Chester Castle
Chester Castle was once a great stone fortress and the seat of power in the North-West of England. Following his success at the battle of Hastings on 14th October 1066, William the Conqueror established a string of motte-and-bailey castles to protect his territories. The original castle at Chester was built of timber on top of an earth mound (motte) by William's nephew, Hugh d'Avranches (also known as Hugh Lupus), the first Norman Earl of Chester.
A motte-and-bailey castle consisted of a ‘motte’ or mound, made of earth and rock, was defended by a ditch and a timber palisade, and usually had a tower on top of the mound. The ‘bailey’ or courtyard, which contained domestic buildings, was also defended by a ditch and a timber palisade.
In the 12th-13th centuries the castle was rebuilt in stone and extended by successive Earls of Chester, who were some of the most powerful nobles in the country, with towers and gate-houses. Chester Castle became the royal base for the conquest of North Wales, and also the meeting place for the Irish Parliament during time of unrest in Ireland. The castle was built in a prominent position controlling the River Dee, the port of Chester and the road to Wales across the Old Dee Bridge.
In Norman times Chester Castle was the seat of power of the Earls of Chester. The first earl, Hugh Lupus (Hugh 'the Wolf') held his parliament at Chester Castle. The last Norman earl died in 1237. Since 1301 the earldom has been held by successive Princes of Wales, heirs to the throne, in recognition of Chester's political and military importance.
During the reign of Richard II, as a Palatine County on the northern Welsh marches, Cheshire was ruled as a separate entity from England by the Earl of Chester from Chester Castle and had its own Court and Exchequer. Richard II had a personal bodyguard of Cheshire Archers, who were said to be 'intolerably arrogant, insolent ruffians who lived on far too intimate terms with the king'.
By the Middle Ages Chester Castle had become an administrative rather than a military centre. With the advent of the Civil War, the walls were repaired and a defensive ditch was dug but the Royalists were forced to surrender in 1646. In 1686-7 a new armoury was built and a mint was established at the castle in 1696-8.
Following the Jacobite Rebellions of 1715 and 1745 many captured Jacobite prisoners were held in the gaol at Chester Castle. In 1715 the castle gaol was in the outer gatehouse of the castle. Of the Jacobite prisoners that were captured at Preston in 1715 and taken to the castle it is said that ‘many prisoners died in the castle by the severity of the season, many were carried off by a malignant fever, and most of the survivors were transported to the plantations in America’.
By the time of the second Jacobite Rebellion in 1745 the castle gaol had been moved into part of the Shire Hall and it was ‘completely filled by the sixteen cartloads of captives’ from the defeat of the 1745 rebellion. The Jacobite uprisings also drew attention to the poor state of the castle's defences which were no longer a match against new artillery of the time.
An 18th century watercolour by Moses Griffith shows the Castle before much of it was demolished after 1788. Today the most significant surviving structures are the 12 century gate tower called the Agricola Tower, and the Flag Tower which was the original stone tower on the motte.
The Inner Bailey and Agricola Tower
At the south-east corner of the central block is what little remains of the original stone castle. The so-called 'Agricola's Tower', more correctly called the Chapel Tower, marks the original gateway to the inner bailey of the castle. Nearby there is a fragment of curtain wall, the remains of the Flag Tower, and a guardroom where a series of information panels relate the castle's history.
Despite its name, the Agricola Tower has nothing to do with the Romans. It dates from the 12th century and was part of the general rebuilding of that part of the castle, replacing timber defences with stone.
In the late 13th century a new gatehouse was built with D-shaped towers and part of the Inner Bailey was occupied by a range of buildings which at first were probably the private chambers, hall and kitchen of the Earls of Chester. Later these buildings were occupied by the King’s officials and, later still, they were used to house the governor of the castle and visiting justices.
The rest of the Inner Bailey was open space until the end of the 17th century. Much of it was occupied by the large mound of the first castle, on top of which stands the Flag Tower.
Chapel of St Mary De Castro
This tiny chapel lies off a steep spiral staircase inside Agricola's Tower. Built for the earls of Chester circa 1200, it was reconsecrated as a chapel of the 22nd Cheshire Regiment in 1925. The recently discovered frescoes depicting miracles of the Virgin are thought to date from the 13th century.
Chester Castle Today
In the 18th century there was a plan to refortify the castle as a star fort, but it was never implemented. Instead the classical architect Thomas Harrison, who was a leading exponent of the ‘Greek Revival’ style of architecture, was chosen to demolish the medieval castle and build the fine Greek revival square that is there today.
The present day castle was rebuilt in 1788-1822 and takes the form of one central block and two separate wings, which border three sides of the massive parade ground. County Hall occupied part of the former County Gaol, which was closed in 1884. Harrison’s work swept away much of the medieval castle and other parts were demolished in 1830. However, despite many changes, parts of the medieval castle still survive. The Agricola Tower, the Flag Tower, the Half-Moon Tower and part of the curtain wall of the Inner Bailey all date from the 12th century. The statue of Queen Victoria on the square was unveiled in 1903.
Chester Castle has been a military stronghold since its foundation. Several regiments have had their headquarters at the castle, but with the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment are particularly strong. The regiment was raised on the Roodee in 1689, within 400 yards of the castle. In 1881 the Cheshire Regiment moved into the buildings and remained there until 1940 when the Regiment moved to a new depot that was established at the Dale Barracks on the edge of Chester.
In the 1950s the Cheshire Regimental Headquarters was moved back to the castle and remained there until the Cheshire Regiment was amalgamated in 2007, along with two other county regiments, into the Mercian Regiment. The Cheshire Regimental Museum was first opened in 1968 and remains at the Castle today. The Army formally returned the other buildings to the Crown in the late 1990s.
Cheshire Military Museum
The museum tells the history of four famous regiments connected with Cheshire; the Mercian Regiment, the 22nd Cheshire Regiment, the Cheshire Yeomanry, the 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and the 3rd Carabiniers. Among the many exhibits is a reconstruction of the Cheshire Yeomanry in action against the Vichy French Spahis at Litani Bridge.