Chester Timeline

Here is a list of the major events that have occured during Chester's rich history. Stretch from the early days of Roman Occupation to the turn of the last millennium.

There is also a more detailed look at the Timeline of Chester.

0AD - 100

• AD 79 Roman fortress of Deva constructed in the territory of the Cornovii tribe by Legion II Adiutrix
• 80's Legion II Adiutrix transferred to the Danube and replaced by Legion XX Valeria Victrix. Growth of the civilian settlement outside the fortress
• c 100 Beginning of reconstruction of the fortress in stone

101-500

• c 120-165 Much of the legion moved north to build and garrison the Hadrianic and Antonine frontiers of the province; Chester neglected
• Early 3rd cent Major reconstruction of the fortress
• c 380 The Romans abandon Chester
• 5th-6th cents Chester part of the Welsh kingdom of Powys. Appearance of the first evidence for Christianity in the area

501-999

• 603 Meeting of St Augustine with the British bishops at Urbs Legion (Chester)
• Early 7th cent Chester and the surrounding area absorbed into the English kingdom of Mercia
• 616 Battle of Chester. Aethelfrith of Northumbria defeats the Mercians and their Welsh allies; nearly 1200 monks from Bangor on Dee slain.
• 689 St John's Church founded by Ethelred of Mercia
• 893/4 Danish army overwinters in Chester
• Mid-9th cent Beginning of the Chester mint, striking silver pennies
• 907 Aethelflaed, 'Lady of the Mercians', founds a burh at Chester as a defence against raids from the Danelaw and Irish Sea Vikings; the Roman fortress walls are repaired and extended and church of Saints Peter and Paul (the future Cathedral) rededicated as a shrine to St Werburgh, a Mercian princess. Chester becomes the major centre of power in the north-west of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom.
• 924 Chester joins the Welsh revolt against English rule; subdued by Edward the Elder
• 973 King Edgar crowned at Bath, then rowed on the River Dee by vassal kings from north-western Britain as a token of submission
• 980 The Vikings attack Chester, doing great damage

1000

• 1016 Chester and Cheshire ravaged by Edmund Ironside and Earl Uhtred of Northumbria because Cheshire men would not come out against the Danes
• 1059 Edwin becomes the last Saxon Earl of Chester
• 1066 The Norman Conquest
• 1070 William the Conqueror visits Chester while putting down rebellion in the north; Gherbod the Fleming appointed the first Norman Earl of Chester but dies before taking up his post; motte-and-bailey castle built and County Palatine established, giving the earl royal powers and privileges.
• 1071 Hugh of Avranches (nicknamed Lupus, 'The Wolf') appointed Earl of Chester
• 1075 St John's Church rebuilt as a cathedral by Bishop Peter; work stopped on his death in 1085
• 1086 Domesday Book gives a detailed description of Chester, its port and its laws
• 1092 Hugh Lupus, second Earl of Chester, refounds St Werburgh's Church as a Benedictine abbey
• 1095 See of Chester translated from St John's to Coventry

1100

• 1120's Southern sector of the City Walls built
• 1140 Major fire in Chester
• c 1150 St Mary's Nunnery founded by Earl Ranulph II; its site is now the Police Headquarters building
• c 1150-1200 Western sector of the City Walls built
• 1180 Major fire destroys much of Chester
• c 1190 St John's Hospital (Little St Johns) founded by Earl Ranulph III; its site is now the Blue Coat School

1200

• 1227 The Dee Bridge collapses during a flood.
• c 1227 William the Clerk, first known Mayor of Chester
• c 1236 Dominican (Black) Friary founded. Its site lay between St Mary's Nunnery and Watergate Street.
• 1237 John the Scot, last of the line of Norman earls, dies
• 1237/8 Franciscan (Grey) Friary founded north of Watergate Street
• 1245/6 King Henry III visits Chester during campaigns against David of Wales
• 1246-53 Major building work at the Castle
• 1254 Prince Edward (later Edward I) becomes the first royal Earl of Chester
• 1275 Kaleyard Gate cut through City Walls by monks of St Werburgh's
• 1277 Edward I uses Chester as his base for the conquest of North Wales
• 1278 Great fire destroys almost all the buildings within the City Walls
• 1279/80 The Dee Bridge swept away
• 1290 Grant of land to the Carmelite (White) Friars enables them to build friary in White Friars Lane
• 1292/3 A new outer gateway built at Chester Castle

1300

• 1323 The Water Tower and spur wall from the north-west corner of the City Walls built at a cost of £100 to protect the harbour
• 1349 The Black Death sweeps Chester
• 1353 Edward the Black Prince, Earl of Chester, visits Chester in great state
• 1375 First known performance of the Chester Mystery Plays

1400

• 1403 Henry, Prince of Wales, issues an order expelling the Welsh from Chester
• 1488 Earliest reference to the High Cross
• 1499 The Dee Bridge rebuilt in stone

