Chester Timeline - Roman Dark Age

Chester and Rome

The Romans invaded Britain in A.D.43, but it was another 30 years before they reached this part of the island. The Roman army arrived in Chester some time between AD 71 and 79 and began to build a great fortress on a headland overlooking the River Dee. Their military surveyors carefully laid out a grid of streets centred on a spot which is now Chester Cross. The fortress was connected by roads to all parts of the Roman province of Britannia. For more than three centuries Chester was one of the most important military bases in the Roman Empire.

[Right] A view of Roman barracks in the north-east corner of the fortress c. AD 220. This area is now the Deanery Field next to the Cathedral. Illustration by Julian Baum from the Reconstructing Roman Chester Project

To learn more about Roman Chester visit the Roman Chester and Roman Stones pages.

The Dark Age - The Lost Centuries

No one knows when Roman rule broke down in Cheshire, but it was probably early in the 5th century. For the next 150 years this area was probably part of the Welsh Kingdom of Powys. We know that a battle took place near Chester in AD 616/617 between the Saxons of Northumbria and the men of Powys. The Saxons were victorious and over a thousand monks from Bangor-on-Dee who had fought on the Welsh side were killed.

By the middle of the century Cheshire had been absorbed into the Saxon kingdom of Mercia. Many Welsh customs continued to survive in Cheshire, which suggests that the local culture was not completely overwhelmed by the Saxon take-over as happened in other English counties; but in truth we know very little about the centuries between AD 400 and AD 800, which is why they are known as the Dark Ages.

[Left] A pilgrim's flask from the shrine of Saint Menas in Egypt, found on the shore at Meols on the north coast of the Wirral. It dates to the 7th century.

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