre. A hole some 25 feet wide was made with thirty-two cannon shots. Following the breach an attempt was made to storm the city, but the defenders repelled the charge. According to an account at the time by Lord Byron, the breach was stopped up with woolpacks and featherbeds from all parts of the town. One can see to this day the repairs made to the wall, the section of which is next to the Roman Gardens (see photo below).

On the evening of 23 September 1645, King Charles I entered the City of Chester with 600 men via the Old Dee Bridge. He stayed the night at Sir Francis Gamull's house on Bridge Street. Also during the evening Sydenham Poyntz, a Parliamentarian in pursuit of the King's forces, entered Whitchurch (15 miles to the south) with 3000 horse. A battle looked likely.

Later that evening the King became aware of Poyntz's movements, as a messenger was intercepted at Holt. A decision was made to send out Lord Gerrard's horse troops and five hundred foot soldiers in the morning.

On the morning of 24 September 1645 the Battle of Rowton Heath occurred in moor land called Miller's Heath near the village of Rowton, two miles to the south east of Chester on the modern A41 road. Parliamentary forces crushed the Royalist loyal Cavaliers. The city was under siege at the time by the Parliamentary army. Royalist forces were coming to lift the siege and join up with Scottish allies, but were intercepted by Parliamentary Forces outside Chester.

The engagement lasted all day starting at 9am and continued throughout the day in three stages as Royalists were pushed back towards the City and its walls. The battle was mainly conducted on horseback with musketeers supporting the cavalry's flanks. As the battle went on into the afternoon, more troops were ordered to march out of the Northgate in support of the Royalists on Rowton Moor, but this decision was too late—the battle was already lost.

As the fighting reached the suburbs it was watched by King Charles I and Sir Francis Gamull from Chester's Phoenix Tower (now also called King Charles' Tower) on the city walls. The King quickly withdrew to the Cathedral tower, but even this was not safe, as the captain standing next to him was shot in the head by musket fire from the victorious Parliamentarians who took residence in the St John's Church tower.

The battle cost the lives of 600 Royalists and an unknown number of Parliamentarians. Among the Royalist dead was Lord Bernard Stuart (1622–1645) Earl of Lichfield, the king's cousin. His portrait is displayed in the National Gallery.

Also slain at the same time was William Lawes (1602–1645) a noted English composer and musician. He was buried in Chester Cathedral without a memorial. He was remembered by the king as the 'Father of Musick' and his portrait as a cavalier hangs in the Faculty of Music at Oxford.

Today there is a small memorial to the battle in the village of Rowton. It consists of a brief history and a battle plan of field at the time.

The next day the king slipped out of Chester and crossed the Old Dee Bridge en route to Denbigh. He left instructions for the city to hold out for 10 days more.

By 1646, after having refused to surrender nine times and with Lord Byron at the head of the city's defences, having only spring water and boiled wheat for lunch — the citizens (17,000) had already eaten their dogs — a treaty was signed. The mills and the waterworks lay in ruins. When the exultant Puritan forces were let loose on the city, despite the treaty, they destroyed religious icons including the high cross, which was not erected again for over three centuries. In 1646 King Charles I was proclaimed a traitor beside its base.

Worse was to come. The starved citizens then bore the full brunt of the plague, with 2099 people dead from the summer of 1647 to the following spring.

In 1643 Sir Richard Grosvenor petitioned the Assembly to enclose the Row which ran through the front of his town house on Lower Bridge Street, and his request was granted. At the time he was employed in the Royalist army as a Commander. Some speculate that perhaps the room was being used to organise the Royalist Resistance in Chester. In the years after the war, people further down the street also asked for the Row to be enclosed. Eventually Lower Bridge Street lost its rows. The only trace can now be found at number 11.

Most of Chester was rebuilt after the Civil War. There are many fine half-timbered houses dating from this time still standing today.

Chester port declined with most of the ships going from the colonies now going to Liverpool, although it was still the major port of passenger embarkation for Ireland until the early 19th century. A new port was established on the Wirral called Parkgate, but this also fell out of use. The road to the port of Chester was called the 'Great Irish Road' and ran from Bristol to Chester.

Georgian and Victorian eras

The port declined seriously from 1762 onwards. By 1840 it could no longer effectively compete with Liverpool as a port, although significant shipbuilding and ropemaking continued at Chester. It was once thought that Chester's maritime trade was brought to an end by the silting of the River Dee, although recent research has shown this was not the case. It was the use of larger ocean-going ships that led to the diversion of the trade to the relatively young town of Liverpool and other locations on the River Mersey, which had long been rivals to Chester, such as Runcorn.

In the Georgian era, Chester became again a centre of affluence, a town with elegant terraces where the landed aristocracy lived. This trend continued into the Industrial Revolution, when the city was populated with the upper classes in fleeing to a safe distance from the industrial sprawls of Manchester and Liverpool.

Edmund Halley (of comet fame) was the deputy controller of Chester Castle for a short time and on 10 May 1697 recorded a fall of one inch hailstones in the area. William Molyneux was in exile here from Ireland in 1691 and was working on his book Dioptrics published in London the following year.

The Industrial Revolution brought the Chester Canal (now part of the Shropshire Union Canal) to the city (which was dubbed 'England's first unsuccessful canal', after its failure to bring heavy industry to Chester) as well as railways and two large central stations, only one of which remains. The building of the route to Holyhead involved one particularly notable tragedy, when a cast iron bridge over the river Dee just by the Roodee race course, collapsed. The Dee bridge disaster sent shock waves through the whole nation because there were many other bridges of similar design on the growing national rail network. Robert Stephenson was the engineer to the new line, and he came in for heavy criticism at the inquest held locally. The design was faulty, and many other bridges had to be demolished or replaced. In an attempt to strengthen the brittle cast iron girders of the bridge, Stephenson added tough wrought iron straps along the length of the spans, but, far from improving the structure, added little or no extra strength. A Royal Commission was set up to investigate the problem, and they confirmed the conclusions of the Railway Inspectorate that the design was wrong.

A leadworks was established by the canal in 1799; its shot tower, which was used for making lead shot for the Napoleonic Wars, is the oldest remaining shot tower in the UK.

