Rebuilding the city walls
A 25 metre section of the city walls was closed after part of
the walls collapsed on 3 April 2008 close to the Eastgate Clock.
The walls have been stabilised and in summer 2009
we started work to dismantle and then rebuild the
walls.
An opportunity to find out about the walls
The repair of the walls gave us a unique opportuntiy to find out
how the walls were built. As work progressed, photographs of the
progress and a live web cam feed, courtesy of
The Chester Grosvenor and Spa Hotel, was posted on this
website.
Virtual guide
A virtual guide to the walls is available on our
website as well as plaques along the route to give you more
information on the history of the walls.
Who looks after the walls?
The walls are owned and managed by Cheshire West and Chester
Council for the benefit of the public. Their national importance is
recognised by their status as a Scheduled Ancient Monument
Why are the walls so important?
In the past, many important towns were defended by walls,
but only in Chester does the complete circuit survive today.
The walls are about two miles long, surrounding the historic
core of the City and telling the story of Chester
Walls built by many hands
They were first built by the Romans about 1900 years ago and
then extended and developed in the Saxon period (10th century) and
by the Normans (12th century). Since then they have been constantly
altered, repaired and sometimes even attacked. They survive
today because, from the 18th century, they were used as a
fashionable walk and public space.
A patchwork of history
The walls are a patchwork of many different periods of work from
Roman times to the present. The wall was defended by gates and
towers. Many of the medieval towers still survive; some in
ruins like Thimbleby's Tower to the south of the restoration
site.
Many gates were replaced between 1766 and 1807 by the wide,
elegant Georgian arches that we have today. There was a ditch in
front of the Wall but by the end of the Middle Ages it was full of
rotting and stinking rubbish and was covered over. The wall at the
location of the restoration is Medieval in date with later repairs,
the Roman wall having collapsed in late Roman times
The walls follow the course of the Roman wall but no Roman
masonry survives. The Roman wall fell down in the distant past and
so the medieval wall was built on top of the earth and clay rampart
that stood behind it. Parts of this medieval wall still
stand, particularly the stretch with buttresses.
Over the centuries much of it has needed rebuilding. The mound
on which it was built has been cut away and several buildings were
allowed to encroach right up to it including the stables behind the
old Royal Hotel (the predecessor of the Grosvenor Hotel) and the
Wesley Methodist School which became the old central library. This
long history has produced the patchwork of masonry that we have
today.
Roman Interval Tower
The well-preserved remains of a Roman interval tower
were found beneath the foundation of the city wall in
November.
Mike Morris, City Archaeologist said:
'We have been working closely with the stonemasons as they
carefully dismantled the City Wall. When they came to the bottom,
we excavated an archaeological trench to see what lies underneath.
To our surprise, almost as soon as we started digging, a well-made
sandstone wall appeared. It was running across the line of the City
Wall and was more than 1m thick.
This is almost certainly the side wall of a Roman interval
tower. These were rectangular towers about 6m square, placed
regularly every 65m or so along the rear of the main fortress wall.
They acted as lookout points and as bases for Roman artillery.
Several of these have been found over the last hundred years and
we knew there should be one in this vicinity but it is remarkable
that we hit on exactly the right spot and that it has survived so
well in this location. The last time we had the chance to
investigate one of these was during the development at Abbey Green
more than 30 years ago. Although we know a lot about the
archaeology of Chester, there will always be exciting unexpected
discoveries like this.
The wall will be left intact and the city wall rebuilt above it.
However, a tumble of large stone blocks was found on each side of
the Roman wall, probably from the collapse of the tower 
sometime after the fortress was abandoned and before the
City Wall was built. It is hoped that these will be reused in the
rebuild so that that something of this hidden history is visible
for future generations.'
A reconstruction painting of a second century interval tower
from the Roman fortress. This illustration was commissioned by
CWACs Historic Environment Team based on their research carried out
within the city of Chester. Copyright Graham Sumner MAAI&S
For photographs
of the trial pit visit the gallery.
Rebuilding the Wall
Why did the walls collapse?
We do not know exactly why the collapse happened but it was
probably because of the way that it has been patched and repaired
in the past. The collapse happened at the junction of two old
repairs. Rainwater seeped down between the paving stones of the
wall walk causing separation between previous repairs
and leaving a narrow section of wall unstable.
How will the wall be repaired?
The repair of the walls gives us a unique
opportunity to find out how the walls were built. The wall is being
carefully dismantled and examined until the engineers are satisfied
that all the structure in danger of collapsing has been removed.
Archaeologists are on site throughout, checking and recording the
historic fabric.
The wall core will be rebuilt with stone and modern
engineering materials designed to bind the various structures
together. The ancient stones will be replaced in their original
locations as far as possible.
The walls repair project is managed by
Cheshire West and Chester Council through Chester Renaissance. The
contractor is Maysand and the consultants are Gifford.
Contact
Magnus Theobald, Project Managing the construction works 01244
402043