Chester Timeline - Viking to Norman

Vikings - Warriors and Settlers

Vikings from Denmark and Norway descended on the British Isles in the 9th and 10th centuries. At first they came in small groups, as raiders and plunderers. As time went by their numbers grew and their ambitions changed towards settlement and conquest.

Chester re-emerges into the light of history during this period. The Viking Great Army which ravaged great areas of England for a number of years stayed within the old Roman walls of Chester for the winter of AD 896, before moving off to plunder North Wales. In the early 10th century Viking settlers who had been living in Dublin crossed the Irish Sea and settled in Wirral.

A Viking trading settlement grew up on the south side of Chester in the area which is now Lower Bridge Street; the abandoned church of St. Olave (dedicated to Olaf Haraldsson, King of Norway) is the only trace of it which survives.

Chester became a very important town at this period as a frontier post and a trading centre between Saxon England and the Vikings who controlled the lands round the Irish Sea. The mint which made Saxon pennies at Chester was one of the largest in England - indeed, for a period in the 10th century, it was the largest in England. Most of the coins were destined for trade with the Vikings.

[Right] Part of the Castle Esplanade Hoard found in 1950 about 200 metres west of the Museum. A small pot contained hundreds of silver pennies, silver ingots and pieces of 'hacksilber' silver jewellery cut up into small pieces to be used as a form of currency. It is believed to have belonged to a Viking trader and been lost around AD 980.

Norman - Conquest and Devastation

The Normans gained control of England with the victory of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. His hold on the country was uncertain for a time; there were revolts which brought swift and savage revenge from the Normans. This lead to the harrying of the North when William's troops devastated the northern counties, including Cheshire, in 1069 and 1070. Chester itself was heavily damaged with over 200 houses destroyed.

The Domesday Book of 1086 describes the state of Cheshire then and as it had been twenty years earlier in 1066. Many places which had been prosperous before the conquest are described as now waste, a clear sign of the destruction wrought by the Norman army in 1070.

Gherbod the Fleming, the first Norman Earl of Chester was appointed in 1070. He stayed in England for only a year, to be replaced by Hugh Lupus (the Wolf), nephew of King William. The Earls of Chester were among the most powerful men in England and often pursued their own interests rather than the King's. They retained an important role in English politics until the earldom was annexed to the Crown in 1253. The title Earl of Chester now belongs to the monarch's eldest son.

Chester Castle was begun in 1070, with a wooden keep on an artificial mound south-west of the old Roman walls. Additions and repairs to the original castle went on until 1237 when stone began to replace wood. King Henry III gave orders in 1246 for the wooden palisade of the bailey (outer courtyard) to be replaced with lime and stone.

 

[Above] The outer gateway of Chester Castle built 1292-3. This painting by Moses Griffith dates to the end of the 18th century.

 

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