Part Of City Wall From Northgate To Phoenix Tower

CHESTER CITY (IM)

SJ4066NW CITY WALLS 595-1/1/109 Part of City Wall from Northgate to 28/07/55 Phoenix Tower (Formerly Listed as: City Walls & Towers incl. foundations of SE angle Roman Fortress wall & tower)

GV I

Length of City Walls comprising masonry of the east half of the north wall of the Roman legionary fortress. Late C1 to early C2 and possibly later, medieval wall late C11 to early C12 converted to a raised promenade 1702 to 1708 and spasmodically repaired. Purple-grey Bunter sandstone Roman ashlar and medieval and later softer red sandstone coursed rubble. The features of exceptional interest are 2 full-height portions of the probably Hadrianic Roman wall-face to the then turf rampart, behind. The west portion of the masonry is based on bedrock, up to 13 courses high and 35 ashlar stones long and has the moulded Roman cornice immediately beneath the former Roman and, at the same level, present parapet. The east portion is up to 11 courses high and 42 ashlar stones long. The wall faces the Shropshire Union Canal in a rock-cut deepening of the former Roman and medieval ditch. There may be some Roman ashlar in the canted north-east corner of the wall adjacent to Phoenix Tower (qv). The Roman wall-face is battered, supposedly having gradually moved back as the turf rampart behind it contracted. The medieval and post medieval masonry shows numerous repairs. This length of the City Wall is approx 375m long and 2m wide. (Strickland TJ: Roman Chester: Nelson: 1984-1986: PASSIM; Cheshire Sites and Monuments Record: Collens J: Chester City: 3000/1/7; The Buildings of England: Pevsner N & Hubbard E: Cheshire: 1971-: 155).

Listing NGR: SJ4050466699