Monument record 8449/1 - Edgar's Field - Minerva Shrine

<1> Thompson Watkin W. T., 1886, Roman Cheshire: A Description of Roman Remains in the County of Chester, p.197-200 (Book). SCH2878.

‘…Minerva, which I think it represents (unless it be the guardian nymph of the Dee), she would be here invoked for the safety of travellers crossing the river….The total height of the sculpture is 4 feet 9 inches, and the breadth 2 feet 6 inches. The height, in relief, is from 3 to 4 inches. As recently as 1870, I found that what appeared to be the owl over the left shoulder could be easily detected, and the figure generally well made out, but since that time it has much deteriorated, chiefly from abuse, having for some time been used as a target for rifle shooting, which has pitted it with circular marks…it has now been protected by a sort of cage of iron bars, placed in front…’

‘...supposition that the preservation of the figure is due to its having been considered to represent the Virgin in mediaeval times is most likely correct…’

‘…That the Chester figure is that of Minerva is rendered probable not only from the altar to that goddess found in the city, but by the fact that she is apparently frequently invoked as an aquatic goddess with regard to rivers, springs, and even the sea…’

<2> Smith C.R., 1850, Notes on the Roman remains at Chester, p.215 (Article in Journal). SCH6087.

‘…The rock here would appear to have been cut away for the road, and the figure of Minerva would then be a conspicuous object. Considerable pains have been bestowed on the execution of this monument, although time has effaced the sharpness of outline and worm down the surface of the stone. The goddess is represented helmeted, with spear and shield, standing under a recess formed by two columns surmounted by a pediment; over her left shoulder appears the sacred owl; the base of one of the columns is widened so as to form an altar. By the side of this image a cave has been cut in the rock. This is of subsequent date to the monument, for in excavating it, the shaft of one of the columns has been cut away. Blind devotion in the middle ages may have mistaken the figure for the image of the Virgin, and the cave may have been formed to receive the offerings of devotees…’

<3> Moore CN, 1987, Report of the Curator, Grosvenor Museum to Amenities Committee: Shrine of the Goddess Minerva and the Roman Quarry Face in Edgar's Field Handbridge, Chester (Unpublished Report). SCH2851.

<4> Newstead, Robert (Prof.), 1926, Records of Archaeological Finds at Chester, p.103-151 (Article in Journal). SCH5955.

The Chester Archaeological Society carried out a one week excavation in front of the Minerva Shrine, Edgar's Field, Chester, in April 1923. Two small trenches were excavated, one is described as having been six feet wide, close up to the eastern face of the rock, and carried down to a depth of eight feet from the floor of the cave. The second trench was just slightly further away from the rock face. Extensive Roman and post-medieval activity was in evidence. Suggested the shrine to the goddess Minerva was carved at some time between the first and third or fourth centuries, when there was a stone quarry at this location (see CHER 8449/2).

<5> Taylor MV & Collingwood RG, 1927, Roman Britain in 1927, p.194 & 212 (Article in Journal). SCH8438.

'...A trench for laying a sewer was cut through Edgar's Field, revealing three deposits: the uppermost containing eighteenth and nineteenth century remains, the second consisting of loamy soil above and rock-fragments below, and the lowest composed of clean rock-chippings. The lowest contained pockets of early pottery, and seemed to be the remains of quarrying operations in the closing years of the first century. The middle stratum contained a good deal of pottery of types not earlier than the second century…' An inscription was also found.

<6> Harris, B.E. (ed), 1987, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume I, p.183-184 (Book). SCH3556.

‘…Little of what early antiquarians described and drew of it can be discerned, though certain features were said to be easily recognizable as late as 1870. What could once be seen, perhaps with the eye of faith, was the goddess Pallas Athene (Minerva), standing in an aedicula, with an owl, the bird associated with her, on her shoulder. The goddess held spear and shield, and to her right was an altar. Edgar's Field is a disused quarry which was certainly worked in the Roman period. Quarrying apparently began in the closing years of the first century, and had ceased by the later second, the waste being sealed by dumped rubbish of the Roman period. The principal find was part of a Severan inscription, presumably derived from a demolished building inside the fortress. The relief was probably carved by legionary quarrymen…’

<7> Horsley J, 1732, Britannia Romana, p.316 (Book). SCH449.

'...There is an image of the goddess Pallas upon a rock in a field, on the south side of the river Dee...It is very much decayed...The Deva armigera appears in her usual warlike dress, and the owl, her bird, shews itself at the top of her quiver…'

<8a> English Heritage, Various, Old/Original Schedule Entry (Scheduled Ancient Monuments Description), CH13 (Scheduling Record). SCH4606.

<8b> English Heritage, Various, Schedule Entry (Scheduled Ancient Monuments Amendment), 27582 (Scheduling Record). SCH2950.