The Ruskinian Venetian Gothic Town Hall was ceremoniously opened by Prince of Wales in 1869; its design, following a public competition held to replace the Exchange building, which had stood at the centre of Northgate Street until it burnt down in 1862, was by William Henry Lynn (1829–1915) an Irish architect with a practice in Belfast. Along with the Cathedral Church of Christ & the Blessed Virgin Mary, it still dominates the city skyline. The Volunteer Street drill hall was completed in 1868. The three clock faces were added in 1980.

The Eastgate clock was also built at this time, and is a central feature as it crosses Eastgate street, and is part of the city walls. The clock is very popular with tourists, and this has given it the grand title of the second most photographed clock in the UK (perhaps even the World) after Big Ben.

Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the England-Wales border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011, it is the most populous settlement of Cheshire West and Chester (a unitary authority which had a population of 329,608 in 2011) and serves as its administrative headquarters. It is also the historic county town of Cheshire and the second-largest settlement in Cheshire after Warrington.

Chester was founded in 79 AD as a "castrum" or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. One of the main army camps in Roman Britain, Deva later became a major civilian settlement. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia, which later became Chester's first cathedral, and the Angles extended and strengthened the walls to protect the city against the Danes. Chester was one of the last cities in England to fall to the Normans, and William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border. Chester was granted city status in 1541.

The city walls of Chester are some of the best-preserved in the country and have Grade I listed status. It has a number of medieval buildings, but many of the black-and-white buildings within the city centre are Victorian restorations, originating from the Black-and-white Revival movement. Apart from a 100-metre (330 ft) section, the walls are almost complete. The Industrial Revolution brought railways, canals, and new roads to the city, which saw substantial expansion and development; Chester Town Hall and the Grosvenor Museum are examples of Victorian architecture from this period. Tourism, the retail industry, public administration, and financial services are important to the modern economy. Chester signs itself as Chester International Heritage City on road signs on the main roads entering the city.

The history of Chester extends back nearly two millennia, covering all periods of British history in between then and the present day. The city of Chester was founded as a fort, known as Deva Vitrix, by the Romans in AD 70s, as early as AD 74 based on discovered lead pipes. The city was the scene of battles between warring Welsh and Saxon kingdoms throughout the post-Roman years until the Saxons strengthened the fort against raiding Danes.

Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Chester came under the Earl of Chester. It became a centre of the defence against Welsh raiders and a launch point for raids on Ireland.

The city grew as a trading port until the power of the Port of Liverpool overtook it. However the city did not decline and during the Georgian and Victorian periods was seen as a place of escape from the more industrial cities of Manchester and Liverpool.

Roman

The Romans founded Chester as Deva Victrix in AD 70s in the land of the Celtic Cornovii, according to ancient cartographer Ptolemy, as a fortress during the Roman expansion north.

It was named Deva either after the goddess of the Dee, or directly from the British name for the river. The 'victrix' part of the name was taken from the title of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix who were based at Deva. A civilian settlement grew around the settlement, probably starting as a group of traders and their families who were profiting from trade with the fortress. The fortress was 20% larger than other fortresses in Britannia built around the same time at York (Eboracum) and Caerleon (Isca Augusta); this has led to the suggestion that the fortress may have been intended to become the capital of the province rather than London (Londinium).

The civilian amphitheatre which was built in 1st century could sit between 8,000 and 10,000 people, is the largest known military amphitheatre in Britain, and is also a Scheduled Monument. The Minerva Shrine in the Roman quarry is the only rock cut Roman shrine still in situ in Britain. The fortress was garrisoned by the legion until at least the late 4th century. Although the army would have abandoned the fortress by 410 when the Romans retreated from Britannia the civilians settlement continued and its occupants probably continued to use the fortress and its defences as protection from raiders in the Irish Sea.

Sub-Roman and Saxon period

The Roman withdrawal from Britain was effectively complete by 410 and the Britons established a number of successor states. The area of Chester is thought to have formed part of the kingdom of Powys, whose early kings claimed descent from the exile Vortigern. Chester is generally identified with the Cair Legion ("Fort Legion") listed as one of the 28 cities of Britain in the History of the Britons traditionally attributed to Nennius. In Welsh legend, King Arthur is said to have fought his ninth battle against the Saxon invasion at the "city of the legions" and later St Augustine came to the city to try and subjugate the Welsh bishops to his mission. In 616, Æthelfrith of Northumbria defeated a Welsh army at the Battle of Chester and probably established the Anglo-Saxon position in the area from then on.

The Anglo-Saxons adopted the native name as the calque Legeceaster, which over time was shortened to Ceaster and finally corrupted to Chester. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia on what is considered to be an early Christian site and known as the Minster of St John the Baptist, Chester (now St John the Baptist's Church), which later became the city's first cathedral. In the 9th century, the body of Æthelred's niece, St Werburgh was removed from Hanbury in Staffordshire; in order to save its desecration by Danish marauders, she was reburied in the Church of SS Peter & Paul—later to become the Abbey Church and present cathedral. Her name is still remembered by the St Werburgh's Street which passes beside the cathedral. The Saxons extended and strengthened the city walls to protect the city against the Danes, who occupied it for a short time until Alfred seized all the cattle and laid waste the surrounding land to drive them out. In fact it was Alfred's daughter Æthelfleda, "Lady of the Mercians", who rebuilt the Saxon burh. In 907, she dedicated a new church to St Peter.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that, in 973, King Edgar came to Chester following his coronation at Bath. He held his court in a place located in what is now called "Edgar's Field", near the old Dee bridge in Handbridge. Taking a barge up the River Dee from his court to the Minster of St John the Baptist, Edgar supposedly took the helm of the vessel while it was rowed by six or eight tributary "kings" (Latin: reguli, lit. "little kings").

The Chronicles of Melrose and of Florence of Worcester describe that "eight petty kings, namely, Kynath, king of the Scots, Malcolm, king of the Cumbrians, Maccus, king of several isles and five others, named Dufnall, Siferth, Huwall, Jacob and Juchill, met him there as he had appointed and swore that they would be faithful to him, and assist him by land and by sea".

