Editing Chester (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Chester}}
[[Charles Leigh (physician)|Charles Leigh]] concluded in 1701 that there was probably a British city called Genuina (or Gunia) before the arrival of the Romans.<ref>{{cite book |title=The natural history of Lancashire, Cheshire, and the Peak in Derbyshire with an account of the British, Phœnician, Armenian, Gr. and Rom. antiquities in those parts |last=Leigh |first=Charles |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A50038.0001.001/1:12?rgn=div1;view=fulltext |date=1700 |access-date=1 February 2023 |via=Text Creation Partnership |author-link=Charles Leigh (physician) |location=Oxford}}</ref>

===Roman===
{{Main|Deva Victrix}}
[[File:DevaMinervaPlan(bq).jpg|thumb|Diorama of the Roman Legionary fortress [[Deva Victrix]] in [[Grosvenor Museum]], Chester]]
The [[Roman Britain|Roman]] [[Legio II Adiutrix]] during the reign of the [[Emperor Vespasian]] founded Chester in AD 79 as a "[[Castra|castrum]]" or Roman fort with the name ''[[Deva Victrix]]''. It was established in the land of the Celtic [[Cornovii (Midlands)|Cornovii]], according to ancient [[cartographer]] [[Ptolemy]],<ref>{{harvnb|Ptolemy|1992|loc=Book II, Chapter 2}}</ref> as a [[castra|fortress]] during the Roman expansion northward,<ref>{{harvnb|Mason|2001|p=42}}</ref> and was named Deva either after the goddess of the Dee,<ref>Salway, P. (1993) ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain''. ISBN CN 1634</ref> or directly from the British name for the river.<ref>{{cite web |title=A History of the County of Chester: Volume 5 part 1 |editor=C.P. Lewis |editor2=A.T. Thacker |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=19182#n6 |publisher=British-history.ac.uk |year=2003 |access-date=10 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216072341/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=19182#n6 |archive-date=16 December 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> The 'victrix' part of the name was taken from the title of the [[Legio XX Valeria Victrix|Legio XX ''Valeria Victrix'']] which was based at Deva.<ref>{{harvnb|Mason|2001|p=128}}</ref>  Central Chester's four main roads, Eastgate, Northgate, Watergate and Bridge Street, follow routes laid out at this time.

A civilian settlement grew around the military base, which probably originated from trade with the fortress.<ref>{{harvnb|Mason|2001|p=101}}</ref> The fortress was 20% larger than other fortresses in the [[Roman Britain|Roman province of Britannia]] built around the same time at [[York]] ([[Eboracum]]) and [[Caerleon]] ([[Isca Augusta]]);<ref>{{harvnb|Carrington|2002|pp=33–35}}</ref> this has led to the suggestion that the fortress, rather than London ([[Londinium]]), was intended to become the capital of the [[Roman province]] of [[Britannia Superior]].<ref>{{harvnb|Carrington|2002|p=46}}</ref> The civilian [[Chester Roman Amphitheatre|amphitheatre]], which was built in the 1st century, could seat between 8,000 and 10,000 people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%2526+heritage/time/roman/art42592 |title=Revealed: New discoveries at Chester's Roman amphitheatre |first=Graham |last=Spicer |publisher=Culture24.org.uk |date=9 January 2007 |access-date=16 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421162035/http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%2526+heritage/time/roman/art42592 |archive-date=21 April 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> It is the largest known military amphitheatre in Britain,<ref>{{harvnb|Carrington|2002|pp=54–56}}</ref> and is also a [[Scheduled Monument]].<ref>{{PastScape|mnumber=69224|mname=Chester Amphitheatre|access-date=10 March 2008}}</ref> The [[Minerva's Shrine, Chester|Minerva Shrine]] in the Roman quarry is the only rock-cut Roman shrine still [[in situ]] in Britain.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1375783 |desc=Roman shrine to Minerva |access-date=15 March 2008}}</ref>

