Day 2: Exploring (Roman) Chester

Today was a busy day.  I set out to tackle the Roman sites of Chester and succeeded...and then some!

Here's a brief outline of what I did today:

I started by walking the walls of the city.  The walls of Chester are the longest and most intact city walls in Britain.  Much of the walls is composed of the original Roman walls with medieval improvements and modifications.  This includes new towers and extensions beyond the Roman wall.  With a little exception for renovations, I was able to walk around the entirety of old Chester, with beautiful views of the streets below and landscapes with the River Dee.

At Bridgegate, I got off the city walls and crossed the Old Dee Bridge.  The bridge, built in 1387, crosses the river just upriver of the 11th century weir.  Across the Dee, I came to Edgar's Field to see the Roman shine mentioned in yesterday's fun fact.  In a completely green field, with a play area for young children and paths along the river, a huge chunk of sandstone sits.  Built onto the face of the sandstone is the Roman shrine dedicated to Minerva.

I was amazed by what details I could make out on the shrine.  It was quite vague, but I had some hints for what to look for.  I was immediately fairly certain that the framing around the altar was a much later addition.  I heard that the shrine may have survived because Christians thought it was a depiction of the Virgin Mary and I wonder if it could have been added in that period.  Looking at the actual shrine, it is possible to make out a damaged figure standing in a temple.  By the right shoulder of the figure there there is another damaged image.  It seems to be of an owl, the symbol of Minerva.  Surrounding them is the temple, with two columns on either side and a roof covering the figures.  In the image below I've marked (as best I could) the temple in red, the owl in green, and Minerva in purply blue.

As I ogled at the shrine and took notes, it began raining so I scampered off to explore Handbridge, the village of Chester where the shrine is.  I came across a beautiful church called St. Mary's Without-the-Walls, but chickened out on going in because I believe a Sunday service had just finished.  I retreated back towards Chester as the rain ended.

Back in Chester I dove into more Roman sites, heading towards the "Roman Gardens" and the amphitheater.  The gardens were a bit disappointing; a somewhat random collection of Roman stones found in the area laid out in the shape of a shrine to Aesculapius...with no explanation as to why.  None of the stones were originally in this location nor was there any mention of a shrine to Aesculapius in Chester.  The amphitheater was also left something to be desired.  Though the largest Roman amphitheater in Britain, it PALES in comparison to others like the Colosseum.  The amphitheater in Chester could seat 7,000, as compared to the roughly 60,000 of the Colosseum.  Only half of the amphitheater is excavated, but much of the walls and such still remain underground.  A very beautiful mural depicts the other "half" of the amphitheater.

After a lunch of fish and chips (and mushy peas!), I headed to the Grosvenor Museum.  I spent an inordinate amount of time in just two rooms of the museum (this makes me worried for the British Museum...).  I was very excited to see my first examples of Romano-British material culture.  There was imported pottery from Gaul and Africa and locally made pottery, hobnail sandals, roof tiles with the names of the legions stationed in Chester, inscribed water pipes, glasswork, animal bones, jewelry, and so much more.  Some particular items that I really thought were cool were a lead holder for clay lanterns, a whistle made form a deer antler, and a radiate coin of Probus (the same a emperor that is in the coin of my ring).  There was one more special item, but that's for today's fun fact!

The photo above is a model of the Roman fortress, known as Deva, from the museum.  It shows the fortress, which covered 56 acres, and the surrounding area, including the beginnings of a settlement and the amphitheater.  This model shows just how orderly Deva was laid out and established and the commanding spot it occupied on the Dee River.  From here, the Romans established control over northwest England and northern Wales.

The museum also has a wonderful collection of Roman tombstones.  Most of the tombs were found along the southern road leading to Chester.  They have a variety of stones, some for couples, some with gods, one to a man who died in a shipwreck, and many other varieties.  After taking a tour of the grave stones and briefly viewing the other collections in the museum, I had completed my Roman tour of Chester.

I wandered around Chester, hoping I could figure out a way into the castle which I had seen from the city walls.  Unfortunately, it was closed or not open to the public.  I stumbled upon St. Mary's centre, an old church that has been turned into an educational center.  Inside a wonderful chorus was rehearsing and I was SO tempted to poke my head in, but I once again chickened out.  I didn't want to be a distraction.  From there, I wandered along the Groves, an area running beside the Dee.  I listened to the Denton Brass Band play a song from Les Misérables and crossed the Queen's Park suspension bridge.  From the other side of the Dee, I took the photo above of suspension bridge.  As I headed back towards my hotel, I tried to go one of the two last sites I had planned on seeing: the former cathedral of Chester, St. John the Baptist's Church.  Unfortunately, the church had closed for the day, but I was able to wander through some of the chapels that lay in ruins.  The church looks gorgeous and I'm excited to visit before I leave Chester tomorrow.

After an extremely successful day, I ended my tour of (mostly) Roman Chester at 4:30 pm.  A very well spent six hours!

Fun Fact #2: Today I learned that these small glass vessels below are called lachrymatories.  As the sign below says they "supposedly" caught tears, which is a nice way of saying that they were almost certainly never used for that purpose, but as the sign continues, the carried unguents and perfumes to pour on graves of dead loved ones.  But lachrymatory is a much cooler word!