After the kings swore fealty and allegiance they rowed him back to the palace. As he entered he is reported to have said that with so many kings' allegiance his successors could boast themselves to be kings of the English.

Middle Ages

After the 1066 Norman Conquest and the Harrying of the North, the Normans took Chester, destroying 200 houses in the city. Hugh d'Avranches, the first Norman earl (it was first given to a Fleming, Gherbod, who never took up residence but returned to Flanders where he was captured, and later killed) was William's nephew. He built a motte and bailey near the river, as another defence from the Celts. It is now known as Chester Castle and was rebuilt in stone by Henry III in 1245, after the last of six Norman earls died without issue.

Chester's earls were a law unto themselves. They kept huge hunting forests - Hugo was said to have 'preferred falconers and huntsmen to the cultivators of the soil', and Ranulf I converted the Wirral farmlands into another hunting forest. Before Ranulph, Hugo's son had inherited at the age of seven but died in the White Ship, along with the king's heir, William, on his way to England from France, where he was educated under the guardianship of Henry I. Earl Ranulf II, Ranulph's son, even helped to capture King Stephen in 1140, and ended up controlling a third of England after supporting Henry II's claim to the throne.

Other earls were Hugh II, Ranulf III and John the Scot. The traditional independence that Chester had under the earls was confirmed by a charter of Richard II in 1398 stating that 'the said county of Chester shall be the principality of Chester'. The earls are remembered with their shields on the suspension bridge over the river Dee, and again on the Grosvenor Park lodge.

The first earl had endowed a great Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Werburgh in 1092 (on the site of the church of dedicated to St Peter and St Paul). The monastery was dissolved under Henry VIII in 1540 and was rededicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary to become Chester Cathedral. Previously, the first Chester Cathedral was begun in 1075 by the first Norman Bishop of Mercia, Peter de Leya after the See was moved from Lichfield in Chester. De Leya's successor moved the See to Coventry and it later returned to Lichfield. St John's became the co-Cathedral and Collegiate Church.

There is a popular belief that it was the silting of the River Dee that created the land which is now Chester's racecourse (known as the Roodee), on which a stone cross still stands which is said to have been erected in memory of Lady Trawst who died as a result of an image of the Virgin Mary called Holy Rood falling upon her in Hawarden church a few miles down the river). But the Roodee was in existence as early as the 13th and 14th centuries, so it cannot have been created by later silting. The silting which led to the creation of the Roodee, in its current form, is well established on a sequence of post-medieval maps dating from the later 16th century. It has also been established by archaeological evaluations and excavations in the area of the Old Port, known as the Roodee tail. Physical evidence for the silting of this area of the city is shown by the building of the 14th-century port watch tower, now known as the Water Tower, which projects from the north-west corner of the city walls. This tower was originally built out into the river. Maps of the 16th century, its archaeological form and related documentary evidence all demonstrate this.

Despite stories to the contrary, the weir above the Old Dee Bridge was not built by the Romans but by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester between 1077 and 1101 to hold water for his river mills. The purpose of the weir on the river was to keep water levels high for these mills, one of which gave rise to the traditional song "Miller of Dee", which reflects the attitude of the happy miller who was granted a monopoly on grinding. It also prevents the salty tidal waters from entering the Dee fresh water basin.

Chester's port flourished under Norman rule. In 1195 a monk, Lucian, wrote 'ships from Aquitaine, Spain, Ireland and Germany unload their cargoes of wine and other merchandise'. In fact wine was imported through only four other English ports. During the 13th century Chester was famous for its fur trade and even by the mid-16th century the port was importing large amounts of fur and skins. In 1543 one ship alone brought in '1600 shhep fells, 68 dere, 69 fawne skins and 6300 broke (badger skins)' .

However the estuary was silting up so that trading ships to the port of Chester had to harbour downstream at Neston, Parkgate, and "Hoyle Lake" or Hoylake.

Chester's first known mayor was William the Clerk. The second known mayor was Walter of Coventry, who served between 1241 and 1245. The town's third mayor was Walter de Livet (Levett) who was named as mayor in a royal decree from May 1246. (Walter of Coventry and Walter de Livet may be the same person.) During early Chester history, the mayor often held his position for 10 years or more; apparently the early mayor's terms were open-ended.

Tudor and Stuart times

Originally the port was located to the north of the Watergate just below the city wall. To the south of the Watergate the Roodee existed in smaller form than today. The map sequence shows the river moving its course from against the wall north of the Watergate out to its current location between 1580 and approximately the 1830s. By the first edition OS map the river had reached its current position. However, it is apparent that some rivulets and inlets have been lost since, although some have been identified in archaeological work on the site of the former House of Industry and Gasworks.

In September 1642 tension between King Charles I and Parliament was growing and civil war looked like it might be a possibility. Charles visited Chester and ensured the election of pro-royalist mayor William Ince. In March 1643, leading Chester royalist Francis Gamull was commissioned to raise a regiment of foot to defend the city. Colonel Robert Ellis, an experienced soldier, was asked to construct outer defences to the city. A series of earthworks were constructed around the city from Boughton through Hoole and Newton to the Water Tower. The earthworks consisted of a ditch and mud wall with a series of 'mounts' or gun platforms were added along with turnpike gates on incoming roads.

Parliamentary forces began to lay siege to the city of Chester. In the early morning of 20 September 1645, parliamentary forces overran the eastern earthworks at the Boughton turnpike and captured the east suburbs of the city up to the walls. They began to construct cannon batteries within range of the city.

A cannon battery placed in St John's churchyard breached the city walls on 22 September near the Roman amphitheatre. A hole some 25 feet wide was made with thirty-two cannon shots. Following the breach an attempt was made to storm the city, but the defenders repelled the charge. According to an account at the time by Lord Byron, the breach was stopped up with woolpacks and featherbeds from all parts of the town. One can see to this day the repairs made to the wall, the section of which is next to the Roman Gardens (see photo below).

On the evening of 23 September 1645, King Charles I entered the City of Chester with 600 men via the Old Dee Bridge. He stayed the night at Sir Francis Gamull's house on Bridge Street. Also during the evening Sydenham Poyntz, a Parliamentarian in pursuit of the King's forces, entered Whitchurch (15 miles to the south) with 3000 horse. A battle looked likely.