1500

• 1506 Henry VII grants Chester its 'Great Charter'
• 1508-10 St Ursula's Hospital founded following bequest of Roger Smith
• 1538 Three Chester friaries surrendered on 15 August during the Dissolution of the monasteries
• 1540 St Werburgh's Abbey and St Mary's Nunnery surrendered. First races on the Roodee.
• 1541 St Werburgh's Abbey becomes Chester Cathedral; John Bird appointed the first bishop. The King's School is founded by Henry VIII.
• 1547 St Ursula's Hospital dissolved, but continues as Sir Thomas Smith's Almshouses
• 1572 A great part of central steeple of St John's Church collapses
• 1581 The choir and chapels of St John's pulled down

1600

• 1601 Water tower built on the Bridge Gate by John Tyrer
• 1603 The plague ravages Chester
• 1642 Start of the Civil War. Chester declares for King Charles, who visits the city in September.
• 1643 Ramparts built as outworks to defend the suburbs. In August the first attacks by Parliamentary forces driven off.

1644

• March: Prince Rupert visits Chester and improves the defences
• October: start of the Parliamentary blockade and siege 

1645

• March: Prince Maurice raises the siege but it is quickly resumed
• May: the King's army raises the siege
• September: Parliamentary forces capture the suburbs; King's army defeated at Rowton Moor outside Chester; city closely besieged
• December; city suffers heavy bombardment.

• 1646: (3 February) City surrenders to Parliamentary forces; the Mayor and Corporation put out of office; Cathedral and bishoprics abolished.
• 1660 Restoration of Charles II; the Cathedral and bishopric re-established.
• 1668 Charles Earl of Derby becomes Mayor and presents the City with a silver gilt mace and a scabbard for the City Sword
• 1688 The first book to be printed in Chester, the 'Academy of Armory', is published
• 1695-8 Exchange built in the Market Square
• 1696 The Great Recoinage, supervised by Edmund Halley, the famous astronomer, in Chester Castle. Old hammered silver coins melted down and re-issued as milled coins.

1700

• 1704 City Walls partially rebuilt and converted to promenades
• 1717 Blue Coat School built on the site of St John's Hospital, destroyed during the Civil War
• 1745 Jacobite rebellion; gun batteries built at Chester Castle.
• 1766 Medieval East Gate demolished, revealing remains of Roman gateway
• 1769 Present East Gate built
• 1773 Chester's first purpose-built theatre opens
• 1775 'Chester Chronicle' established
• 1779 Chester-Nantwich canal built
• 1781/2 Medieval Bridge Gate demolished and replaced by present arch
• 1785 Chester's first hotel, the 'Royal Hotel' built on the site of the present Grosvenor Hotel
• 1788 Medieval Water Gate demolished and replaced by the present arch
• 1788-1818 Rebuilding of Chester Castle by Thomas Harrison

1800

• 1803 The Pentice Court against the south side of St Peter's Church is demolished
• 1807 Medieval North Gate and gaol demolished and replaced by the present arch
• 1817 First grandstand built on the Roodee
• 1832 Grosvenor Bridge opened by Princess Victoria
• 1831 Ship Gate dismantled
• 1835 New City Council established
• 1839 Chester College opens
• 1840 First railway lines from Chester to Birkenhead and Crewe
• 1848 Chester General railway station built
• 1862 Exchange destroyed by fire
• 1863 Opening of the Market Hall in Northgate Street
• 1866 Last public execution in Chester
• 1867 Grosvenor Park opens
• 1868-76 Restoration of Chester Cathedral by Sir George Gilbert Scott
• 1869 Town Hall opened by the Prince of Wales
• 1875 Opening of Northgate railway station
• 1879 Tramway opens from the General railway station to Saltney
• 1881 North-west tower of St John's Church collapses
• 1886 The Grosvenor Museum opens
• 1896 Introduction of electric lighting

1900

• 1903 Electrification of tramways
• 1909 First cinema in Chester opens in Eastgate Street
• 1910 Mills on the Old Dee Bridge demolished
• 1923 Present Suspension Bridge across the Dee built
• 1929 Roman amphitheatre discovered
• 1931 Chester Zoo opens
• 1938 Newgate completed. First woman Mayor, Phyllis Brown
• 1966 First section of the Inner Ring Road opened
• 1968 Opening of the Gateway Theatre
• 1969 Closure of Northgate Railway Station
• 1974 New City Council established under local government reorganisation; Cathedral Bell Tower opens
• 1975 Chester Heritage Centre opens in former St Michael's Church
• 1979 Chester's 1900th Anniversary Celebrations
• 1992 Grant of Lord Mayoralty by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
• 1995 Rebuilding of the Forum completed
• 1998 500th anniversary of the Midsummer Watch Parades

2000

• 2000 Chester Millennium Festival Trail.