| Show for 11 1 old chester cathedral early church architecture of surprising beauty seen in the quaintest Quain test walled city in england built budt centuries ago special correspondence HERE are very few travelers arriving at liverpool but leave that commercial city at the very first opportunity and hasten to quiet ng n chester the quaintest old walled city in eng land in this old ces ti tuan ian capital although over 1800 years have passed since jul us agri cola and his legions held sway scarce a year passes but cometh ng ol 01 great EATON HALL va e perta n ng to this people Is un ealther the chief ot these discover ies are the the tle father of all scientific heating appareti ap parati they were expensive to build and keep up and ridi cate homes of luxury the walls of chester the only per feet specimen of ancient fort fl fi catlon cation in the kingdom were built by manus marius king of britain who nho reigned 73 A D but about the year A D greatly repaired and enlarged this city and repa red the walls so that now but few portions of the original roman walls exist altho agh there is no doubt the present walls stand on the original foundations they are built of freestone and at af ford a continuous promenade of near ly two miles about the city the old city for the city is now so enlarged that it extends far outside the walls in height they vary but the a average of the width Is five feet protect protected the outside by a strong stone parapet while on the inside there is a wood and iron railing the view from the walls is exten sive and impressive unfortunately the ancient gate gateways nays have been abol dished and modern ones erected in their stead commencing a walk of the walls at the east gate formerly the eastern boundary of old chester but nearly the central point of chester of the present day and proceeding north ward the venerable cathedral attracts attention it Is from this point that it is seen at its best its site is stated to have been beed occupied by a temple dedicated to apollo during the time that the city was inhabited by the roman legionaries the chester cathedral Is a large irregular pile of buildings erected at different periods from the bilth to the lath centuries showing surprisingly pleasing transitions in styles of archi jecture its general style may be called norman gothic the norman remains are extremely fine the most ancient parts of the cathedral appear to be the north transept the north wall of the ante choir part of the east do clo ster and the chapel house the choir is exceptionally beautiful the altar piece is of highly wrought tapes try the subject clymas the bor sor cerer stricken blind is from the celebrated cartoon of raphael the used is as a chamber for business by borne bome of the thi city gibis whose arm were placed upon it of these only the phoenix the crest of the painter 6 and Station Stat loneis eis company put up in ir 1613 remains prom from this towel charles I 1 was a spectator pec of the de feat of his army on ro i ton cuoz sept 24 1640 we now p to the water tower an ancient fortress formerly the dee flowed under this part of the walls and the tower was used to repel the maritime foes leaving the water nater tower we come to water gate between wl ich and the dee which at h gh tide flowed up to its fort is now an axtens ve flat called theRo odee which in olden t mea mes was the champs de mars where athletic contests were held it is now the chester race course races being held there twice a year farther along on the left is the grosvenor bridge with its far famed arch one of the widest arches of masonry in the world at our left within the walls are the castle of wh ch eh cassai s tower is all that i ema ns of the or g nal and the armory which has a fine display of arms we next arr ve at bridge gate at the southward is seen the old bridge which is of consi considerable drable antiquity the suspension bridge bride been a I 1 tile farther up the river is only for the da afe of foot passengers and was erect ed about 40 5 sears ears ago new gate on ohp site of which once stood a postern called pepper gate is now reached the postern was removed and the new gate erected in 1608 now we are back again at east gate and but a short distance from the hotel after lunch we start for the rows chester is laid out upon lines of the greatest cimpl simpi city with four principal streets which retain many old timber buildings which give them an unusual and quaint appear ance intersecting each other nearly at right angles A building on watergate street which is not at all to be slighted bears the date 1652 and on the lower beam the following god gods a I 1 dence in mine inheritance as a grate ful memorial for a deliverance from the plague which visited nearly every other house on the street before leaving chester we must not fail to visit st john s church and ory the foundations of which are said to have been lold in the atory story goes that ethelred king of mercia minding to build a church was told that when he hould sea see a white hind there he should bu id a church which white hind he saw in the place where st john johns s church in re rembrance mem brance of this his picture with a white hind in his hand was placed in Z t an fn A CATHEDRAL roisters are in the north side of the and form a quadrangle f iet fet et square originally origin lly there wre were four walks but the south walk Is now destroyed the western aut rn stands pre eminent in architectural dignity and Is said to have been the work of tb b hot ripley who was appointed in 1485 continuing the walk on the walls the next attract attraction ioa which greets he eye is the phoenix tower formerly the church and can be seen now al though in a state of decay the church is on an elevation over oven banging hanging the north banks of the dee and but a short d stance without the city walls although now much ruined it retains much of its grandeur |