Later that evening the King became aware of Poyntz's movements, as a messenger was intercepted at Holt. A decision was made to send out Lord Gerrard's horse troops and five hundred foot soldiers in the morning.

On the morning of 24 September 1645 the Battle of Rowton Heath occurred in moor land called Miller's Heath near the village of Rowton, two miles to the south east of Chester on the modern A41 road. Parliamentary forces crushed the Royalist loyal Cavaliers. The city was under siege at the time by the Parliamentary army. Royalist forces were coming to lift the siege and join up with Scottish allies, but were intercepted by Parliamentary Forces outside Chester.

The engagement lasted all day starting at 9am and continued throughout the day in three stages as Royalists were pushed back towards the City and its walls. The battle was mainly conducted on horseback with musketeers supporting the cavalry's flanks. As the battle went on into the afternoon, more troops were ordered to march out of the Northgate in support of the Royalists on Rowton Moor, but this decision was too late—the battle was already lost.

As the fighting reached the suburbs it was watched by King Charles I and Sir Francis Gamull from Chester's Phoenix Tower (now also called King Charles' Tower) on the city walls. The King quickly withdrew to the Cathedral tower, but even this was not safe, as the captain standing next to him was shot in the head by musket fire from the victorious Parliamentarians who took residence in the St John's Church tower.

The battle cost the lives of 600 Royalists and an unknown number of Parliamentarians. Among the Royalist dead was Lord Bernard Stuart (1622–1645) Earl of Lichfield, the king's cousin. His portrait is displayed in the National Gallery.

Also slain at the same time was William Lawes (1602–1645) a noted English composer and musician. He was buried in Chester Cathedral without a memorial. He was remembered by the king as the 'Father of Musick' and his portrait as a cavalier hangs in the Faculty of Music at Oxford.

Today there is a small memorial to the battle in the village of Rowton. It consists of a brief history and a battle plan of field at the time.

The next day the king slipped out of Chester and crossed the Old Dee Bridge en route to Denbigh. He left instructions for the city to hold out for 10 days more.

By 1646, after having refused to surrender nine times and with Lord Byron at the head of the city's defences, having only spring water and boiled wheat for lunch — the citizens (17,000) had already eaten their dogs — a treaty was signed. The mills and the waterworks lay in ruins. When the exultant Puritan forces were let loose on the city, despite the treaty, they destroyed religious icons including the high cross, which was not erected again for over three centuries. In 1646 King Charles I was proclaimed a traitor beside its base.

Worse was to come. The starved citizens then bore the full brunt of the plague, with 2099 people dead from the summer of 1647 to the following spring.

In 1643 Sir Richard Grosvenor petitioned the Assembly to enclose the Row which ran through the front of his town house on Lower Bridge Street, and his request was granted. At the time he was employed in the Royalist army as a Commander. Some speculate that perhaps the room was being used to organise the Royalist Resistance in Chester. In the years after the war, people further down the street also asked for the Row to be enclosed. Eventually Lower Bridge Street lost its rows. The only trace can now be found at number 11.

Most of Chester was rebuilt after the Civil War. There are many fine half-timbered houses dating from this time still standing today.

Chester port declined with most of the ships going from the colonies now going to Liverpool, although it was still the major port of passenger embarkation for Ireland until the early 19th century. A new port was established on the Wirral called Parkgate, but this also fell out of use. The road to the port of Chester was called the 'Great Irish Road' and ran from Bristol to Chester.

Georgian and Victorian eras

The port declined seriously from 1762 onwards. By 1840 it could no longer effectively compete with Liverpool as a port, although significant shipbuilding and ropemaking continued at Chester. It was once thought that Chester's maritime trade was brought to an end by the silting of the River Dee, although recent research has shown this was not the case. It was the use of larger ocean-going ships that led to the diversion of the trade to the relatively young town of Liverpool and other locations on the River Mersey, which had long been rivals to Chester, such as Runcorn.

In the Georgian era, Chester became again a centre of affluence, a town with elegant terraces where the landed aristocracy lived. This trend continued into the Industrial Revolution, when the city was populated with the upper classes in fleeing to a safe distance from the industrial sprawls of Manchester and Liverpool.

Edmund Halley (of comet fame) was the deputy controller of Chester Castle for a short time and on 10 May 1697 recorded a fall of one inch hailstones in the area. William Molyneux was in exile here from Ireland in 1691 and was working on his book Dioptrics published in London the following year.

The Industrial Revolution brought the Chester Canal (now part of the Shropshire Union Canal) to the city (which was dubbed 'England's first unsuccessful canal', after its failure to bring heavy industry to Chester) as well as railways and two large central stations, only one of which remains. The building of the route to Holyhead involved one particularly notable tragedy, when a cast iron bridge over the river Dee just by the Roodee race course, collapsed. The Dee bridge disaster sent shock waves through the whole nation because there were many other bridges of similar design on the growing national rail network. Robert Stephenson was the engineer to the new line, and he came in for heavy criticism at the inquest held locally. The design was faulty, and many other bridges had to be demolished or replaced. In an attempt to strengthen the brittle cast iron girders of the bridge, Stephenson added tough wrought iron straps along the length of the spans, but, far from improving the structure, added little or no extra strength. A Royal Commission was set up to investigate the problem, and they confirmed the conclusions of the Railway Inspectorate that the design was wrong.

A leadworks was established by the canal in 1799; its shot tower, which was used for making lead shot for the Napoleonic Wars, is the oldest remaining shot tower in the UK.

The Ruskinian Venetian Gothic Town Hall was ceremoniously opened by Prince of Wales in 1869; its design, following a public competition held to replace the Exchange building, which had stood at the centre of Northgate Street until it burnt down in 1862, was by William Henry Lynn (1829–1915) an Irish architect with a practice in Belfast. Along with the Cathedral Church of Christ & the Blessed Virgin Mary, it still dominates the city skyline. The Volunteer Street drill hall was completed in 1868. The three clock faces were added in 1980.

