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1727 - 1760 George II.

Obtained another act the purpose the same, but the undertaking was transferred to Nathaniel Kinderley and in the 14th year of the same King the like powers were invested in the River Dee Navigation Company. (they cut a new channel for the river, whereby between 2,000 and 3,000 acres of land were redeemed from the sea , and the navigation was also much improved, yet the commerce was not to benefit due to the competion at Liverpool.)

George did in his 26th year of his reign. For the stopping of distemper in horned cattle, alter the day of the annual election of mayor , from the Friday next after the feast of St. Dennis, to the Friday after the 20th of October, in order to avoid the inconvenience which would arise to the citizens bringing the ancient day of election into the fair week .

1728 William Cowper states that 'In the markets, wich are frequent each week, are to be found all kinds of necessary's even to luxury. ' (Georgian Chester p15 C. C. R . O. )

1739 - A great frost continued for thirteen weeks, carts crossed the river Dee, and a sheep was roasted on the ice.


1780 The Inner pentice was taken down by voluntary subscription . The outer Pentice was finally taken down in 1810 From the sixteenth century and until the nineteenth century the City's records were kept there . The Pentice court held its sessions in the upper storey . The court was moved into the Exchange in Northgate Street in 1701 .

In the 17th and 18th centuries it was a common thing for many of the richer classes to be uneducated , in fact education was little thought of , and morals were at a very low ebb. There was little real religion , and Wesley's preaching was not at all unneeded . Duelling was common, and, throughout the country generally, it was a high time for fortune tellers an quack doctors, who lived in a style out vying the great and wealthy of the land .
The quack doctors frequently appeared with a carriage drawn by as many as six horses, and attended by as many footmen . They continued to visit the country markets down to very modern times, though with a reduced display
Chester market was a favourite spot for them . In the 18th century peddlers, hawkers and hucksters, apart from the shops almost all classes of goods were offered for sale at the times of the fairs upon stalls in the rows and wheelbarrows in the streets , even to strong liquors , and gambling at these stalls was not an uncommon thing .

THE HALLS
Large quadrangular buildings, having squares in the centre, with the exception of the Manchester Hall , which consists merely of three double rows of shops, erected against the walls of the adjoining tenements, with narrow passages in front for public convenience. Are opened during Chester July and October Fairs for the convenience of traders and manufacturers, who resort thither with their goods from all parts of England and Ireland . The Linen, Union and Commercial Halls were built for general market purposes .

The Irish Linen Hall Built in 1778 at the expense of the linen merchants was situated in Watergate - street between Stanley Place and Lower lane It was built in 1778, and contains 36 double and 24 single shops It is used, as its name imports, as a mart for Irish Linens. It was for many years used as the Cheese Mart , The latter Hall was a sleepy quiet place, but often, in a few hours, cheese to the value of £5,000 would change hands. It was sold by the hundred weight, and only under exceptional circumstances could a single cheese be bought . Many tons of Cheshire cheese were from time to time shipped for London and other large towns as well as to the Continent .

The Commercial Hall was erected in 1815. It is situated on the North side of Foregate - street opposite the Union Hall, and contains 20 double and 56 single shops. Sheffield and Birmingham goods and small wares are the principal articles sold here.

The Union Hall stood on the south side of Foregate - street, it was erected in 1809, and contains 60 single and 10 double shops, exclusive of an immense warehouse in the upper floor. It is chiefly used for the sale of Yorkshire cloths
It is quadrangular in shape , with three stories of lock up shops or store rooms, has perhaps, the most interesting memories linked with it ; having the appearance of an old inn yard, it was, if anything , more patronized than the others, and continued to be closely associated with the horse fairs, held at its front entrance . In olden times it was customary to sound a bugle on the Northgate at the opening of the October fair, it was later moved to the Cattle Market in George Street, in 1884.
The Manchester Hall was situated in Eastgate - street opposite the Royal Hotel . It consists of 44 shops, and is employed for the sale of Manchester goods.

1778 The City huntsmen , for a wager , rode a horse round the walls in nine and a half minutes. The year following, the canal between Chester and Nantwich was opened .

1784 A coach service from Chester to Liverpol via Eastham , was set up by Mr. John Paul of the Pied Bull up till this time there had only been Jemmy Clinger's two ponies which were hired to travellers going to Eastham
1785 July 5th The Rev. John Wesley preached at the Octagon Chapel .
1789 Most of the ancient buildings of the castle were begun to be taken down for the purpose of erecting a new county goal and shire hall .

