CHESTER CASTLE

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The Agricola Tower is the only feature of Chester Castle which survived the destruction of the medieval castle by fire in the late 18th century (see SJ46NW170). The castle was originally an earthwork fortress of motte and bailey type built in 1070 by William the Conqueror. The perimeter was walled in stone in the late 12th century. The lower bailey was added in the 13th century. New gates with drum towers were added to the inner bailey in the 13th century when the gate through the Agricola tower was walled up. The outer bailey was walled with stone 1247-51, a new castle chamber added in 1246-7, and the Great Hall built 1250-3. The outer gatehouse was built 1292-3. This completed the major Mediaeval works. The Castle served as the administrative centre of the Earldom throughout the Mediaeval period and later periods. The castle was replaced after the 18th century fire by the buildings of the Shire Hall circa 1811. The curtain walls are listed Grade I and II. Fragments of wall painting can be seen in the vault and the chapel. Part of the castle is scheduled.

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[SJ 4048 6573] The Castle [TU] Tower [G.T.] (1)

Originally an earthwork fortress of the motte and bailey type, occupying the southern and higher portion of the site covered by the 12th c. castle which was walled with stone. A lower bailey was added mid-13th c. with a gateway and ditch on the north side
(2).

[Plans-See photo AO/LP/63/36]

The only mediaeval work remaining is Caesar's Tower (also known as Agricola's and Magazine Tower) which contains the 12th c. chapel of St. Mary de Castro. The rest of the castle was destroyed mainly in the late 18th c. and replaced in 1811 by the Shire Hall (3). Scheduled (4). (2-4)

There has been considerable rebuilding and restoration of this tower.
A M.O.W. name plate reads "Agricola Tower".
See G.P. AO/64/225/8 (5)

The original earthwork here is regarded by King and Alcock as possibly a ringwork. (6)

The grass covered slopes on the SW side of "The Castle" are probably a relic of the original earthwork. Otherwise no change since report of 28 7 64. (7)

Additional references (8-10)

Listed by Cathcart King. (11)

Although built by William I, except during minorities or once when forfeited to the Crown in 1174, the castle was a possession of the Earls of Chester. However, with the death of the last Earl in 1237, it permanently passed to the Crown. It was extensively renovated in 1246-51 during Henry III's Welsh Wars. Plan of castle as it was in the 18th century. (12)

The Earldom of Chester remained a royal patrimony throughout the Mediaeva period, and the castle at Chester remained a centre of judicial activity. Expenditure on the castle was mainly in the form of mantenance, and usually inadequate at that. The only new construction between 1485 and 1649 was the Prince's Hall to provide accomodation for the shire court. Although never wholly neglected, the sums spent on the fabric of the castle were comparatively small. (13)

Full conservation plan for the castle. (14)

Excavation of the 17th century and later armoury and mint. (15)

The altar recess was decorated with elegant busts of angels in roundels, extremely similar in style to 13th century sculpture found in Westminster Abbey. The vault contains a fine depiction of the Visitation. More than 20 figures were found, as well as an inscription and ornamental decoration. Fragmentary figure subjects were also found on the upper parts of the chapel wall, though to show the Miracles of the Virgin. Earlier twelfth century paintings survive beneath the thirteenth century paintings. The original technique appears to be based on lime using a suprisingly limited range of pigments. The paintings may date from c1220 from the time of Earl Rannulf III and may be a rare example of baronial wall paintings of this period. (17)

The wall paintings in the chapel may have been exectued for Henry III in c. 1240, the scenes show Christ's Infancy, and are set in a complex arrangement of trefoils and quarefoils. (18)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Annotated Record Map

1/1250 1959

( 2) Royal Archaeological Institute The archaeological journal

1938 (Hamilton Thompson) 94 Page(s)310

( 3) General reference

Old Cheshire Churches 1947 photo. (R.Richards) Page(s)101-2

( 4) Scheduled Monument Notification

List of Ancient Monuments of England and Wales 1961 (M.O.W.) Page(s)22

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 TPW 28-JUL-64

( 6) edited by A J Taylor 1969 Chateau Gaillard, 3. Conference at Battle, Sussex, 19-24 September 1966

(DJC King & L.Alcock) 3 Page(s)112

( 7) Field Investigators Comments

F2 DJC 25-FEB-76

( 8) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

Chester Castle, 26-FEB-1985

( 9) English Heritage 1998 The English Heritage visitors' handbook 1998-99

Page(s)169

(10) English Heritage 1996 County list of Scheduled Monuments : March 1996

Page(s)3

(11) by David J Cathcart King 1983 Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands. Volume I : Anglesey - Montgomery

1 Page(s)67

(12) R Allen Brown, H M Colvin and A J Taylor 1963 The history of the King's Works, volume 2 : the Middle Ages

Page(s)607-612

(13) by H M Colvin, D R Ransome and John Summerson 1975 The history of the King's Works, volume 3 : 1485-1660 (part 1)

Page(s)169-171

(14) General reference

Donald Install Associates, 2001. Conservation plan, Chester Castle, for English Heritage

(15) compiled and edited by Peter Ellis 1996 Excavations at Chester. Chester Castle, the seventeenth-century armoury and mint : excavation and building recording in the inner ward 1979-82

Grosvenor Museum archaeological excavation and survey reportsNo.2 (1980) - no.10

(16) Caroline Babington, Tracy Manning and Sophie Stewart 1999 Our painted past : wall paintings of English Heritage

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