Home Page

City Gates

Roman Britain

On referring however to Stukeley's Itinerarium Curiosum the following passage appears .
" Riding under the gate where the Watling Street enters immediately two arches of Roman work ............. on each side was a portal , of a lesser arch and lower for foot passengers ; for part of the arch is left and people now alive remember them open quite through ; though now both these, and part of the great arch , are taken up by little paltry shops: or rather the lesser ones are quite pulled down , and even the greater ones are in the up most danger of falling; for the occupants of those places cut away part of the bottom of the semicircle, to enlarge their sharp. "

By this description the Eastgate would present an appearance similar to the one at Autun engraved in Collect Antig vol. 5 p 221
But, in plate 65 Stukeley represents

" the outside front of the Roman gate of the Watling Street, called East Gate at Chester as standing 1725 . " Where three arches are shown of equal height and nearly equal breath the centre one eighteen & half feet in breadth , the side ones each sixteen & half feet the entire width of the gateway being eighty feet .

The Account from Hemingway ( History of Chester vol. 1 )

And, first of the East-gate this gate, which forms the principal entrance to the city , from most parts of the shire, and the great roads from London, Manchester , &c consists of a wide elegant arch with posterns on each side, the whole surmounted by a light iron railing , and was erected at the sole expence of the late Earl Grosvenor. On the west side are the City Arms and this inscription :- Began A.D. M.D.CCLXVIII. John Kelsall Esq. mayor - Finished A.D. M.D.CCLXVIII. Charles Boswell Esq.. Mayor. "On the east side are the arms of the Grosvenor family and this inscription inscription :- " Erected at the expence of Richard Lord Grosvenor .M.D. CCLXIX.

" From the summit of this gate, there is a direct view westward up Eastgate-street to the cross; and eastward to beyond the bars ; and it is a station eagerly sought, when any public procession passes in that direction .

All the four gates except that of the northgate of which the citizens always had the charge were kept by persons who held by sergeantship, under the ancient Earls of Chester who were entitled to certain tolls which are specified in an inquisition, taken in the year 1321.

The sergeantship of the East-gate was given in consequence of royal mandate, by Reginald de Grey, justice of Chester about 1270 to Hervicus de Bradford , and Robert his son together with Breures Halgh near Chester, as a compensation for their manor of Bradford, which they had ceded to Vale Royal abbey. The Trussells afterwards had possession, and it appears from an inquisition post mortem of the 2nd Richard II. that William Trussell of Cubleston, had the custody of this gate.

The same is noticed in other inquisitions, taken 3rd and 7th Richard II with reference to the same William Trussell, In the latter of which he is said to have died seized of the bailywick and issue of the custody of the said gate, with its appurtenances, and the houses and buildings above and below the same. Inq. p.m. 2nd Hen. IV Margaret wife of Fulco de Penbrugge (heir by the last Inq.) died seized inter alia, of the same custody, &c. held with the manor of Bruardeshalghe, held from the lord earl of Chester, in socage in capite, by the render of one penny per annum, and by serving the said lord earl, and the mayor and sheriffs of the city of Chester, in the office of bailiff of the Eastgate-street of the said city. -

From this family the sergeantship passed with Warmingham, and other estates to the Veres, earls of Oxford; and subsequently sale to Randulph Crewe, who covenanted to release the tolls to the city ; but the business was interrupted, and followed by long disputes between Sir Randulph and the city, which were terminated in favour of the former by an order from the lords of the privy council, dated Jan 12, 1630. In 1662, John Crewe, of Crewe, Esq... Released the tolls to the city, in consideration of a rent charge on the Roodee of £2. 13s. 4d. stipulating for an exemption from tolls for himself and his heirs, and reserving the custody of the gate, with the adjacent buildings, and nomination of the sergeant. This appointment is now vested in his descendant Lord Crewe. The keeper gate was anciently bound to provide a crannock and bushel for measuring salt, and has still the inspection of the weights of the city.

It is to be regretted, that when the old structure Was taken down in 1768, some intelligent antiquary was not on the spot to have noticed and recorded the formation, dimensions, &c. of the ancient building, on the demolition of which some remains were discovered, which indubitably proved its origin to have been Roman. There is, however, some difficulty in ascertaining at this time an exact description.

