The chapel paintings
Wall paintings from around 1240 on the first floor of the Agricola Tower, among the rarest survivals in Chester.
De Lavaux, Alexander (17..-17.. ; ingénieur). Cartographe. Dédicateur Parr, Richard (17..-17.. ; graveur). Graveur — Public domain · Tilman2007 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tilman2007 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tilman2007 — CC BY-SA 4.0
What survives of Chester's Norman castle comes down to one tower and one wall, and that tower hides, on its first floor, a set of wall paintings made around 1240 whose faded, fragmentary colours still cling to the walls of a tiny chapel called St Mary de Castro. That is the one thing here worth planning a visit around, because the castle the name conjures – a great fortress of towers and moats – no longer exists. What you actually see from Castle Square is an elegant neoclassical complex of columns and colonnades built by the architect Thomas Harrison between 1788 and 1822, and the Crown Court still sits inside it. The medieval part, run by English Heritage, is the Agricola Tower – the castle's earliest stone gateway, put up around the year 1200 – plus a stretch of inner-bailey wall you can walk along for views over the Roodee racecourse and the River Dee. Entry is free but tightly rationed: weekends only, April to October, 11:00 to 15:00, and it is staffed by volunteers, so a day that should be open can turn out shut. You go in through the law courts car park, where the volunteers point you on. The tower stairs are stone, narrow and steep, and the ground is uneven, so this is no place for a pushchair or for anyone who struggles with steps. Children of seven or eight upwards enjoy climbing the tower and walking the wall for a quarter of an hour, and then it is done; budget half an hour to an hour at most. Within the same complex a small paid museum covers the Cheshire regiments – about £5 a head, open Thursday to Monday – a draw for anyone into British military history and for nobody else. If you are in Chester on a weekday, or in winter when the tower's doors are closed from November to March, be content with a look from Castle Square as you complete the circuit of the city walls, which pass right by. The walls are Chester's finest monument; the castle is merely a short stop on them. It is about twenty minutes on foot from the railway station or ten from the Eastgate Clock, and city-centre public car parks are pay-and-display.
Wall paintings from around 1240 on the first floor of the Agricola Tower, among the rarest survivals in Chester.
A short stretch atop the inner-bailey wall looking over the Roodee racecourse and the River Dee.
The court colonnades and the propylaeum of 1788–1822, viewable from outside at any hour with no ticket.
Grosvenor Street, Chester CH1 2DN
Grosvenor MuseumWhen Victorian workmen opened up a stretch of Chester's north wall in the late n3 minutes walk4.3
Chester City WallsNo other city in Britain has kept so complete a ring of walls. Nearly three kilo3 minutes walk4.6
Chester CrossThe four streets that meet here were laid out by Roman soldiers roughly two thou7 minutes walk4.4
Chester Roman AmphitheatreThe largest Roman amphitheatre yet found in Britain sits just outside the south-7 minutes walk4.4
Eastgate ClockIt is said to be the most photographed clock in England after Big Ben, and the c8 minutes walk4.7Do not plan around it. On weekdays and all winter the medieval part can only be seen from outside (the paid military museum stays open Thursday to Monday), and the neoclassical view from Castle Square deserves two minutes as you pass along the city walls, no more. The Agricola Tower and its paintings open only at weekends from April to October; if you happen to hit one, go in because it is free, otherwise Chester's walls and the historic Rows are a better use of your time.