Chester city walls

Chester has one of the most complete city walls in England and it's possible to walk all the way around them. In recent years a section of wall needed some renovation work and in the process all sorts of interesting historical artefacts turned up as the walls, originally built by the Romans, have been added to and modified by Medieval workers and later by the Victorians.

The photomontage below shows the river Dee in January, when there are no leaves on the trees and you can see how the city wall winds around the city centre.

When we walk from our holiday cottage in Handbridge into the city we often join the wall by the old Dee bridge (on the far left of this picture). From here we can enjoy a traffic free walk along the wall to Eastgate Street which is in the heart of the shopping centre.

The photo below shows a view of Handbridge, taken from the city wall.

The stone walls date back to around 100AD and there would have been turf and timber walls some time before that. The walls have been rebuilt and expanded over the centuries to leave us with a continuous two mile walkway around the city centre.

The Eastgate clock (shown below) has become a symbol of Chester. It marks the place where the wall crosses the main shopping street and is reputed to be the second most photographed timepiece in the world after Big Ben.

Eastgate was originally the main entrance to the city and the clock was added to the arch to celebrate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1897.

Please note that some sections of the walls have steps and are not suitable for wheelchairs or prams (although we have been around with a lightweight buggy and carried it up and down the steps without too much difficulty).

Find out more:

• You can find photos and artwork alongside an in depth history in 'Chester - a virtual stroll around the walls'
• The Grosvenor museum produce a fact sheet on the Eastgate clock.