Chester: Britain's Most Complete Roman City Walls
Chester's walls have stood, in some form, for nearly 2,000 years. A guide to the city's Roman origins, medieval Rows and continuous fortifications.
Deva Victrix: the largest Roman fortress in Britain
Chester began in AD 79 as Deva Victrix, a Roman legionary fortress built to house the Twentieth Legion, and it grew into the largest fortress the Romans built anywhere in Britain, garrisoning up to 6,000 soldiers at its height. Its position on the River Dee, near the border with Wales, made it strategically important for controlling the region, and the fortress's rectangular layout still underlies the modern street plan of the city centre, a rare case of a Roman military grid remaining legible in a living British city.
Walls maintained for two thousand years
Chester's city walls, first raised in stone by the Romans and continuously repaired, rebuilt and extended through the medieval and later periods, form a nearly complete two-mile circuit around the historic centre, the most intact set of Roman and medieval defensive walls surviving in Britain. Unlike most British cities, where walls were demolished as urban areas expanded, Chester's were deliberately preserved and turned into a public walkway, meaning visitors today can walk almost the entire perimeter of the Roman fortress on the same stone that has defended it since the first century.
The Rows: a unique medieval shopping gallery
Chester's most distinctive architectural feature is the Rows, a system of covered, elevated shopping galleries running along the principal streets at first-floor level, with a second tier of shops at street level below. This two-tier arrangement, thought to have developed in the thirteenth century, possibly to make use of Roman rubble left at raised ground level, is found nowhere else in Britain in this complete form and remains in active commercial use today rather than being preserved purely as a museum piece.
Visiting Chester
Chester's compact centre, ringed almost entirely by its walkable walls, makes it an easy city to see in a single day, with Chester Cathedral, largely rebuilt from a medieval Benedictine abbey, and Chester Zoo, one of the largest zoos in Britain, offering reasons to extend a visit to two days. April through October brings the most comfortable weather for the full walk around the walls, a route of roughly two miles that takes most visitors between one and two hours at an unhurried pace.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old are Chester's city walls?
They were first built in stone by the Romans after AD 79 and have been continuously maintained, repaired and extended ever since, making them nearly 2,000 years old in parts.
Can you walk all the way around Chester's walls?
Yes, the roughly two-mile circuit is almost entirely walkable and forms the most complete set of Roman and medieval defensive walls surviving in any British city.
What are the Rows in Chester?
A distinctive two-tier system of covered shopping galleries dating to around the thirteenth century, with shops at both street level and an elevated walkway above, found nowhere else in Britain in this complete form.
Was Chester an important Roman city?
Yes, as Deva Victrix it was the largest fortress the Romans built anywhere in Britain, housing up to 6,000 soldiers of the Twentieth Legion.