Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/564

Rh CHESTER. 551 an: = as ft sacred relic, was removed, in the year 875, to Ches- r security against the Pani.-h invaders. A nun- mi tho remains of St. Wei-burgh cn- d in tho church. Chester w. 11 into the hands of tho Danes ; but was retaken by the Saxons in 908, when Kihelfleda, the illustrious daughter of Alfred tin' (in-lit, is said to have founded St. Wcr- burgh's abbey on the site of the nunnery. The present cathedral is in length 350 foot ; in breadth, including the aisles, 74J feet. Tho length of tho transept is 200 feet, and of tho Lady rim,. Tho length of tho nave is 120 feet, and its hmtdth 11 feet. The ! of tho tower is 127 foot. Ti 'uro in tho huild- iug is tho wr-iirrn entranei', which is in the florid (iothic The bishop's consistory court is on the right of tliis entrance, and his palace on the left. Tho greatest curiosity in tho cathedral is the bishop's throne, wliieh, if tradition may bo trusted, was the shrine of St. Yr- burgh, or rather, as Pennant considers it, tho base on which the shrine was placed ; it is very elaborately carved, and adorned with figures of tho kings of SI The chapter-house, the oldest portion of the building, from the 13th century, and is in the early English style. In the cloisters, which form a quadrangle, is the burial-place of tho earls of Cheater. In 172-4, tho remains of tho first earl, Hugh Lupus, were dug up ; they were wrapped in leather in a stone coffin, and at tho head was a stone cross, with his cognizance or crest, a wolfs he.nl, on it. The living of St. Bridget's with St. Martin's, is a rect., of the vol. of 160, in the gift of the 1>. Tho church is a handsome building, and has accommodation for 1,000 people. St. John the Hup is a vie., val. 300, in the gift of tho Marquis of V. minster. It is said that the church was built on tho site of Ethelfleda's Abbey, which was founded at the beginning of tho 10th century. In design it was originally cruciform, and it is in tho early Norman style of architecture. It was formerly a collegiate church and tho cathedral of tho dioc. of Lichfield, of which Chester once formed a part. It possesses somp ancient monu- ments and brasses. Little St. John's is a perpct. cur., of tho val. of 230, in tho gift of the corporation. St. Michael's with St. Glare's is a porpct. cur., val. 173, in the gift of the bishop. St. Peter's is a rect., val. 120, in the same patron. Partly without tho city is tho par. of Holy Trinity ; tho living is a rect., val. 290, in the i the Earl of Derby. St. Mary-on-tho-Hill is a ith Upton cur., val. 400, in the gift of the Marquis of Westminster. Tho church is in the early English stylo, and contains some curious monuments ; it has also a tine painted window. Lache with Saltncy is a cur., val. 55, in the gift of tho bishop. St. Oswald's is a vie. with Bruera, val. 245, in the gift of the dean and chapter. Tho S. transept of tho cathedral is used as the parish church, but it has a distinct p St. Paul's, Boughton, is a pcrpet.cur.,val. 150, in the gift of the Vicar of St. John's. Christ Church is a perpet. rur., val. 170, in tho gift of the bishop. The Homan Catholics, tho Unitarians, tho Independents, the W. -,- leyan, New Connexion, and Primitive Methodists, tho Calvinists, the Society of Friends, tho followers of Lady Huntingdon, nnd the Pr< sliytciians severally have chapels of greater or less dimensions. C'l has a grammar school, which was founded by II VII!.. and is called the King's school; it is u section of tho dean and chapter, is attached to the - endowed with one scholarship. Tho blue-coat school was founded in tho year 1700, at the !: a portion o| the hospital of Little St. John i to it. It boards 32 blue-coat boys, and receives CO as day scholars. The school is sup-
 * pntly liy volc.r, , partly by its

own revenues. Tho Marquis of V iet han 1 1 ill liny sand girls. The console - as a '. ,' .-cliool, t.i v. hieh tho ' . merit. 'I'] hopLawin 1S12,!- education of poor i:d with tho object of providing teachers for the Nati r.lc St. John -was I'.an.li d Let',. re i award 111. In Kandal lila deville, Duke of Brittany, for the support of 1 3 poor i impotent persons. On the same foundation is t of Little St. John. Tho patronage is in tho hai the local charity trustees. There are inan institutions in Chester. The General Infirmary wa built in 17C5 ; the building faces tho Dee, and is wtiD adapted for its purpose. There is also a lyi dia rity and a female p< nil 11 luaroalmsl. known as Deano's, Smith's, and Jones's. Th public baths and wash-houses, which were (reeled in 1819; a house of refuge, a house of industry, a public library, a savings-bank, and a m* < 1 lute, with a museum in the Wa'.er-e paved with stone and lighted with gas. Tho racee called tho Hood-eye, Eood-ee, or Hoodie, lies betwe. walls and tho river. The course is one of i nd, and the whole length of it is seen from flH has from a very early period been q^H bratcd for its horse-races, and the race for i Cup is now ono of tho great events in tho sporting ^^H Antiquaries are at variance upon tho question of ^H origin of the name Hood-rye. The Wlf .i aim: the truest story, accounts for it in the following uuua^H There was at 1 lawarden, in Flintshire-, in the year I^D a church containing an image of the Virgin Lady of the Hood, as she was there called, which h.ogo had a great reputation for curing all afflictions. A^^H other supplicants Lady Tru the castle, was saying her p: pled from her pedestal upon the head of In and broke it. Tho offence was considered si i the Virgin was sentenced to banishment, and thro" on tho sands of the river. Tho tide < and landed her Bafely near tho wa! was buried with great solemnity by the in) city, and the place of her interment w.i eye. A new neighbourhood of villas has gi Curzon Park, on the S. bank of tl many handsome mansions within a short dis! city. Eaton Hall, the scat of tin- M minster, ii about 3 miles from Chest 1 round it is unfortunately flat; but l magnificent. It is built throughout in the 1! stylo. Ovorloigh Hall, about 1 : many portraits of the Cromwell famih ports i re: the Che*' ter Courant, and the farmer t //<.-. c<ml..-r 17th, and fain for I tho sale of cheese every month on days i: lown-j council. rillvSTKi;, a ward in the co. of Dm ; livs. The eastern div. ion: n. of I, (in Northumberland), Bo! Jarrow, Monkwearmouth, Washington, and Vlii: the middle div., parts of tl and South Oswald ; the western div., ,irk, Ky: Whiokham, Witton-GUbert, and Kimhlewnth. comprising 15s,liiil acres. ClirMcr i;i , in tho nrchdeae. and dioc. of Dur CHB8TKB, or I.ITTLK < 'IIKSTKU, a t. chplry. in tho par. of St. Alkmiind, ! of Derby, 1 mile N. of Dei situated on tin- I, ds railway and t!. and ocmpi"s tho site of tho Human station ! of Doomsday. rounded it could be traced in 17-1 ; l.ut tin- ion. The stt< 1 linn !, et by 7d'i. Tin In lioc. of Li. hfield, val. 'Jl-Vi, in th. . de" to St. Paul, mid built in 1-sii) is a ban.'.