The Eastgate clock was also built at this time, and is a central feature as it crosses Eastgate street, and is part of the city walls. The clock is very popular with tourists, and this has given it the grand title of the second most photographed clock in the UK (perhaps even the World) after Big Ben.

Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the England-Wales border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011, it is the most populous settlement of Cheshire West and Chester (a unitary authority which had a population of 329,608 in 2011) and serves as its administrative headquarters. It is also the historic county town of Cheshire and the second-largest settlement in Cheshire after Warrington.

Chester was founded in 79 AD as a "castrum" or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. One of the main army camps in Roman Britain, Deva later became a major civilian settlement. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia, which later became Chester's first cathedral, and the Angles extended and strengthened the walls to protect the city against the Danes. Chester was one of the last cities in England to fall to the Normans, and William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border. Chester was granted city status in 1541.

The city walls of Chester are some of the best-preserved in the country and have Grade I listed status. It has a number of medieval buildings, but many of the black-and-white buildings within the city centre are Victorian restorations, originating from the Black-and-white Revival movement. Apart from a 100-metre (330 ft) section, the walls are almost complete. The Industrial Revolution brought railways, canals, and new roads to the city, which saw substantial expansion and development; Chester Town Hall and the Grosvenor Museum are examples of Victorian architecture from this period. Tourism, the retail industry, public administration, and financial services are important to the modern economy. Chester signs itself as Chester International Heritage City on road signs on the main roads entering the city.

The history of Chester extends back nearly two millennia, covering all periods of British history in between then and the present day. The city of Chester was founded as a fort, known as Deva Vitrix, by the Romans in AD 70s, as early as AD 74 based on discovered lead pipes. The city was the scene of battles between warring Welsh and Saxon kingdoms throughout the post-Roman years until the Saxons strengthened the fort against raiding Danes.

Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Chester came under the Earl of Chester. It became a centre of the defence against Welsh raiders and a launch point for raids on Ireland.

The city grew as a trading port until the power of the Port of Liverpool overtook it. However the city did not decline and during the Georgian and Victorian periods was seen as a place of escape from the more industrial cities of Manchester and Liverpool.

Roman

The Romans founded Chester as Deva Victrix in AD 70s in the land of the Celtic Cornovii, according to ancient cartographer Ptolemy, as a fortress during the Roman expansion north.

It was named Deva either after the goddess of the Dee, or directly from the British name for the river. The 'victrix' part of the name was taken from the title of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix who were based at Deva. A civilian settlement grew around the settlement, probably starting as a group of traders and their families who were profiting from trade with the fortress. The fortress was 20% larger than other fortresses in Britannia built around the same time at York (Eboracum) and Caerleon (Isca Augusta); this has led to the suggestion that the fortress may have been intended to become the capital of the province rather than London (Londinium).

The civilian amphitheatre which was built in 1st century could sit between 8,000 and 10,000 people, is the largest known military amphitheatre in Britain, and is also a Scheduled Monument. The Minerva Shrine in the Roman quarry is the only rock cut Roman shrine still in situ in Britain. The fortress was garrisoned by the legion until at least the late 4th century. Although the army would have abandoned the fortress by 410 when the Romans retreated from Britannia the civilians settlement continued and its occupants probably continued to use the fortress and its defences as protection from raiders in the Irish Sea.

Sub-Roman and Saxon period

The Roman withdrawal from Britain was effectively complete by 410 and the Britons established a number of successor states. The area of Chester is thought to have formed part of the kingdom of Powys, whose early kings claimed descent from the exile Vortigern. Chester is generally identified with the Cair Legion ("Fort Legion") listed as one of the 28 cities of Britain in the History of the Britons traditionally attributed to Nennius. In Welsh legend, King Arthur is said to have fought his ninth battle against the Saxon invasion at the "city of the legions" and later St Augustine came to the city to try and subjugate the Welsh bishops to his mission. In 616, Æthelfrith of Northumbria defeated a Welsh army at the Battle of Chester and probably established the Anglo-Saxon position in the area from then on.

The Anglo-Saxons adopted the native name as the calque Legeceaster, which over time was shortened to Ceaster and finally corrupted to Chester. In 689, King Æthelred of Mercia founded the Minster Church of West Mercia on what is considered to be an early Christian site and known as the Minster of St John the Baptist, Chester (now St John the Baptist's Church), which later became the city's first cathedral. In the 9th century, the body of Æthelred's niece, St Werburgh was removed from Hanbury in Staffordshire; in order to save its desecration by Danish marauders, she was reburied in the Church of SS Peter & Paul—later to become the Abbey Church and present cathedral. Her name is still remembered by the St Werburgh's Street which passes beside the cathedral. The Saxons extended and strengthened the city walls to protect the city against the Danes, who occupied it for a short time until Alfred seized all the cattle and laid waste the surrounding land to drive them out. In fact it was Alfred's daughter Æthelfleda, "Lady of the Mercians", who rebuilt the Saxon burh. In 907, she dedicated a new church to St Peter.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that, in 973, King Edgar came to Chester following his coronation at Bath. He held his court in a place located in what is now called "Edgar's Field", near the old Dee bridge in Handbridge. Taking a barge up the River Dee from his court to the Minster of St John the Baptist, Edgar supposedly took the helm of the vessel while it was rowed by six or eight tributary "kings" (Latin: reguli, lit. "little kings").

The Chronicles of Melrose and of Florence of Worcester describe that "eight petty kings, namely, Kynath, king of the Scots, Malcolm, king of the Cumbrians, Maccus, king of several isles and five others, named Dufnall, Siferth, Huwall, Jacob and Juchill, met him there as he had appointed and swore that they would be faithful to him, and assist him by land and by sea".

After the kings swore fealty and allegiance they rowed him back to the palace. As he entered he is reported to have said that with so many kings' allegiance his successors could boast themselves to be kings of the English.

Middle Ages

After the 1066 Norman Conquest and the Harrying of the North, the Normans took Chester, destroying 200 houses in the city. Hugh d'Avranches, the first Norman earl (it was first given to a Fleming, Gherbod, who never took up residence but returned to Flanders where he was captured, and later killed) was William's nephew. He built a motte and bailey near the river, as another defence from the Celts. It is now known as Chester Castle and was rebuilt in stone by Henry III in 1245, after the last of six Norman earls died without issue.