The fortress was garrisoned by the [[Roman legion|legion]] until at least the late 4th century.<ref name="Roman Chester journal">{{cite journal |last=Lewis |first=C.P. |author2=Thacker, A.T. |title=Roman Chester |journal=A History of the County of Chester: Volume 5 Part 1: The City of Chester: General History and Topography |pages=9–15 |publisher=British-History.ac.uk |year=2003 |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=19183 |access-date=15 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805100123/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=19183 |archive-date=5 August 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Although the army had abandoned the fortress by 410 when the Romans [[End of Roman rule in Britain|retreated from Britannia]],<ref>{{harvnb|Mason|2001|pp=209–210}}</ref> the [[Romano-British]] civilian settlement continued (probably with some Roman veterans staying behind with their wives and children) and its occupants probably continued to use the fortress and its defences as protection from raiders from the [[Irish Sea]].<ref name="Roman Chester journal"/>

===Medieval===
[[File:Castle Gate. Chester 02753.jpg|thumb|Castle Gate, Chester {{Circa|1781}}]]
[[File:Chester Castle 02790.jpg|thumb|[[Chester Castle]] {{Circa|1781}}]]
After the Roman troops withdrew, the Romano-British established several petty kingdoms. Chester is thought to have become part of [[Kingdom of Powys|Powys]].  ''Deverdoeu'' was a [[Welsh language|Welsh]] [[Welsh placenames|name]] for Chester as late as the 12th century (cf ''Dyfrdwy'', Welsh for the river Dee). Another, attested in the 9th-century ''[[Historia Brittonum|History of the Britons]]'' traditionally attributed to [[Nennius]], is ''{{nowrap|Cair Legion}}''<ref name=mommy>[[Nennius]] ({{abbr|attrib.|Traditional attribution}}). [[Theodor Mommsen]] ({{abbr|ed.|Editor}}). [[s:la:Historia Brittonum#VI. CIVITATES BRITANNIAE|''Historia Brittonum'', VI.]] Composed after AD&nbsp;830. {{in lang|la}} Hosted at [[s:la:Main Page|Latin Wikisource]].</ref><ref name=nashford>Ford, David Nash. "[http://www.britannia.com/history/ebk/articles/nenniuscities.html The 28 Cities of Britain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415120312/http://www.britannia.com/history/ebk/articles/nenniuscities.html |date=15 April 2016 }}" at Britannia. 2000.</ref><ref name=shusher>Newman, John Henry &&nbsp;al. [http://www.mocavo.co.uk/Lives-of-the-English-Saints-St-Gilbert-Prior-of-Sempringham-Volume-3/527392/459 ''Lives of the English Saints: St. German, Bishop of Auxerre'', Ch.&nbsp;X: "Britain in 429, A.&nbsp;D.",<!--sic--> p.&nbsp;92.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321234154/http://www.mocavo.co.uk/Lives-of-the-English-Saints-St-Gilbert-Prior-of-Sempringham-Volume-3/527392/459 |date=21 March 2016 }} James Toovey (London), 1844.</ref> ("[[caer|Fort]]" or "[[civitas|City]] of the Legion"); this later developed into ''{{lang|cy|Caerlleon}}'' and then the [[modern Welsh]] ''{{lang|cy|Caer}}''. (The town's importance is noted by its taking the simpler form in each case, while [[Isca Augusta]] in [[Monmouthshire]], another important legionary base, was known first as [[Caerleon on the Usk]], and now as [[Caerleon]]). King Arthur is said to have fought his ninth battle at the "city of the legions" (''Caerlleon'') and later [[Augustine of Canterbury|St Augustine]] came to the city to try to unite the church, and held his synod with the Welsh Bishops.

In 616, [[Æthelfrith of Northumbria]] defeated a Welsh army at the brutal and decisive [[Battle of Chester]] and probably established the [[Anglo-Saxon]] position in the area from then on.{{cn|date=March 2023}} The [[Northumbria]]n [[Anglo-Saxons]] used an [[Old English]] equivalent of the British name, ''{{lang|ang|Legacæstir}}'', which was current until the 11th century, when, in a further parallel with Welsh usage, the first element fell out of use and the simple name Chester emerged. In 689, King [[Æthelred of Mercia]] founded the Minster Church of West Mercia on what is considered to be an early Christian site: it is known as the Minster of St John the Baptist, Chester (now St John's Church) which later became the first cathedral. Much later, the body of Æthelred's niece, St Werburgh, was removed from Hanbury in Staffordshire in the 9th century and, to save it from desecration by Danish marauders was reburied in the Church of SS Peter & Paul – later to become the Abbey Church (the present cathedral). Her name is still remembered in St Werburgh's Street, which passes alongside the cathedral, and near the city walls,{{cn|date=March 2023}} and in [https://www.stwerburghchester.co.uk St Werburgh's Roman Catholic church] in Grosvenor Park Road.

