Chester: City Walls Re-Open
19 May 2010
A 25 metre section of the Chester city walls will be re-opened on May 29th following a walls collapse in 2008 by St Johns Street in the city centre. The walls were initially stabilised and possible causes for the collapse investigated. Work started last summer to dismantle and then rebuild the walls. The work was overseen by Chester archaeologists and English Heritage, each stone was recorded, numbered and stored offsite. In November archaeologists discovered the well-preserved remains of a Roman interval tower beneath the foundation of the city wall (pictured).
The work was carried out by Maysand, masonry and building conservation specialists with consultants Gifford. The rebuilding started in January, despite the freezing temperatures there was minimum disruption to the job. The project has been managed by Chester Renaissance, said Chief Executive Rita Waters, “The City Walls are one of Chester’s most distinctive and treasured attractions, welcoming over 3 million visitors annually. At the same time this section was being rebuilt, work also started on a five month operation to remove vegetation including weeds, self-seeded saplings and ivy from the Walls".
Due to the interest in the walls and their historic importance, in addition to archaeologists monitoring the work; web surfers from around the world were able to follow the work and have a never before seen view through a webcam hosted on the Cheshire West and Chester Council website which also includes photographs taken during the re-building.
In the past, many important towns in the UK were defended by walls, but only in Chester does the complete circuit survive today. The walls are about two miles long, surrounding the historic core of the City and telling the story of Chester. First built by the Romans about 1900 years ago and then extended and developed in the Saxon period (10th century) and by the Normans (12th century). The Walls have been constantly altered, repaired and sometimes even attacked. They survive today because, from the 18th century, they were used as a fashionable walk and public space.
Pictured - A reconstruction painting of a second century interval tower from the Roman fortress. This illustration was commissioned by Cheshire West and Chester’s Historic Environment Team based on their research carried out within the city of Chester.
Copyright Graham Sumner MAAI&S