Chester Castle

Coordinates: 53°11′07″N 2°53′32″W / 53.1853°N 2.8923°W / 53.1853; -2.8923
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the civil parish named Chester Castle, see Chester Castle (parish).

Chester Castle
Chester Castle
Chester Castle is located in Cheshire
Chester Castle
Location within Cheshire
General information
Architectural styleNorman, Neoclassical
Town or cityChester, Cheshire
CountryEngland
Coordinates53°11′07″N 2°53′32″W / 53.1853°N 2.8923°W / 53.1853; -2.8923
Construction started1070
Completed1822
Design and construction
Architect(s)Thomas Harrison

Chester Castle is in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. It is sited at the southwest extremity of the area bounded by the city walls. The castle stands on an eminence overlooking the River Dee. In the castle complex are the remaining parts of the medieval castle together with the neoclassical buildings designed by Thomas Harrison which were built between 1788 and 1813. Parts of the neoclassical buildings are used today by the Crown Court and as a military museum. The museum and the medieval remains are a tourist attraction.

History

The castle was built in 1070 by

motte-and-bailey castle with a wooden tower. In the 12th century the wooden tower was replaced by a square stone tower, the Flag Tower. During the same century the stone gateway to the inner bailey was built. This is now known as the Agricola Tower and on its first floor is the chapel of St Mary de Castro.[1] The chapel contains items of Norman architecture.[2] In the 13th century, during the reign of Henry III, the walls of an outer bailey were built, the gateway in the Agricola Tower was blocked up and residential accommodation, including a Great Hall, was built along the south wall of the inner bailey. Later in the century, during the reign of Edward I, a new gateway to the outer bailey was built. This was flanked by two half-drum towers and had a drawbridge over a moat 8 metres (26 ft) deep. Further additions to the castle at this time included individual chambers for the King and Queen, a new chapel and stables.[1][3]

The Norman chapel

Prominent people held as prisoners in the crypt of the Agricola Tower were

Andrew de Moray, hero of the Battle of Stirling Bridge.[4] During the Wars of the Roses, Yorkist John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu was captured and imprisoned at the castle by Lancastrians following the Battle of Blore Heath, near the town of Market Drayton, Shropshire, in 1459. He was released from captivity following the Yorkist victory at Northampton in 1460.[5] Outside the outer bailey gate was an area known as the Gloverstone where criminals waiting for execution were handed over to the city authorities. The Great Hall was rebuilt in the late 1570s.[1]

During the

1745 Jacobite rising a gun emplacement was built on the wall overlooking the river.[1]

Engraving by Buck Brothers of Chester Castle in 1747

By the later part of the 18th century much of the fabric of the castle had deteriorated and

Propylaeum. The buildings, which were all in neoclassical style, were built between 1788 and 1822.[1] The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner comments that Harrison's work constitutes "one of the most powerful monuments of the Greek Revival in the whole of England".[7]

In February 1867, Irish Fenian Michael Davitt led a group of IRB men from Haslingden on an abortive raid for arms on the castle.[8]

The Army moved in to take hold of the castle and in 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the Cardwell Reforms and the castle became the depot for the two battalions of the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment of Foot.[9] Under the Childers Reforms, the 22nd regiment evolved to become the Cheshire Regiment with its depot in the castle in 1881.[9]

In 1925, after being used for 200 years as a warehouse and ammunition store, the crypt and chapel in the Agricola Tower were

reconsecrated by the Bishop of Chester for the use of the Cheshire Regiment. In 1939 the chapel was refurnished.[4] The castle remained the depot of the Cheshire Regiment until 1939, when the regiment moved out to Dale Barracks.[10]

Present day

Propylaeum
, the ceremonial entrance to the Castle

The complex is entered from Grosvenor Road through the

Propylaeum, a Grade I listed building. This consists of a massive entablature supported on widely spaced (areostyle) Doric columns, flanked by temple-like lodges.[11] Directly ahead is the former Shire Hall (also listed Grade I) which now houses the Crown Courts. Its façade has 19 bays, the central seven bays of which project forward and constitute a Doric portico.[12] To the left is the former barracks block which is now the home of the Cheshire Military Museum and an army cadet detachment. To the right is the block which was originally an armoury and later an officers' mess. Both blocks are in neoclassical style and are listed Grade I.[13][14]

Further to the right are the remains of the Norman castle. The Agricola Tower is a Grade I listed building. It is built in

Virgin Mary which were revealed during conservation work in the 1990s.[1]

Agricola Tower

To the south and the west, the curtain walls, which include the Halfmoon Tower, the Flag Tower and the gun emplacement, are listed Grade I.

Queen Victoria dated 1903 by Pomeroy.[22] The inner bailey is managed by Cheshire West and Chester Council on behalf of English Heritage.[1]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Information Sheet: Chester Castle |, Cheshire West and Chester
  2. ^ St Mary de Castro, Chester, Cheshire, Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, archived from the original on 5 October 2012, retrieved 13 June 2010
  3. ^ a b c Northall, John (2006), Chester Castle, Castles of Wales, retrieved 7 March 2008
  4. ^ a b c Richards 1947, p. 102.
  5. ISBN 978-1-905119-23-3
    .
  6. ISBN 0-904532-46-1
  7. ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 157.
  8. ISBN 978-1-84682-265-0
    .
  9. ^ a b "Training Depots". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Military & Wartime Activities during the 20th Century" (PDF). History of Upton by Chester. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  11. ^ Historic England, "Propylaea, Chester Castle (1271822)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 8 April 2012
  12. ^ Historic England, "Assize Courts Block, Chester Castle (1271823)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 8 April 2012
  13. ^ Historic England, "A Block, Chester Castle (1271824)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 8 April 2012
  14. ^ Historic England, "B Block, Chester Castle (1245520)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 8 April 2012
  15. ^ Historic England, "Agricola Tower, Chester Castle (1271825)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 8 April 2012
  16. ^ Pastscape:Agricola Tower, Historic England, retrieved 5 April 2009
  17. ^ Historic England, "Chester Castle (part) (1006773)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 8 April 2012
  18. ^ Historic England, "Curtain wall to west and south west of inner bailey, Chester Castle (1245537)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 8 April 2012
  19. ^ Historic England, "Retaining walls and railing of semi circular forecourt, Chester Castle (1245518)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 8 April 2012
  20. ^ Historic England, "Curtain wall to east of inner bailey, Chester Castle (1271821)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 8 April 2012
  21. ^ Historic England, "Curtain wall to south of inner bailey, Chester Castle (1245539)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 8 April 2012
  22. ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 158.

Sources

External links

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