Chester maintained a market town appearance for a considerable time . The almost medieval appearance still presented itself at the turn of the 18th century. The state of the markets was highly discreditable to the city. The flesh - market consisted of a collection of covered wooden stalls, crowded together on the north of the Exchange , and generally were kept in a very filthy condition; and a similar nuisance on the south, served for a fish - market ; whilst vegetables and fruits were scattered promiscuously in various quarters. The dealers in poultry and butter displayed their wares , sometimes in Eastgate, and sometimes in Bridge-street, without any accommodation, or shelter from the inclemency of the weather. For several years complaints against this inconvenience had been general, both among buyers and sellers; the latter suffered in an extreme degree, as they were destined not infrequently to stand for six or eight hours up to the ankles in mud.

By the end of the eighteenth century , although the markets remained an important part of Chester 's commercial life, there was a marked increase in the number of food traders , wine and spirits dealers , mercers and drapers and booksellers who had shops in the city . Their premises were in the four main streets. Butchers, bakers, provisions dealers and specialist craftsmen began to move their businesses outside the city walls .

The two major fairs which lasted lasted for fifteen days and the livestock fairs were an important feature of commercial life throughout the eighteenth century . They provided an important opportunity for wholesale and retail traders to meet and do business . A variety of manufactured goods, in particular textiles , were bought and sold at fair times and hop fairs were held at the Blossoms Hotel in St. John Street and the Hop Pole Inn in Foregate Street . The fairs were dominated in the eighteenth century by the Irish linen trade, which reached its height in the 1780s


1801 The shock of an earthquake felt at Chester June 1st about 2 O ' clock a m . Chester 's population expanded from about 9,000 at the end of the seventeenth century to just over 15,000 in 1801.
1802 On January 21st there was a dreadful storm of wind , when several houses were unroofed , and the vanes blown off the churches

1817 The Savings Bank established in Chester . The Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia visited Chester . On May 10th , Joseph Allen was executed for uttering forged Bank of England notes .


1819 Gas lights first introduced into the streets of Chester . A dreadful fire at the Dee Mills the whole of the fabric and contents distroyed .

The Fairs declined in the first two decades of the nineteenth century because of competition from Liverpool and an increase in direct ordering from manufacturers. They were to become became merely markets for the produce of local farmers . By the 1820s , a large group of general dealers had emereged and high class dealing in luxury goods were well established in the popular central shopping area. ( Georgian Chester p16 C. C. R . O. )
The Manchester Hall was situated in Eastgate - street opposite the Royal Hotel . It consists of 44 shops, and is employed for the sale of Manchester goods .

1827 The late Ald. H. Bowers, who during his second mayoralty succeeded in originating plans for, and nearly seeing executed , during the term of his office , the erection of the market halls. As might be expected, great opposition was made by owners of property, where the markets had been partially held before; But the frequent complaints of public - spirited and respectable citizens, joined to the example furnished by the neighboring town of Liverpool, the improvements were materially accelerated by the labour and energy of the public press, which was constantly on the alert, in urging the necessity of the corporation to accommodate the city with markets befitting this ancient city .

1828 The New Markets were commenced in the spring by Mr. Royle, and completed by the summer, at a cost of £4,000 which was born by the corporation . The New Markets are in Northgate Street from the end of Shoemakers Row (commonly called so , as the Crispin brotherhood having formerly made it their market - place or residence) to the Exchange, a distance of about fifty paces, is an open area, the left being occupied by a fish market , the center by vendors of vegetables; and still further to the left, is the bank of Messrs. Dixon and Wardle, and the White Lion Hotel, a respectable coaching establishment.

The street here is very wide, and nearly in the center, stands the Exchange, through which is an excellent thoroughfare, the western side being at present though not in its early days, occupied by shops, and the eastern resting on round pillars of stone . Crossing a narrow avenue from the north end of the Exchange, and we enter through an iron - grated door the market house apportioned for the sale of butter, on the market days, for butter on the east side of Nortgate - street ; and the meat and poultry markets are on the east side of the street opposite the Exchange With a market for potatoes nearer the west side of the upper part of Northgate - street . The New Markets are built of brick pointed with stone, roofed in and lighted from the top, and open on all sides .

