Monument record 12000/37 - Chester City Walls - Shipgate

The former Shipgate Postern, also called the 'Hole in the Wall', is shown in an old drawing as a simple rounded archway through the southern part of the city walls. It opened upon the ford across the River Dee and was the landing place of the ferry from Handbridge prior to the construction of the Dee Bridge and it was in the custody of the Sergeant of the Bridge Gate, who was obliged to find locks and keys for the postern and a man to open and shut it (1). It must have been built prior to 1121 or 1129, when it is mentioned in Earl Ranulf I confirmation charter of St Werburgh's Abbey (2). By the fourteenth century, when tolls were levied there, the gate was in the care of the keeper of the Bridgegate, who was bound to find a man to open and shut it. Dues were still charged there in the reign of Henry VI, but by 1534 it had been made ‘useless’, and in the reign of Edward VI it was blocked. The gate, which comprised a single arch with battlements, was still standing in the later sixteenth century, but in 1707 was referred to in terms that implied it had recently been removed. If so, it must have been replaced, for it was expressly said to have been taken down in 1828 and was removed to a garden in Abbey Square. In 1897, it was moved to Grosvenor Park (see CHER 10384) (1).

<1> Simpson, F., 1910, The Walls of Chester, /59 (Book). SCH3255.

<2> Donald Insall Associates, Chester City Walls Conservation Management Plan, R3251 (Client Report). SCH6603.

<3> Ward, S. W., 1986, Recent work on the medieval wall of Chester, Ward S 1985 68/83 (Article in Journal). SCH5945.

<4> Harris, B.E., 1979, Bartholomew City Guides - Chester, /134 (Book). SCH394.

<5> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, /7/407 (Report). SCH1934.

<6> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Ormerod G 1882 1/355-356 (Book). SCH1389.

<7> Morris, Rupert H (Rev.), 1894, Chester in the Plantagenet & Tudor Reigns, /229-230 (Book). SCH946.

<8> Dr Tom Welsh, 2014, The Shipgate, Chester City Walls (Written Communication). SCH7582.

<9> Dr Tom Welsh, 2014, Chester City Walls, the Lost Wall West of the Bridgegate (Written Communication). SCH7581.

<10> multiple authors, 1983, Excavation Reports and Sites Observed (Article in Journal). SCH5810.