Chester's earls were a law unto themselves. They kept huge hunting forests - Hugo was said to have 'preferred falconers and huntsmen to the cultivators of the soil', and Ranulf I converted the Wirral farmlands into another hunting forest. Before Ranulph, Hugo's son had inherited at the age of seven but died in the White Ship, along with the king's heir, William, on his way to England from France, where he was educated under the guardianship of Henry I. Earl Ranulf II, Ranulph's son, even helped to capture King Stephen in 1140, and ended up controlling a third of England after supporting Henry II's claim to the throne.

Other earls were Hugh II, Ranulf III and John the Scot. The traditional independence that Chester had under the earls was confirmed by a charter of Richard II in 1398 stating that 'the said county of Chester shall be the principality of Chester'. The earls are remembered with their shields on the suspension bridge over the river Dee, and again on the Grosvenor Park lodge.

The first earl had endowed a great Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Werburgh in 1092 (on the site of the church of dedicated to St Peter and St Paul). The monastery was dissolved under Henry VIII in 1540 and was rededicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary to become Chester Cathedral. Previously, the first Chester Cathedral was begun in 1075 by the first Norman Bishop of Mercia, Peter de Leya after the See was moved from Lichfield in Chester. De Leya's successor moved the See to Coventry and it later returned to Lichfield. St John's became the co-Cathedral and Collegiate Church.

There is a popular belief that it was the silting of the River Dee that created the land which is now Chester's racecourse (known as the Roodee), on which a stone cross still stands which is said to have been erected in memory of Lady Trawst who died as a result of an image of the Virgin Mary called Holy Rood falling upon her in Hawarden church a few miles down the river). But the Roodee was in existence as early as the 13th and 14th centuries, so it cannot have been created by later silting. The silting which led to the creation of the Roodee, in its current form, is well established on a sequence of post-medieval maps dating from the later 16th century. It has also been established by archaeological evaluations and excavations in the area of the Old Port, known as the Roodee tail. Physical evidence for the silting of this area of the city is shown by the building of the 14th-century port watch tower, now known as the Water Tower, which projects from the north-west corner of the city walls. This tower was originally built out into the river. Maps of the 16th century, its archaeological form and related documentary evidence all demonstrate this.

Despite stories to the contrary, the weir above the Old Dee Bridge was not built by the Romans but by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester between 1077 and 1101 to hold water for his river mills. The purpose of the weir on the river was to keep water levels high for these mills, one of which gave rise to the traditional song "Miller of Dee", which reflects the attitude of the happy miller who was granted a monopoly on grinding. It also prevents the salty tidal waters from entering the Dee fresh water basin.

Chester's port flourished under Norman rule. In 1195 a monk, Lucian, wrote 'ships from Aquitaine, Spain, Ireland and Germany unload their cargoes of wine and other merchandise'. In fact wine was imported through only four other English ports. During the 13th century Chester was famous for its fur trade and even by the mid-16th century the port was importing large amounts of fur and skins. In 1543 one ship alone brought in '1600 shhep fells, 68 dere, 69 fawne skins and 6300 broke (badger skins)' .

However the estuary was silting up so that trading ships to the port of Chester had to harbour downstream at Neston, Parkgate, and "Hoyle Lake" or Hoylake.

Chester's first known mayor was William the Clerk. The second known mayor was Walter of Coventry, who served between 1241 and 1245. The town's third mayor was Walter de Livet (Levett) who was named as mayor in a royal decree from May 1246. (Walter of Coventry and Walter de Livet may be the same person.) During early Chester history, the mayor often held his position for 10 years or more; apparently the early mayor's terms were open-ended.

Tudor and Stuart times

Originally the port was located to the north of the Watergate just below the city wall. To the south of the Watergate the Roodee existed in smaller form than today. The map sequence shows the river moving its course from against the wall north of the Watergate out to its current location between 1580 and approximately the 1830s. By the first edition OS map the river had reached its current position. However, it is apparent that some rivulets and inlets have been lost since, although some have been identified in archaeological work on the site of the former House of Industry and Gasworks.

In September 1642 tension between King Charles I and Parliament was growing and civil war looked like it might be a possibility. Charles visited Chester and ensured the election of pro-royalist mayor William Ince. In March 1643, leading Chester royalist Francis Gamull was commissioned to raise a regiment of foot to defend the city. Colonel Robert Ellis, an experienced soldier, was asked to construct outer defences to the city. A series of earthworks were constructed around the city from Boughton through Hoole and Newton to the Water Tower. The earthworks consisted of a ditch and mud wall with a series of 'mounts' or gun platforms were added along with turnpike gates on incoming roads.

Parliamentary forces began to lay siege to the city of Chester. In the early morning of 20 September 1645, parliamentary forces overran the eastern earthworks at the Boughton turnpike and captured the east suburbs of the city up to the walls. They began to construct cannon batteries within range of the city.

A cannon battery placed in St John's churchyard breached the city walls on 22 September near the Roman amphitheatre. A hole some 25 feet wide was made with thirty-two cannon shots. Following the breach an attempt was made to storm the city, but the defenders repelled the charge. According to an account at the time by Lord Byron, the breach was stopped up with woolpacks and featherbeds from all parts of the town. One can see to this day the repairs made to the wall, the section of which is next to the Roman Gardens (see photo below).

On the evening of 23 September 1645, King Charles I entered the City of Chester with 600 men via the Old Dee Bridge. He stayed the night at Sir Francis Gamull's house on Bridge Street. Also during the evening Sydenham Poyntz, a Parliamentarian in pursuit of the King's forces, entered Whitchurch (15 miles to the south) with 3000 horse. A battle looked likely.

Later that evening the King became aware of Poyntz's movements, as a messenger was intercepted at Holt. A decision was made to send out Lord Gerrard's horse troops and five hundred foot soldiers in the morning.