In Chester we have two market days , Wednesday and Saturday , on both of which , particularly the latter there is a plentiful supply of fresh meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, and fruits of all kinds which are sold at prices somewhat lower than in the larger manufacturing towns in the neighbourhood . We have also an abundant supply of coal, brought to the city both in flats and by carts , from the mines in Flintshire, on moderate terms .

The Fairs continued to be of considerable importance , up to the 1830 these two great fairs held in Chester every year one on the 5th of July, and the other on the 10th of October, which continued for up to fifteen days each. The signal for the commencement and termination of which is notified by the hanging out and taking down of the glove, on the south side of St. Peters Church .

These were great marts for the sale of various sorts of goods , particularly fustian's, printed cottons, muslin's, and other articles manufactured in Lancashire, hardware from Sheffield and Birmingham, flannels from Wales, woollen cloths and stuffs from Yorkshire. With a grate deal of trinkets toys and fancy goods exhibited. The first day is chiefly occupied as a horse and cattle fair, on which a great deal of tanned leather is exposed for sale .

Besides the Midsummer and Michaelmas fairs their was now six fairs annually held in Chester on the last Thursday in February, first Wednesday in May, April , September and November and the second Wednesday in December, for the vending of horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, Also the establishment of fairs for the sale of cheese, bacon, butter, and other agricultural produce. These being held on the same days as the fairs above enumerated, in the Linen and Commercial Halls .

A great alteration took place it was formerly usual for the dealers to do their business in the first two or three days of the fair, this was no longer the case and the principal portion of the business is now transacted during the last week of the fair . The wholesale transactions at the fairs were diminishing and by the 1850 's it was recorded that the business of the branches of traders in Irish linens , Manchester goods , woollen caps from Yorkshire, Welsh flannels and hardware from Sheffield and Birmingham . Had been circumscribed for a number of years, and the amount of traffic had become insignificant to the business done in former times .

1831 The city witnessed a dramatic rise in population in the first thirty years of the nineteenth century, when the population increased by more than a third from 15,000 in 1801 to over 21,000

The traditional custom of holding the markets in the streets was also beginning to meet opposition . Something of a test case appears to been created in 1833 . When a resident of Northgate - Street had part of the footway in front of his house enclosed with railings, thus infringing the long standing right of the pig and cattle drovers to use the streets to display their wares

When a resident of Nortgate - Street had part of the footway in front of his house enclosed with railings, thus infringing the long standing right of the pig and cattle drovers to use the streets to display their wares.

"Among the new paving of the street and the flagging of the footways now in progress we notice the flagging and enclosure with iron railings of the space in front of the residence of the late Mr. Folliott in Northgate - Street. This is certainly a very slightly improvement , but we understand the legality is likely to be questioned as an encroachment. The pig and cattle drovers who attend our fairs will put their claim of prescriptive right to the locus in quo , as part of the public street to exhibit their livestock for sale. It was only at the last horn and hoof fair that we saw a squad of "illigant pigs " snoozing in their litter on this very spot , underneath the parlor window. If we remember right , Mr. Folliott's coachman sailed out to lay the soft end of his whip upon the grunters, and got knocked down for the same by their owner on the principle strike me , strike my pig and when little Jehu came before the magistrates for redress , he was told that the Irish - man's illigant pigs had a right to disport themselves on the place in question , as part of a public street. As iron railings now renders the spot more commodious, makes it in fact an admirable hog - style or shippon, as the circumstances may require, we would suggest, rather than forgo so ornamental an improvement and for the accommodation of all parties, that a compromise should take place between the owner of the premises and the pig-drovers, by the former taking down the entrance gate on every fair day."

1835 Tolls That were collected at each city gate on a variety of merchandise entering or leaving Chester livestock, coals fish, besoms, brushwood, cloth , etc. were abolished. Mr. Alderman Brown called the attention of the Council to these obnoxious tolls, which he was of the opinion impeded the trade of the city

William IV 1835 An act to provide for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in England and Wales
This repealed so much of all Laws, Statutes, and Usage's, and so much of all Royal and other charters , Grants and Letters Patent now in force; as are inconsistent with or contrary to the Provisions of this Act

Report on Municipal Corporation 1835 rents on markets how raised
The Shambles are let weekly upon the market day, in standings, at from 1s. to 3s. There are about 120, and they are generally taken by country butchers; they are open and may be occupied by the takers every day in the week .