Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 154, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 June 1920 — "Rare Olde Chester" [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

"Rare Olde Chester"

FEW cities in England retain so distinct a flavor of medieval times as “Rare Oide Chester,” on the River Dee. Winchester is hoary with age—so are Gloucester, Canterbury, Coventry and countless other places in the kingdom, writes Katherine Shepherd Smith In the Springfield, Republican. But should one disembark at Liverpool with a mind intent upon studying English lands, people—and, above all, English history—Chester, sixteen miles distant, would be an ideal place in which to set out upon such a pilgrimage. There, more easily than almost anywhere else, one can trace the very beginnings of England. Chester’s ancient walls still surround the site of the Roman deva, or Devana Castra (camp of the Dee). The Anglo-Sax-ons called it Chester. Phantom City of the Past. The Romans, whose occupancy lasted four centuries, selected this high, picturesque spot overlooking the river and the mountains of North Wales, to* the station of their famous 20th Legion. Excavating a solid rock to a depth of four to ten. feet, upon which to found the camp, they built roundabout their defensive walls. The Roman camp was in the form of a parallelogram and Chester followed the same lines in the original streets of the city. The four principal thoroughfares, now cross at right angles the rocky Roman oblong. After the Romans there came. In turn, the Welsh, Saxons, Danes and Normans. Chester was not taken by William the Conqueror until 1070. In viewing the city the walls claim one’s first attention. The present residents seem to live in a phantom city of the past, and almost to be a part of that medieval period in which they are so well versed. They tell you, apologetically, that only on three of their four sides do the walls follow the exact lines of those built by the Romans, and that they are not of earlier date than the fourteenth century. But a stroll of two miles upon these great arms of masonry, ■which have encircled the city for seven hundred years, should satisfy the most exacting antiquarian. As one traverses this now peaceful promenade, frequent reminders of a turbulent past are encountered. The most impressive of these —perhaps because the most tangible—is the Phoenix, or King Charles tower, bearing an Inscription recording that from this tower King Charles I, in 1645, viewed the battle of Rowton Moor, and a local chronicler relates how the king “witnessed with growing mortification and despair the defeat of his army and the overthrow of his last field force.” Besides the King Charles tower, •others bordering the parapet of the old walls are the Bonwaldesthorne and the water tower; then there are those known as Morgan’s Mount and Pemberton’s Parlor. Historic Watch Towers. During all the assaults made upon Chester these and other watch towers, long since dismantled, were vantage points for the guardians of the old city, who, when scanning the valley of the Dee and the mountain passes of nearby Wales, gave little heed, we can believe, to the beauty of the panorama spread out before them. which today claims the attention and delight of ev.ery beholder. Bonwaldesthorne, clothed wlth.vines and reached by the greenery of swaying tree tops, is by far the most picturesque of towers. Chester Castle is rather disappointing, but much as one wants a castle to be up to . the mark, everything else in Chester Is so satisfying that this one “fly in the ointment” should be overlooked. The only remaining relic of the Norman period, during which time the castle was built, is the Julius Caeser tower, a square keep, which, having been Incased in red sandstone, has now an adequate appeal AAe of age. Chester Cathedral, like many others in England, is Interesting, both in itself and far its history. Since the time of the Boman deva the ground upon which it stands has been occulted bv a Christian churqh. •

Hugh Lupas, with the aid of Norman monks, established here a Benedictine monastery—one of those early centers, not alone of religion, but of learning, also. In 1541, after the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, the abbey church became the Cathedral of Chester, and remains of Norman construction, dating back to 1093, are incorporated in the cathedral, but most of it dates from the.twelfth to the sixteenth century. Since 1819 restorations have been made at intervals, as is the custom in practically all European cathedrals. "The Chester Imp.” In monastic times the abbey was rich and of much importance. The “Chester mysteries,” or miracle plays, were performed each year before its gates, when a fair was held on the feast of St. Werbergh, the patron saint of Chester. A Curious custom prevailing among builders in the middle ages was that of carving grotesque figures—not only on the exteriors of churches, like gargoyles, but often on their interiors. Perched coyly in a corner high up on the cathedral, is such a joke, known as “The Chester Imp.” A reminder of more recent days is found in two flags draped on the wall of the south aisle of the cathedral which were carried by the British at the battle of Bunker Hill; not far from these are displayed the colors of the Chester Guards, borne at Quebec. A wonderful work of restoration to be seen in Chester is that in the Church of St. John. This was a cathedral church and dates from the late eleventh century. It was occupied by a Norman bishop in 1073, but In a few years he removed the seat of his bishopric to Coventry. The church as restored today—a gem of Norman architecture—includes only sections of the nave and transepts that belonged to the original structure. Standing apart from it are the picturesque ruins of the ancient choir.

The Castle, Chester.