Chester Cathedral, 1

We spent several hours in Chester Cathedral, taking the tour, then going back for more. In addition to its great age, architectural and other interests, it is one of the fun cathedrals, in our view, and thus to be added to the list that includes Wells, Winchester, Gloucester, and Durham. Chester was a Benedictine abbey for its first several hundred years, from 1102, until Henry VIII founded the See of Chester in 1541, and thus declared the abbey church its cathedral. Consequently, it's a bit of a two-fer, and you get to see both abbey and cathedral in one visit. There is indeed much to see, we took lots of pix, and thus Chester Cathedral will take two longer posts...plus a special post on its misericords, all (!) of which were on display. All.

Alas, the abbey/cathedral complex sprawls a bit, and is so hemmed-in

by the city that you can't get a really good view

Except from outer space; notice the shortened north transept, one of
Chester's interesting oddities

So you enter (and exit) through the gift shoppe, where the fun begins

We've read that Canterbury Cathedral gin is 100 Proof

The New Zealand rugby team was here in 1879 and definitely made
an impression

This is how you can take a tasteless joke about a disability and turn
it into a book series

The fun continues; we'll get to the LEGOs in the next post

Now we are in the nave, examining one of the half
dozen Gurney radiators, a standard 19th century heating
device found in many of the older large buildings

The whole north wall of the nave is done in these colossal
and colossally beautiful pre-Raphaelite mosaics, scenes from
the Old Testament

Alas, all but the first were covered over by a temporary
display of religious-themed quilts; I like quilts as much as
the next guy, but...

Obligatory nave view

Ceiling

Elevation; schools were in half-term recess and so everywhere
you went there were kids and kid-things to do

Organ bits

Now in the north transept, some of the oldest parts

The columns are said to have been Roman left-overs

So, going from the 12th to 13th centuries, fashions changed,
and you start seeing the pointy things...

More organ bits

The very famous "cobweb picture," better explained by
Atlas Obscura than anything I could say

Now entering the cloisters, abbey territory

Scriptorium display

Have to love a cloisters with a rhododendrum...

Also a garth (look it up)

They're still looking for Mallory's camera, which could prove
he and Irvine were the first to summit Everest...in the 1920s;
"adventured their lives even unto death" certainly is better than
"they died doing what they loved," both of which we find
despicable; oh well

Quite a few of these odd pieces in the cloisters;  said to be
Roman; but they don't look Roman to me...

Also quite a few corbels, possibly grotesques, very degraded;
sandstone, of which most of Chester is built, is virtually friable

Ditto

Now in the huge refectory of the abbey...now the cathedral's cafe
and restaurant; alas, no Last Supper fresco

Windows mostly Victorian or later

More grotesques, heading now to the...

Chester

We chose Chester as a basecamp in part because we wanted to see the city itself--a new one to us--its Roman bits, the cathedral/abbey complex, and its many central city buildings, both late Medieval and Victorian. We were not disappointed in any respect. It's a beautiful place, reminiscent of York in many ways. Evidently, Roman strategic thinking was that, once Scotland was subdued, Chester would become the capital of the province. It would be another 16 centuries, of course, before the Scots finally cooperated, and by then London had won the honor. In any case, we much enjoyed our visit, which was enhanced by one of the better lunches we have had on the road.

Roman walls towering on the right; a canal and narrow boats

Other side of Roman walls

The gate is a Victorian re-imagination of the Roman north gate

Ignore the cars...behind them is one very beautiful building, the home of
Chez Jules, Chester's premier restaurant francais...

We, of course, could not resist; and the place was, as expected, way
over the top

From simple hardware

To the beautiful upstairs dining room

Impossible to keep a straight face...I even had an opportunity to
laugh at someone else's "French" pronunciation...for once

Thursday evenings the upper floor becomes a classic movie theater

We both had the steak/frites, and it was better than any steak/frites
we've had in Paris, except at the Relais d'Entrecote...

Former coachworks, now shopping mall

The 14th century vaulted abbey gateway...we'll get to the abbey
and cathedral in the next post

Neo-Gothic city hall

Interesting concepts...

Most of the centre ville is like this, well preserved late Medieval or
or beautifully re-created in Victorian times

The usual excellent interpretive signage

Street after street

Sic transit, Gloria

More Roman bits (heating system)...in the back of a womens wear
store...

Old map of the precinct

More Roman bits

The city jail was outside the walls, with this "bridge of
sighs" leading to it...