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Situated about 40 miles west and slightly south of Manchester, and reached by the M56 Motorway directly, Chester makes a pleasant and rewarding day trip out of Manchester.
When Daniel Defoe, author of "Robinson Crusoe" visited Chester, he described it as "a city well worth describing", and when James Boswell, another great writer, came to the city in the 18th century he said "I was so delighted that I found it difficult to quit". Chester has much to offer by way of attractions for the tourist.
This 2000 year old city, with its encircling walls, is a good base from which to tour the Wirral Peninsular and North Wales.
As the county town of Cheshire, it is often regarded as Britain's most outstanding "black and white" city, on account of the large number of half-timbered medieval buildings which survive in its centre. Of these, perhaps its unique 13th century "Rows", half-timbered galleried shops on two levels, are the most distinctive examples.
The city is also home to the largest Roman Amphitheatre in Britain, the proud Victorian Eastgate Clock set on the city walls, and a magnificent cathedral dedicated to St Werburgh, with a 900 year old history.
It was in Chester Cathedral that the first ever performance was made of Handel's "Messiah". Copies of Handel's original manuscript are on view in the cathedral. Also available are cathedral tours and a restaurant which serves lunches and light refreshments.

Left to Right: the distinctive ornate clock on the city walls; Chester's 13th Century Rows; shoppers; the city walls.

On certain days the city's Town Crier can be heard shouting "Oyez! Oyez!" around its neat clean streets. Chester was originally settled by the Romans as the fortress called Deva, named after the River Dee on which the city stands, and eventually it was to become one of Britain's largest garrison for Roman soldiers.
After the Romans abandoned Britain in the 5th century AD, and Chester, like most of Britain, fell prey to marauding Viking invaders. By the 10th century, Aethelflaeda, a daughter of King Alfred the Great, had moved to Chester, driven out the Norsemen, and strengthened and extended the city walls.
After 1066, William the Conqueror appointed his cruel nephew, Hugh the Wolf, (Hugh Lupus) as the first Earl of Chester, a title still held by the monarch's son, Prince Charles, to this day. Hugh immediately set about building Chester Castle to secure his title against a largely unsympathetic and subdued populace.
Chester and the surrounding County of Cheshire, along with Yorkshire, suffered the savage "harrying of the north" where one tenth of the population were slaughtered, villages, townships and fields set to the torch or razed to the ground in retaliation for Saxon resistance to the new Norman occupying force. In the 1086 Domesday Survey, Cheshire is descibed as "wasta", that is, simply, "wasteland" with little or no livestock, grain, property or produce worth noting for taxation or census purposes; the Normans were nothing if not thorough!

The Deva Experience

The "Deva Experience" is an audio-visual multimedia exhibition which gives a vivid introduction to Chester's Roman origins. Also worth visiting is the Broadcasting Museum with its "On The Air" exhibitions, chronicling the development of British radio and television broadcasting, from its early pioneers to the present day.

Town Hall, Northgate Street, Chester, Cheshire. Tel: 0845 647 7868. Website: www.visitchester.com.
The Chester Visitor's Centre was Britain's first Tourist Information Centre, and still functions as such, while displays and exhibitions relating to Chester can be viewed at the Heritage Centre, the award-winning Grosvenor Museum. Chester Toy and Doll Museum is also highly recommended. Chester offers superb shopping facilities, and is hailed as one of the UK's premier shopping centres. A Shopping Guide to the City is available from the Tourist Information Centre.

• Roman Cheshire
• Tours of Chester

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