Chester City Wall

In the civil parish of Chester.
In the historic county of Cheshire (Modern Authority of Cheshire, 1974 county of Cheshire).

Follow Roman line on two sides,extending to the river elsewhere. Largely complete, though much altered; the gates and most of the towers have vanished. Murage granted 1249 and others suggest a concentration of effort in late C13 and early C14

This site has been described as a;
Urban Defence.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 470119 etc)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ402661

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 69073

• Web site links
  • http://www.bwpics.co.uk/chester.walls.index.html
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/117/chesterwalls.htm
    http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/adv_reference.asp?imageUID=73284
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p18, 23, 29, 40, 46-8, 50, 60, 65-6, 93, 95, 108, 118, 126, 130, 144, 151, 153, 167, 171, 179, 182, 186, 192-3, 216, 231-2, 234, 236-7, 239-41, 246-7, 269, 277
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern) p15-16
    LeQuesne, C. and Strickland, T.J., 1999, Excavations at Chester: the Roman and later defences, part 1. Investigations 1978-1990 (Chester: Chester City Council/Gifford and Partners)
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p14-16
    Carrington, P., 1994, English Heritage Book of Chester (London: English Heritage/Batsford)
    Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p92-116
    Cullen, P.W. and Hordern, R., 1986, Castles of Cheshire (Crossbow Books) p5,16,17
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p70
    Harris B, 1979, Bartholomew City Guides: Chester (Edinburgh) p94-95
    Barley, M.W., 1975, 'Town Defences in England and Wales after 1066' in Barley (ed) Medieval Towns in England and Wales (CBA research reports) pp57-71 plan p62
    Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p202-3
    Pevsner, Nikolaus and Edward Hubbard, 1971, The Buildings of England: Cheshire (Harmondsworth)
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p238-9
    Simpson, Frank, 1910, The Walls of Chester
    Ormerod, G., 1882 [2edn], History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol1 p355-6
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p123-6
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol1 p37-8
    Broster, John., 1821, A Walk round the Walls and City of Chester (Chester)
• Journal Articles
  • Ward, S., 1985, ‘Recent work on the medieval city wall of Chester' Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society Vol68 p79-84
    Ward, S., 1983, ‘Chester: the city walls II' Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin Vol9 p49
    Alldridge, N.J., 1981, 'Aspects of the topography of early medieval Chester' Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society Vol64 p5-31
    Stickland, T.J., 1981, 'City Wall, engineering yard near the Northgate, Chester' Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin Vol7 p42
    Alebon, P.H., Davey, P.J. and Robinson, D.J., 1976, 'The Eastgate, Chester, 1972' Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society Vol59 p37-49
    Mason, 1976, Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society Vol59 p14-23
    [Davey], 1973, Medieval Archaeology Vol17 p166
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    Lawson, P.H. and Smith, J.T., 1958, Journal of the Chester and North Wales Architectural Archaeological and Historic Society Vol45 p24
    Renn, 1958, Journal of the Chester and North Wales Architectural Archaeological and Historic Society Vol45 p54-60
    1937, Archaeological Journal Vol94 p303-4
    Simpson, 1910, Archaeologia Cambrensis [ser6] Vol10 p330-1
    Numerous other articles published are concerned with Roman origins of the lower courses of the wall.
• Guidebooks
  • Whimperley, A. & Murphy, D., 1977, The Walls of Chester: a Guided Tour (Dalesman)
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain [http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities8.htm]
    William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/shropseng.html#ches7]