The Anglo-Saxons extended and strengthened the walls of Chester to protect the city against the Danes, who occupied it for a short time until [[Alfred the Great|Alfred]] seized all the cattle and laid waste on the surrounding land to drive them out. It was Alfred's daughter [[Æthelflæd]], Lady of the Mercians, that built the new Anglo-Saxon ''burh''.{{cn|date=March 2023}} A new Church dedicated to St Peter alone was founded in AD 907 by the Lady Æthelfleda at what was to become the Cross. In 973, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that, two years after his coronation at Bath, [[King Edgar's council at Chester|King Edgar of England came to Chester where he held his court]] in a palace in a place now known as Edgar's Field near the old Dee bridge in Handbridge. Taking the helm of a barge, he was rowed the short distance up the River Dee from Edgar's Field to the great Minster Church of St John the Baptist by six (the monk Henry Bradshaw records he was rowed by eight kings) tributary kings called ''reguli''.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

In 1071, King William the Conqueror<ref name="Cunliffe2001">{{cite book
|last=Cunliffe
|first=Barry W.
|title=The Penguin atlas of British & Irish history
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o4IZAQAAIAAJ
|access-date=30 December 2010
|year=2001
|publisher=Penguin
|isbn=978-0-14-100915-5
|page=72
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528132514/http://books.google.com/books?id=o4IZAQAAIAAJ
|archive-date=28 May 2013
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref name="Britannicainc1995">{{cite book
|title=The New Encyclopædia Britannica: Micropædia
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iI1WAAAAMAAJ
|access-date=30 December 2010
|year=1995
|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica
|isbn=978-0-85229-605-9
|page=180
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528125625/http://books.google.com/books?id=iI1WAAAAMAAJ
|archive-date=28 May 2013
|url-status=live
}}</ref> made [[Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester|Hugh d'Avranches]], who built [[Chester Castle]], the first [[Earl of Chester|Earl of Chester (second creation)]]. From the 14th to the 18th century, the city's prominent position in [[North West England]] meant it was commonly known as Westchester. This name was used by [[Celia Fiennes]] when she visited the city in 1698.<ref>"The Illustrated Journeys of Celia Fiennes 1685 – c1712" edited by Christopher Morris</ref> and is also used in ''[[Moll Flanders]]''.

===Early modern period===

In the English Civil War, Chester sided with the royalist cause of King Charles I but was subdued by the Parliamentarians in 1643. The Mayor of Chester, Charles Walley, was removed from office and replaced by Alderman William Edwards. Another alderman, [[Francis Gamull]], a royalist MP and former Mayor, was ordered to surrender Dee Mills: they were to be demolished, and new mills built on city land.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hamilton |first1=William Douglas |title=Charles I – volume 514: October 1646 Pages 474–485 Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 1645-7. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1891. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/domestic/chas1/1645-7/pp474-485 |website=British History Online |access-date=16 August 2020}}</ref>

