C a s t l e an d
W a l l s .
A n t i q u i t i e s .
T r a d e .
out o f the city.. This was alfo the cathedral^ untilTupplanted iha
1551, by the church of the abby of St. Werburgh.
The caftle is a decaying pile, rebuilt by one of the Norman earls,*,
on the fite of the more antient fortrefs.. The walls of the city (the
only complete fpecimen of old fortifications) are one mile three-
quarters and a hundred and one yards in circumference, and, being,
the principal walk of the inhabitants,, are kept in excellent order...
The views front the feveral parts are very fine;-the mountains o f '
Flintjhire, the hills o f Broxton, and the infulated rock of Beefton, form
the ruder part of the fcenery ; a rich flat gives us a fofter view, and
the profpetft up the river towards Boughton, recalls in fome degree
the idea of the Thames and Richmondhill,
The Hypccatift, near the Feathers, inn,.is one o f the remains of the
Romans, it being well known that this place was a principal ftation..
Among many antiquities- found here, none is more Angular than the
rude fculpture of the Dea Armigera Minerva, with her bird and altar, ,
on the face of, a. rock in a fmall field near the Welch.e.nd of the.
bridge.
C h e s t e r , has been,.,at different times,, a place d’armes, a great-,
thoroughfare between the two kingdoms, and the- refidenee o f a jj
numerous and poliihed gentry. Trade,, till of late- years, was but.
little attended to, but at prefent efforts are making to enter into that
o f Guinea, the plantations, and the Baltic; and from the Phtsnix:
tower is a good Pijgah view of an internaLcommerce by. means of a
canal now cutting beneath the walls.
Since the year 1736, and not before, great quantities of linen-cloth
have been imported from Ireland-.to. each o f the annual fairs : in that
year 449654 yards ; and at prefent about a-million o f yards are
brought
brought to each fair. Hops are another great article o f trade, for
above ten thoufand pockets are fold here annually, much o f which
is forwarded to the neighboring ifland. But the only ftaple trade of
the city is in fkins, multitudes o f which are imported, dreflfed here,:
but fent out again to be manufactured. Here is a well-regulated
poor-houfe, and an infirmary ; the laft fupported by contributions'
from the city, its county, and the adjacent counties o f North-Wales.-
The firft has happily the left ufe o f this pious foundation ; for,
whether from the drynefs o f the fituation, the clearnefs of the air, or
the purity of the water, the proportion of deaths to the inhabitants-
has been only as 1 to 31-; whereas in London 1 in 20, and 3-4ths ; in
Leeds 1 in 21,.and 3-5ths-, and in Northampton and Shrew/bury, 1 in7
26, annually pay the great tribute of nature *. Might I be permitted
to moralize, I ihould call this the reward o f the benevolent
and charitable difpofition, that is the characteriftic o f this city ; for
fuch is the facrifice that is pleafing to the Almighty.
About two miles from Cbejler, pafs over Hook heath, noted for"
having been one of the pilaces of reception for ftrangers eftabliihed
by Hugh Lupus, in order to people his new-dominions. This in p a r ticular
was the afylum allotted for the fugitives of Wales,
Ride thro5 the fmall town of Trafford: this, with the lordfhip of'
Newton, was,, as Laniel King obferves, one of the fweet morfels that"
the abbot- o f St. Werburgh and his convent kept for their own whole-
fome provifion. Get into a trail o f fandy country, and pafs beneath
HelleJby-'For, a high and bluff termination o f Relamere foreft,
* Vide the obfervations on this fubjeft o f that humane phyfician, my worthy-
friend, Dr. Haygarih,
H e a l t h i n e s s .
H o o l e h e a t h .-
H e l l e s b t - T o r .
compofed