The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1921-01-20

so distinct q flavor of medl-
eyal times as Rare Ode
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 Mt Liver
pool with a 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 pill
grimage.
There. more easily than almost any
where else, one can trace the very be-
ginnings of England. Chester's an
Gent 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
ed four centuries, selected this high,
picturesque spot overlooking the river
and the mountains of North Wales,
for the station of their famous 10th
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. s-
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 Sour 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 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, apologetically, 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.
Rut stroll OF two miles upoI
these great arms Of masonry, which
have encircled the city for sever
hundred years, should satisfy the
most exActing antiquarian.
AS one traverses this now peacefu
promenade, frequent reminders OF
turbulent past are encountered. III
most impressive Of these-perhap'
because the most tangible-is I'M
Phoenix, or King Charles tower
bearing an inscription recording tina
from this tower King Charles I, II
1645. viewed the battle of Rowtol
Moor. and a local chronicler relate
how the king witnessed with grow
; ing modification and despair the de
feat of his army and the overthrow
r Of his last field force"
( Resides the King Charles tower
b others bordering the parapet of tn
old walls are the Bonwaldesthorn
. and the water tower; then there ar
+ those known as Morgan's Mount an
e Pemberton's Parlor.
f Historic Watch Towers.
4 During all the assaults made upo
l. Chester these and other waite
y towers, long since dismantled, wer
d vantage points for Che guardians
IL the old city, who. when scanning tn
J. valley Of the Dee and the mountai
A passes of nearby Wales. gave litt
Is heed. we can believe, to the beau'
"a of the panorama spread out befol
D. them. which today claims the attel
ton and delight Of every beholder-
"a Bonwaldesthorne clothed with viz
~ and reached by the greenery OF swa
70 ing tree tops, is by far the most pi
turesque of towers.
W Chester Castle Is rather disa
:. pointing, but much as one wants
~. castle TO be up to the mark. ever
~ thing else in Chester Is so satisfyil
M that this one "fly in the ointmen
Iv should be overlooked.
90 The only remaining relic of the Nc
n. man period. during which time I
20 castle was built, is the julius Caes
tower, a square keep, which. havi
h. been incased in red sandstone, h
., now an adequate appearance o. a!
- Chester Cathedral. like many othe
:, in England, is interesting, both in
self and for its history. Since {
- time of the Roman deva the grou
r. upon which II stands has been oc'