Chester

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Chester as I have learnt means fort or castle in Roman terms, so we were not disappointed to see much evidence of Roman occupation when we arrived in it. There was a Roman Amphitheatre near the car park and Roman burial sites at the beginning of our walk.

We chose to walk along the river and then back to Chester to meet up with Canon Anthony before evening prayer. The riverbank proved popular with many other dog walkers, and we picnicked overlooking the river with several rowing boat clubs along it. Passing an enormous mansion, we were informed that it used to belong to the Duke of Westminster whose base is Chester. He also had significant land in London. The first Duke of Westminster is buried in Chester Cathedral we later discovered.

Our walk brought us back to the city and we walked along the walls which with the rowing clubs reminded us of York. Our 7-mile walk warranted a tea shop and so a suitable one was found, the ginger and marmalade cake well worth the calories! Chester was besieged during the English Civil War and Charles 1 visited twice and to get an unobstructed view of the battle climbed a tower which for ever afterwards is known as the Charles Tower. This may seem an irrelevant piece of information, but it links with our visit to the Cathedral.

Arriving at the Cathedral we noted the red colour and the Cathedral Logo which is used for the Passports. We were greeted by Curate Tina and as the shop and cafe close at our we quickly had our passports stamped and availed ourselves of a retail opportunity.

We met up with Canon Anthony who took us through to the new offices of the Dean, which had been a bank, and we had a cuppa with him and Dean Tim. We had a very good chat with them both. Dean Tim had been to the Holy Land a few years ago as part of a Christian and Muslim group so was very honoured to be able to go inside the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

Dean Tim also explained that the Red Rose of Lancashire and White of Yorkshire came about due to the colour of the sandstone changing from West, red to East white.

Refreshed in mind and body we had our photos taken in front of the Pilgrim Window and then looked around the cathedral which has treasures ranging from a 14th century wooden elephant on the end of a pew in the choir and beautiful mosaics telling stories from the Old Testament on the walls to modern sculpture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a shrine to St Werburgh who was an abbess of Ely and whose name the original church was named for. Her relics were lost during the reformation. A beautiful stained-glass window has her featured:

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The following day the cathedral was having a service to commemorate the beheading of Charles the First who is thought to by some to be a martyr and has a feast day on that date. There was even a stained-glass window in the cloisters to him.

Walking round the cloisters we were encouraged by Verger Sheila, who proved to be particularly useful on the history front, to go into the garden and admire the fountain commemorating Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman, John 4:14, But anyone who drinks the water I give them will never be thirsty.

We attended Evening Prayer, led by Curate Tina, accompanied by Dean Tim and Canon Antony, and were touched that they prayed for Jeel.