Monument record 10109 - Bishop Graham Memorial Ragged School, Princess Street

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1872-1875, Metric Ten Foot Scale Town Plan of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH6780.

A Ragged School for boys and girls was recorded in Princess Street in the 19th century, apparently established in 1868. Ragged schools were charitable organisations established for the free education of the poor in the 19th century. It continued until 1915 when it was closed by the City Council. (See also source 2)

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1872-1875, Metric Ten Foot Scale Town Plan of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH6780.

<3> Lewis C.P & Thacker A.T. (eds), 2005, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume Vii, The City of Chester - The City of Chester, Culture, Buildings, Institutions, p279 (Book). SCH6522.

<4> Oxford Archaeology North, 2019, Northgate Redevelopment, Phase 1, Grassy Knoll, Chester: Archaeological Strip, Map and Record Report, R4487 (Client Report). SCH8973.

Concrete foundations potentially relating to the nineteenth century Ragged School were identified in archaeological evaluation trenches, excavated in 2019, in the Grassy Knoll (also known as the ‘pocket park’) on the south side of Hunter Street. The foundations cut into a thick deposit of dark-brown loamy soils (CHER 11513) which, from the associated finds recovered, appear to have accumulated over a prolonged period, possibly from the early post-Roman period to the post-medieval period.