Chester City Walls - Eastern Section 1

Wishing Steps to Newgate

Average Walking Time = approximately 5 minutes (not accounting for sightseeing)

 

34. Wishing Steps

The wishing steps were built in 1785 to join two levels of the Walls as part of the creation a walkway on which to promenade. Tradition has it that anyone who makes a wish at the foot of the steps and then runs up and down them without taking a breadth will have their wish come true. One version of the tale suggests this is a particular 'facility' for young maidens aspiring to wedlock.

 

 

 

 

 

35. WatchTower

The base of a watch tower. This had been a sniper position during the Civil War. Consequently, it was a particular target for Parliamentary fire and there are still marks from their cannon balls on the Walls below the tower (best observed from the Roman Gardens below). The tower affords spectacular views across the river and over to St John's church (where the Parliamentary cannons were positioned in the churchyard).

 

 

 

 

36. Selected View: From Watch Tower across the Groves

Standing at this point you are looking over the Groves. During Roman and Saxon times this area was part of the river port. During the 18^th century it became a fashionable place (by the river and with an avenue of trees) to Promenade and was connected to the Walls walkway by Recorder's Steps. Today it remains a pleasure ground with cafes, ice cream stalls, a Victorian bandstand (still used), boating opportunities and a place to feed the ducks and swans.

The higher ground above the Groves is believed to have been the area of early Saxon settlement (wick). The Saxons may have preferred to live outside the Roman ruins at this time. With the founding of St John's Church (on the Chester Millennium Trail) probably in the 7^th century - the area grew to become be an important ecclesiastical precinct especially after the arrival of the Normans. It was to this church that Edgar came after being rowed along the river by other British princes in 973 - an act that demonstrated his overlordship. St John's became Chester's first Cathedral in 1075 (until 1102) and remained an important ecclesiastical centre through the Middle Ages. For centuriies a bishop's palace was maintained near to St John's.  The Old Bishop's Palace, built in the 18^th century to replace a medieval equivalent, can still be seen. It is now a private residence.

During the Civil War the Parliamentary Forces had a battery in St John's churchyard. This bombarded the South Eastern sections of the City Walls.

Below the Walls at this point are the Roman Gardens. The gardens contain Roman artefacts from over the city and include a replica hypocaust (central heating system). These gardens can be accessed from steps and then a gateway in the Wall on Park Street, or by descending at Newgate then passing under it to enter the gardens at their Northern entrance on Little St John Street. They can also be accessed from the Groves. The gardens have not always been a tranquil retreat but were once the site of a clay pipe factory and a cock fighting pit.

 

37. Nine Houses

Six (once nine) small cottages built around 1650 using timber and sandstone. They are the only pre-19^th century almshouses in Chester. These are also on the Chester Millennium Trail.

 

 

 

 

38. Site of Civil War Breach in Wall

During the Civil War the Parliamentary forces successfully overcame the outworks created to protect the suburbs by building a bridge of boats to cross the river near the present Dee Lane. This supplied a gun emplacement in St John's churchyard from which the Parliamentarian's bombarded sections of the Eastern Wall. The largest breach was made in the Wall at this point. However, troops were prevented from storming it because of the actions of citizens who threw material into the breach including furniture and bedding. The breach is best seen from the Roman Gardens which can be accessed via Little St John Street or a gateway through the Wall from Park Street.