===Industrial history===
[[File:The Cross and Rows, Chester, Cheshire, England, ca. 1895.jpg|thumb|right|[[Photochrom]] of the [[Chester Rows]] designed by [[Thomas Meakin Lockwood|T.M. Lockwood]], as seen from the [[Chester Cross (junction)|Cross]], 1895]]
Chester played a significant part in the [[Industrial Revolution]], which began in the North West of England in the late 18th century. The city village of Newtown, located northeast of the city and bounded by the [[Shropshire Union Canal]], was at the very heart of this industry.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cheshire West and Chester Council |url=http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/microsites/chester_renaissance/about_us/history_and_market_analysis.aspx |website=www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk |publisher=Cheshire West and Chester Council |access-date=7 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010162839/http://cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/microsites/chester_renaissance/about_us/history_and_market_analysis.aspx |archive-date=10 October 2014 |df=dmy }}</ref> The large Chester Cattle Market and the two Chester railway stations, [[Chester railway station|Chester General]] and [[Chester Northgate railway station|Chester Northgate Station]], meant that [[Newtown, Chester|Newtown]] with its cattle market and [[canals|canal]], and [[Hoole]] with its railways were responsible for providing the vast majority of workers and in turn, the vast amount of Chester's wealth production throughout the Industrial Revolution.

The population was 23,115 by 1841.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol IV |date=1848 |publisher=Charles Knight |location=London |page=475 |edition=First}}</ref>

===Modern era===
[[File:Falconinn.jpg|thumb|[[The Falcon, Chester|The Falcon Inn]] after restoration]]

A considerable amount of land in Chester is owned by [[Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster|The 7th Duke of Westminster]] who owns an estate, [[Eaton Hall (Cheshire)|Eaton Hall]], near the village of [[Eccleston, Cheshire|Eccleston]]. He also has London properties in [[Mayfair]].

[[Duke of Westminster|Grosvenor]] is the Duke's family name, which explains such features in the city as the [[Grosvenor Bridge (Chester)|Grosvenor Bridge]], the [[Chester Grosvenor and Spa|Grosvenor Hotel]], and Grosvenor Park. Much of Chester's architecture dates from the [[Victorian era]], many of the buildings being modelled on the [[Jacobean architecture|Jacobean]] half-timbered style and designed by [[John Douglas (English architect)|John Douglas]], who was employed by the Duke as his principal architect.{{cn|date=August 2023}} He had a trademark of twisted chimney stacks, many of which can be seen on the buildings in the city centre.

Douglas designed, amongst other buildings, the Grosvenor Hotel and the [[Public baths, Chester|City Baths]]. In 1911, Douglas' protégé and city architect James Strong designed the then-active fire station on the west side of Northgate Street. Another feature of all buildings belonging to the estate of Westminster is the 'Grey Diamonds'&nbsp;– a weaving pattern of grey bricks in the red brickwork laid out in a diamond formation.{{cn|date=August 2023}}

Towards the end of [[World War II]], a lack of affordable housing meant many problems for Chester. Large areas of farmland on the city's outskirts were developed as residential areas in the 1950s and early 1960s, producing, for instance, the suburb of [[Blacon]]. In 1964, a bypass was built through and around the city centre to combat traffic congestion.{{cn|date=August 2023}}

These new developments caused local concern as the physicality{{clarify|date=December 2014}} and, therefore, the feel of the city was being dramatically altered. In 1968, a report by Donald Insall, in collaboration with authorities and government, recommended that historic buildings be preserved in Chester.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.donaldinsallassociates.co.uk/ |title=Donald Insall Associates, official website |access-date=21 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120114055/http://www.donaldinsallassociates.co.uk/ |archive-date=20 November 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> Consequently, the buildings were used in new and different ways instead of being demolished.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/europe/england/chester?v=print |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130128015916/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/europe/england/chester?v=print |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-28 |title=Chester Travel Guide and Travel Information |work=Lonely Planet}}</ref>

The City Conservation Area was designated in 1969. Over the next twenty years, the emphasis was placed on saving historic buildings, such as [[The Falcon, Chester|The Falcon Inn]], [[Dutch Houses, Chester|Dutch Houses]], and Kings Buildings.

On 13 January 2002, Chester was granted the first UK [[Fairtrade City]] status by the [[Fairtrade Foundation]]. In 2011 this was extended to the entire borough.<ref>{{cite web |title=Celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight on the 20th anniversary of Chester becoming the UK's first Fairtrade City |publisher=Cheshire West and Chester Council |date=18 February 2022 |url=https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/news/celebrating-fairtrade-fortnight-on-the-20th-anniversary-of-chester-becoming-the-uks-first-fairtrade-city |access-date=29 July 2024}}</ref>