Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1920-06-24

' eval times as Rare Olde
Chester" on the River Dee.
winchester is hoary with age-so are
Gloucester, Canterbury, Coventry and
countless other places in the kingdom,
writes Katherine Shepherd Smith in
the Springfield Republican.
But should one disembark at Liver
pool with mind intent upon study
ing English lands, people-and, above
all, English history-Chester, sixteen
miles distant would be an ideal place
in which to set out upon such a pill
grimage.
There, more easily than almost any
where else, one can trace the very be-
ginnings of England. CheSters an
cient walls still surround the site of
the Roman deva, or Devana Castro
(camp of the Dee). The Anglo-SaX-
ons called it Chester.
Phantom City of the Past.
The Romans, whose occupancy last
cd four centuries, selected this high,
picturesque spot overlooking the river
and the mountains of North Wales,
for the station of their famous Goth
Legion.
EXCavating a solid rock to a depth
of four to ten feet, upon which to
found the camp, they built roundabout
their defensive walls.
The Roman camp was in the form
Of a parallelogram and Chester fol-
lowed the same lines in the original
streets of the city. The four princi-
pal thoroughfares now cross at right
angles the rocky Roman oblong.
After the Romans there came, in
turn, the Welsh, Saxons, Danes and
NOrmanS. Chester was not taken by
William the COnqueror until 1910.
In viewing the city the walls claim
ones first attention. The present
residents seem to live in a phantom
city of the past, and almost to be
part of that medieval period in
which they are so we'll versed They
tell you, alphabetically, that only on
three of their four sides do the walls
follow the exact lines of those built
by the Romans, and that they are
not of earlier date than the fourteenth
century.
But stroll of two miles upon
these great arms of masonry, which
have encircled the city for seven
hundred years, should satisfy the
most exacting antiquarian.
AS one traverses this now peaceful
promenade, frequent reminders of a
turbulent past are encountered. The
most impressive of these-perhaps
because the most tangible-is the
Phoenix, or King Charles tower,
bearing an inscription recording that
from this tower King Charles I, in
1645, viewed the battle of Rowton
Moor, and a local chronicler relates
how the king witnessed with grow
ing modification and despair the de-
feat of his army and the overthrow
of his last field force"
Besides the King Charles tower,
others bordering the parapet of the
old walls are the Bonwaldesthorne
and the water tower; then there are
those known as Morgan's Mount and
PembertOn's Parlor.
Historic Watch Towers.
During all the assaults made upon
Chester these and other watch
towers, long since dismantled, were
vantage points for the guardians of
the old city, who, when scanning the
valley of the Dee and the mountain
passes of nearby Wales, gave little
heed, we can believe, to the beauty
of the panorama spread out before
them. which today claims the atten-
ton and delight of every beholder.
Bonwaldesthorne, clothed with vines
and reached by the greenery of sway
ing tree tops, is by far the most pic
turesque of towers.
Chester Castle Is rather disap-
pointing, but much as one wants
castle to be up to the mark, every
thing else in Chester is so satisfying
that this one "hy in the ointment"
should be overlooked.
The only remaining relic Of the Nor
man period, during which time the
castle was built, is the julius Caeser
tower, a square keep, which, having
been incased In red sandstone, has
now an adequate appearance of age.
Chester Cathedral, like many others
in England, is interesting, both in IT.
self and for its history. Since the
time of the Roman deva the ground
upon which 1t stands has been occu-
pied by a Christian church.