Mr. Pennant, who, when he speaks from his own knowledge and observation, is an authority at all times to be relied on, gives the following account of the old East-gate but his information is obviously derived front another :- " Of the four gates of the city,' says he," one of the East-gate, continued till of late years; it was of Roman architecture, and consisted of two arches, much hid by a tower , erected over it in later days . A few years ago it was pulled down, on account of its straitness and inconvenience, to give way to a magnificent gate, which rose in its place by the munificence of lord Grosvenor'. I remember the demolition of the ancient structure and on the taking down the more modem case of Norman masonry, the Roman appeared full in view. It consisted of two arches, formed of vast stones, fronting the Eastgate-street and the Forest-street; the pillars be them dividing the street exactly in two. The accurate representation of them by Mr. Wilkinson, of this city will give a stronger idea than words can convey; as also of the figure of the Roman soldier, placed between the tops of the arches, facing the Fores-street . This species of double gate was not unfrequent. The Portae, esquilina, and the Porte portesi, at Rome were of this kind. Flores, in his medals of the Roman colonies in Spain exhibits one of the coins of Merida, the ancient Emerita, particularly on those of Augustus, which shews that the colonists were proud of their gate; and perhaps not without reason, as it appears to have been the work of the best age. I must conclude, that the mode seems to have been derived from the Grecian architecture ; for at Athens stood a Dipylon or double gate now demolished - The East-gate faced the great Watling-street road, and the place where other military ways united. Through this was the greatest conflux of people which rendered the use of the double portal more requisite ."

Thus far Mr. Pennant on the subject who as to description relies on the authority of Mr.Wilkinson a gentleman resident in the city and who appears to have made the drawing at the time the more modern part of the structure was taken down . This delineation is also rendered more probable from the reasoning adopted by the Tourist, who affirms it to be in accordance with the Roman mode of construction.

On the other hand, I have lately seen a drawing accompanied with a descriptive account, which represents. this gate consisting of four arches This production is stated to be "drawn according to the instructions and directions of Mr. Ogden, of Chester, by J. Calveley 1774; and to the drawing is appended the the following description :- The Roman gate at Chester was sixteen feet high ; the breadth nine and thirty feet. This gate was composed of four arches, two in one line; the distance from each was fifteen feet. In the middled of the gate fronting the east, there was a statue, ten from the ground cut upon one large stone in alto relievo grooved or fixed into the gate by a kind of dove-tail work, and could not weigh less than half a ton This statue represented the god Mars; and as this god had several names so this may be called Propugnator vel Defensor, The god was in complete armour ; in one hand he held a shield in the other a Hasta Pura, or spear without a point, and as Chester was at that time the station of a great legion, what could be more noble and grand than to dedicate the principal gate to Marti Deo Propugnatori. Height of the statue, 4 feet 4 Inches; breadth , 2 feet 10 inches; height of the arches 14 feet

These two descriptions appear to be at variance with each other ;and yet the respectable authorities on which both rest, induces a persuasion ,that the two accounts rather differ in the mode of describing the gate, than in reality Mr. Ogden is yet well remembered in Chester as a medical practitioner of celebrity, and as gentleman who took great pleasure in exploring the antiquities of his native city ; and Mr. Calveley will also be recollected by many living characters as an eminent surveyor and draughtsman. It may, however, I am persuaded, be possible to reconcile both accounts. From a slight perusal of Mr. Ogden's description, it might be inferred that the two arches in a line , were separate and detached having no connexion or communication with each other , but leaving an entire open interval from top to bottom, of fifteen feet; while the delineation of Mr. Pennant might lead to a conclusion , that the two portals in front had each one continuous arch across the whole breadth , and without any interval between. The only way by which I can make these two accounts to agree in substance is, to suppose that there were two arches in a line, fronting Eastgate- Street, and the other Foregate-street, which were connected at the top by some strong materials , woodor stone resting on the top of each and forming a roof or flooring Nor, in this case, would Mr. Ogden's relation of an interval of fifteen feet between the arches be invalidated , if it be taken to refer only to the space under the roofing

There is no living authority that I have been able to meet with , who is able to solve this apparent incongruity ; nor can it often happen that individuals are to be found capable of remembering such minute particulars as this at the distance of more than sixty years. The reader is of course at liberty to adopt or reject the hypothesis I have here offered, or receive which of the description he pleases that have been given. In the mean time, I must have leave to observe, that as the character and talents of Mr. Wilkinson (on whose authority Mr. Pennant's view rests). and those of Mr. Ogden, are of the most respectable kind and as they both appear to have taken their observations on the spot, I should feel less difficulty in admitting a slight. improbability, than in condemning either of them in a design to deceive the public. In an old MS. I have in my possession, and written in the last century, I find a. short description of this gate, which, although it throws no light upon the subject, is not unworthy of being introduced. "The East-gate," says my author, " is accounted, a beautiful structure of its kind, in the gothic way, built so strong and regular, that notwithstanding the stone is of a very perishing nature, it has continued much the same many centuries (from the conquest at last) without any considerable addition or alteration,

The present gate seems to be that built by Elfleda: The two old arches adjoining on the west side, look like the remains of a gate of an older standing (probably Roman), from their exactly semi-circular form, not eliptical. The peaked arches are more modern." From this notice, it is obvious, that although the old Roman arches were partially blocked up they were discoverable long before the old building we taken down.