On the morning of 24 September 1645 the Battle of Rowton Heath occurred in moor land called Miller's Heath near the village of Rowton, two miles to the south east of Chester on the modern A41 road. Parliamentary forces crushed the Royalist loyal Cavaliers. The city was under siege at the time by the Parliamentary army. Royalist forces were coming to lift the siege and join up with Scottish allies, but were intercepted by Parliamentary Forces outside Chester.

The engagement lasted all day starting at 9am and continued throughout the day in three stages as Royalists were pushed back towards the City and its walls. The battle was mainly conducted on horseback with musketeers supporting the cavalry's flanks. As the battle went on into the afternoon, more troops were ordered to march out of the Northgate in support of the Royalists on Rowton Moor, but this decision was too late—the battle was already lost.

As the fighting reached the suburbs it was watched by King Charles I and Sir Francis Gamull from Chester's Phoenix Tower (now also called King Charles' Tower) on the city walls. The King quickly withdrew to the Cathedral tower, but even this was not safe, as the captain standing next to him was shot in the head by musket fire from the victorious Parliamentarians who took residence in the St John's Church tower.

The battle cost the lives of 600 Royalists and an unknown number of Parliamentarians. Among the Royalist dead was Lord Bernard Stuart (1622–1645) Earl of Lichfield, the king's cousin. His portrait is displayed in the National Gallery.

Also slain at the same time was William Lawes (1602–1645) a noted English composer and musician. He was buried in Chester Cathedral without a memorial. He was remembered by the king as the 'Father of Musick' and his portrait as a cavalier hangs in the Faculty of Music at Oxford.

Today there is a small memorial to the battle in the village of Rowton. It consists of a brief history and a battle plan of field at the time.

The next day the king slipped out of Chester and crossed the Old Dee Bridge en route to Denbigh. He left instructions for the city to hold out for 10 days more.

By 1646, after having refused to surrender nine times and with Lord Byron at the head of the city's defences, having only spring water and boiled wheat for lunch — the citizens (17,000) had already eaten their dogs — a treaty was signed. The mills and the waterworks lay in ruins. When the exultant Puritan forces were let loose on the city, despite the treaty, they destroyed religious icons including the high cross, which was not erected again for over three centuries. In 1646 King Charles I was proclaimed a traitor beside its base.

Worse was to come. The starved citizens then bore the full brunt of the plague, with 2099 people dead from the summer of 1647 to the following spring.

In 1643 Sir Richard Grosvenor petitioned the Assembly to enclose the Row which ran through the front of his town house on Lower Bridge Street, and his request was granted. At the time he was employed in the Royalist army as a Commander. Some speculate that perhaps the room was being used to organise the Royalist Resistance in Chester. In the years after the war, people further down the street also asked for the Row to be enclosed. Eventually Lower Bridge Street lost its rows. The only trace can now be found at number 11.

Most of Chester was rebuilt after the Civil War. There are many fine half-timbered houses dating from this time still standing today.

Chester port declined with most of the ships going from the colonies now going to Liverpool, although it was still the major port of passenger embarkation for Ireland until the early 19th century. A new port was established on the Wirral called Parkgate, but this also fell out of use. The road to the port of Chester was called the 'Great Irish Road' and ran from Bristol to Chester.

Georgian and Victorian eras

The port declined seriously from 1762 onwards. By 1840 it could no longer effectively compete with Liverpool as a port, although significant shipbuilding and ropemaking continued at Chester. It was once thought that Chester's maritime trade was brought to an end by the silting of the River Dee, although recent research has shown this was not the case. It was the use of larger ocean-going ships that led to the diversion of the trade to the relatively young town of Liverpool and other locations on the River Mersey, which had long been rivals to Chester, such as Runcorn.

In the Georgian era, Chester became again a centre of affluence, a town with elegant terraces where the landed aristocracy lived. This trend continued into the Industrial Revolution, when the city was populated with the upper classes in fleeing to a safe distance from the industrial sprawls of Manchester and Liverpool.

Edmund Halley (of comet fame) was the deputy controller of Chester Castle for a short time and on 10 May 1697 recorded a fall of one inch hailstones in the area. William Molyneux was in exile here from Ireland in 1691 and was working on his book Dioptrics published in London the following year.

The Industrial Revolution brought the Chester Canal (now part of the Shropshire Union Canal) to the city (which was dubbed 'England's first unsuccessful canal', after its failure to bring heavy industry to Chester) as well as railways and two large central stations, only one of which remains. The building of the route to Holyhead involved one particularly notable tragedy, when a cast iron bridge over the river Dee just by the Roodee race course, collapsed. The Dee bridge disaster sent shock waves through the whole nation because there were many other bridges of similar design on the growing national rail network. Robert Stephenson was the engineer to the new line, and he came in for heavy criticism at the inquest held locally. The design was faulty, and many other bridges had to be demolished or replaced. In an attempt to strengthen the brittle cast iron girders of the bridge, Stephenson added tough wrought iron straps along the length of the spans, but, far from improving the structure, added little or no extra strength. A Royal Commission was set up to investigate the problem, and they confirmed the conclusions of the Railway Inspectorate that the design was wrong.

A leadworks was established by the canal in 1799; its shot tower, which was used for making lead shot for the Napoleonic Wars, is the oldest remaining shot tower in the UK.

The Ruskinian Venetian Gothic Town Hall was ceremoniously opened by Prince of Wales in 1869; its design, following a public competition held to replace the Exchange building, which had stood at the centre of Northgate Street until it burnt down in 1862, was by William Henry Lynn (1829–1915) an Irish architect with a practice in Belfast. Along with the Cathedral Church of Christ & the Blessed Virgin Mary, it still dominates the city skyline. The Volunteer Street drill hall was completed in 1868. The three clock faces were added in 1980.

The Eastgate clock was also built at this time, and is a central feature as it crosses Eastgate street, and is part of the city walls. The clock is very popular with tourists, and this has given it the grand title of the second most photographed clock in the UK (perhaps even the World) after Big Ben.

Quatre castrums sur le même circuit : Quertinheux, Surdespine, Tour Régine, Cabaret.