'…The monument includes a Roman quarry face on which is carved a figure of the Roman goddess Minerva. A cave is cut into the rock face behind the figure and forms a shrine for votive offerings. This is known as Edgar's Cave. The rock outcrop bearing the carving and cave are now surrounded by a park with a childrens' playground in the centre and the grass around the monument is cut as a lawn. An area of the floor of the quarry is also included. The relief sculpted figure, which is also Listed Grade II, stands 1.45m high and 0.73m wide. It has been enclosed by a sandstone frame which originally held a steel gate across the front of the sculpture to protect it from vandalism. To the right of the frame, the cave is cut into the rock face; to the left it is built up with freestone to support it from behind. The entrance to the cave is now closed with a steel grill. The top of the rock face has been capped with stone setts. The exposed rock face is part of a more extensive quarry which curves around the ground known as Edgar's Field forming a slope with two terraces on the southern and western sides. Excavations in the early 1920s revealed that the quarry was in use c.100 AD. Soil was imported to cover the quarry floor in the late-second century AD. Roman occupation remains dating from that time on were found on the site. Subsequently stone was quarried from the site again during the Middle Ages. The sculpted shrine and figure of the goddess would appear to have been carved during the working of the quarry. It may have been adopted as a Christian shrine in later centuries which would account for the remarkable preservation of the figure and its surround. The shrine has a signboard on wooden uprights to the left of the frame. The signboard and its uprights are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath them is included…'

<9> Longley D, 1977-1978, Longley Archive, no.343 (Paper Archive). SCH2005.

<10> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 469762 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Shrine statue of Minerva carved in quarry face in Edgar's Field. Early second century. Red sandstone. Detail badly eroded. The shrine is the only example surviving in situ of its kind in Britain. Interpretive material is available in the Grosvenor Museum, Grosvenor Street, Chester IM. The shrine is protected by a nineteenth century stone surround with hood, refurbished late twentieth century.

<11> Lawson, P H, 1926, Schedule of the Roman Remains of Chester with Maps and Plans, No 63 (Article in Journal). SCH5956.

'...Rock-cut adicula with figure of Minerva, and apsidal recess at side cut in the rock. Survival probably due to being considered a representation of the Virgin in medireval times...Statuette of Mithraic dadophore, found near by about the same date. Apparently lost…'

<12> Henig D.F, 2004, Roman Sculpture in the NW Midlands, No 11 (Book). SCH6862.

‘…Minerva, wearing a long tunic with overfold, stands within a gabled aedicula, flanked by simple Doric-style columns. In her right hand she holds a spear. An owl with outspread wings is shown at her [left] shoulder. On Minerva's right a small altar is indicated in front of the column. As goddess of crafts, Minerva was an appropriate goddess to be depicted on a quarry shrine...To the right of the relief (i.e. to Minerva's left) is a niche 1.24m. in depth, known as Edgar's Cave. It retains traces of tooling on its sides and was probably used for offerings…’

‘…Excavations by Newstead in the 1920s revealed evidence of quarrying. Although part of a commemorative slate tablet in the name of Septimius Severns (RIB 465) was found nearby this was probably unconnected with the quarry and the Minerva image as further excavation by Emery in late 1996 revealed that the quarry was already being filled in before the latter part of the second century. Thus the relief was probably cut in the late first or early second century. It is not unlikely that it survived through the middle ages because it was wrongly interpreted as the Virgin or another saint…’

<13> Stukeley, W., 1724, Iter Boreale, p.33 (Book). SCH1489.

‘…a Roman carving of a goddess in a tabernacle, with an altar ; it was not in the least difficult to see the traces of a Roman hand, through so many years, rubbing of cattle, and ill usage. There is a seat hollowed out close by it, and which has taken away part of a pillar supporting the pediment. It is a figure of Pallas, with a shield on her left arm; a belt from her left shoulder holds a sword tied under her right arm, after the Roman mode; she has a. spear supporting her right hand, her under garments reach down to her feet. The altar stands against one of the pillars, and has a. little hole at top of it….’

<14> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Land Line and Master Map Vector Maps, 27/04/2018 (Maps and Plans). SCH4491.

<15> David James Laverty, 2014-2015, The Search for Mithras in Roman Britain: A Reassessment of the Archaeological Evidence, p.52 (Unpublished Report). SCH8586.

Dissertation studying Mithraism in Roman Britain, focusing on a reassessment of the archaeological evidence for the worship of Mithras in Roman Chester during AD 43-410. Also, based on spatial analysis of known Mithraic temples in Britain, it suggests that Edgar's Field, Handbridge, could be a likely location for a Mithraeum in Chester. Edgar's Field was also the site of a Roman quarry from which many of the fortress stones were quarried, but it could have had a different use, when the quarrying had subsided. This could be indicated by a shrine dedicated to Minerva carved into a natural rock outcrop in the centre of the area; a link between Mithras and Minerva can be found at the London Mithraeum, where a marble statue of Minerva's head was found during excavations of the Mithraeum.