Chester: A City of Walls and Secrets

Written by: Andrew Godfrey
Edited by: Brinley Knowles

At the beginning of our day we traveled to the city and spent a few hours in Chester before we were taken on a guided tour of the city. Many people went shopping and ate lunch at local restaurants. I personally loved that we got to explore the new and considerably more modern city of Chester before contrasting it with what the city used to be on the tour: a primarily military city. Our group met up with some Lecturers from Glyndŵr University who gave us a walking tour around Chester about the history of the city. We walked along the outer border from when the city was walled and learned about the different people that held control over the city from history. The city has passed through the hands of the Romans, French, and English and continues to transform as a vibrant place today. We learned about how the Welsh who lived just across the border attacked Chester countless times and how the English Civil War effected the city. We even got the see the remains of a Roman amphitheater!

The remains of the Roman Amphitheater. History fact: The Amphitheater is only partially excavated because the second half of it lays under a building that is protected because of it's historical significance.  

We even got to see a Falconer demonstrating! 

The river Dee, which follows through Chester, is tidal!

Today, Chester is as a great place to live, full of history, and a great place to spend money. The city is rich with Roman-era relics as well as each consecutive century’s own unique mark upon the city. Walking down the street the average passerby can see the culmination of multiple centuries of architecture. One can easily spend countless pounds visiting a ton of shops ranging from jewelry to candy shops. Being a historically oriented person, the tour was my favorite part of the whole day-trip. 

I must say that I was blown away by yesterday's visit and guided tour of the great walled city of Chester. I had sort of an idea of what to expect because of our our pre-departure class, but was shocked by how amazing the city is in person. Not only did we, as a group, share in the cities rich history but we, luckily, took a guided tour throughout the city which enabled us to appreciate the structures; but, also to appreciate the innate struggle that the city undertook by being on the border of England and Wales. From shops to history this is truly a city fit for anyone to visit among their travels.