A droite: Surdespine, au milieu Tour Régine , au dernier plan derrière les cyprès: Cabaret

Monument historique

Eléments protégés : Quatre châteaux (ruines) : classement par arrêté du 31 octobre 1905

Historique :

Les châteaux comprennent une tour, une cour étroite et quelques bâtiments adossés pouvant contenir une ou deux salles avec une citerne. Ce peu d'importance des constructions fait penser qu'ils étaient plutôt destinés à être le signe d'une suzeraineté que de véritables forteresses. Suzeraineté peut-être partagée par quatre co-seigneurs. Leur force résidait dans leur situation inaccessible, la construction étant ordinaire. Les chaines, arcs et piédroits de baies sont seuls en pierre de taille, le reste étant en moellons. Le plus au sud est planté sur un piton rocheux. La tour ronde servant de donjon s'élevait de quatre étages percés d'archères. Trois étaient séparés par des planchers et le quatrième couvert par une voûte qui portait le dallage supérieur. Il ne reste que les naissances des nervures. La salle contigüe est entourée d'arcades en ogives sur lesquelles passe le chemin de ronde. Des trois châteaux suivants, le second et le plus en ruine. Le donjon était carré et la cour à l'ouest assez vaste. Le troisième édifice présente une tour ronde semblable à celle du premier. Le quatrième, le plus au nord, avec une tour carrée, s'élève sur la pointe extrême de la ligne de faîte. Les bâtiments présentent des traces de chemin de ronde et des divisions intérieures. Ces constructions semblent remonter au 13e siècle. La base des tours est peut-être plus ancienne.

Périodes de construction : 12e siècle, 13e siècle, 16e siècle

l'ancien castrum de Fossis (XIème, remanié XIIIème siècle), à Fos sur Mer [13270]

Bad eines Wohn- und Geschäftehaus in Vindonissa ( Erbaut um 100 n. Chr. - Ruinen Badeanlage Römer - Balneum Meritorium ) ausserhalb des römischen Legionslager Vindonissa ( Castrum Vindonissense ) im heutigen Windisch im Kanton Aargau der Schweiz

.

.

.

******************************************************************************************************************

.

.

Auf den S.puren der R.ömer in der Schweiz am Mittwoch den 05. August 2015

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von B.ern nach B.rugg

.

.

L.egionärsp.fad W.indisch :

- F.orschungsr.eise - A.rchäologie e.nträtseln mit den A.ugen eines F.orschers

- Der M.edicus - R.ömische H.eilk.unde in V.indonissa

.

.

- B.esuch der A.usstellung - In G.rund und B.oden - Auf den Spuren der S.empacher R.itter - in der K.losterk.irche K.önigsf.elden

- Besuch V.indonissa - M.useum

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von B.rugg nach R.heinf.elden

.

.

Mit dem F.ahrr.ad R.heinf.elden - A.ugst - K.aisera.ugst - entlang der r.ömischen W.asserl.eitung - L.iest.al

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von L.iest.al über O.lten zurück nach B.ern

.

.

******************************************************************************************************************

Hurni150805 AlbumZZZZ150805AufdenSpurenDerR.ömer AlbumRömerstadtVindonissa AlbumRömerInDerSchweiz KantonAargau

E - Mail : chrigu.hurni@bluemail.ch

******************************************************************************************************************

Letzte Aktualisierung - Ergänzung des Textes : 111223

******************************************************************************************************************

NIF

Mainz (Germany) '24

Landesmuseum Mainz

Mainz-Bingen, Mid-1st Century AD

Castrum médiéval construit sur un éperon rocheux surplombant la rivière Maronne, les Tours de Merle se trouvent dans les collines et forêts de la Xaintrie. Elle sont une forteresse naturelle dans un pays authentique de la Corrèze : la Xaintrie !

Ce site historique suscite l'imaginaire des visiteurs, grands ou petits !

Classé Monument Historique depuis 1927, inscrit au titre de son paysage, situé en zone Natura 2000 et d'intérêt écologique floristique et faunistique, le site recèle des trésors d'Histoire et de Nature.

Photo Julien Mudry

Spectacle "Page Blanche"

Par la Cie Luc Amoros (F) avec Agnès Bourgeois, Katharina Ernst, Lou Amoros-Augustin ou Aude Ardoin, Pierre Biebuyck, Suzanne Berelowitch, Sylvie Eder, Jérôme Fohrer

Festival des arts scéniques les Jeux du Castrum, Yverdon-les-Bains, édition 2012

Direction artistique David Deppierraz & Laurence Iseli

www.jeuxducastrum.ch

Westtor Vindonissa mit zwei Türmen ( porta principalis dextra - Tor - Ruinen Kastell - Castrum Vindonissense ) des römischen Legionslager Vindonissa ( Lager Besetzt 14 - 101 und 270 - ca. 406. n. Chr ) im heutigen Windisch im Kanton Aargau der Schweiz

.

.

.

***************************************************************************************************************

.

.

Ausflug nach S.chaffh.ausen und in den A.argau am Mittwoch den 30. Oktober 2013

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von B.ern über Z.ürich - S.chaffh.ausen nach N.eunk.irch und weiter mit dem B.us bis H.allau

.

.

Kurzer S.paziergang zur B.ergk.irche S.t. M.oritz H.allau

.

.

Mit dem B.us von H.allau nach N.eunk.irch

.

.

Besichtigung der S.tadt N.eunk.irch

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von N.eunkirch nach S.chaffh.ausen

.

.

Besuch des M.useum A.llerh.eilligen in S.chaffh.ausen

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von S.chaffh.ausen über Z.ürich nach B.aden

.

.

Besuch des h.istorischen M.useum B.aden

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von B.aden nach B.rugg und einen kurze S.trecke weiter mit dem B.us

.

.

Besuch K.losterk.irche K.önigsf.elden und des V.indonissa - M.useum in B.rugg

.

.

Mit dem Z.ug von B.rugg zurück nach B.ern

.

.

***************************************************************************************************************

Hurni131030 KantonAargau

E - Mail : chrigu.hurni@bluemail.ch

***************************************************************************************************************

Letzte Aktualisierung - Ergänzung des Textes : 060222

***************************************************************************************************************

NIF

Spettacolo serale Castrum Fest Lentini ottobre 2005