Monument record 12000/42 - Chester City Walls - Watergate

For ships and cargoes arriving at the port of Chester, the Watergate was the main entrance into the city. Tolls and taxes were collected here, and trade was regulated by the city authorities. The lucrative Watergate was controlled by the Stanley family, the Earls of Derby. They built a mansion, Stanley Place, along Watergate St. As trade gradually declined and the port silted up, the Watergate lost its role as the main goods entrance into the city. During the eighteenth century it was rebuilt and enlarged, and a foot passage was constructed. Despite this, the gate was still too narrow for traffic, and in 1788 the medieval gateway and tollhouse were replaced by the single neoclassical arch visible today. The former gate was represented in Hollar's map of Chester as a simple pointed arch without towers or other additions (1), and was closed by a double door strengthened by a portcullis and drawbridge. To one side was a smaller arch for foot passengers. Sergeancy of the gate was transferred by Richard de Stanlowe to William de Doncaster in 1223 or 1224. The gate eventually came into custody of the Stanleys, Earls of Derby, to whose ancestors it had probably passed, along with the barony of Mold. It was purchased from this family by the Corporation in 1788 and pulled down (2). The duties of the sergeancy were to find a man to open and close the gate when necessary, and one man bearing a club, called the Sergeant of Watergate St. Braun's map of 1580 shows the water of the Dee coming up to the Watergate, but in Speed's more accurate map of 1610, there is a large tract of land between it and the river (3).

Earthworks Archaeological Services, 2010, Gas Main Renewal at Nun's Road and Grosvenor Street, Chester, R3013 (Client Report). SCH5362.

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

<2> Simpson, F., 1910, The Walls of Chester, /36 (Book). SCH3255.

<3> Morris, Rupert H (Rev.), 1894, Chester in the Plantagenet & Tudor Reigns, /225-228 (Book). SCH946.

<4> Harris, B.E., 1979, Bartholomew City Guides - Chester, /97-98 (Book). SCH394.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ46NW26.11/1964 (Index). SCH2487.

<6> Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Revised List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, City of Chester Intra Mural 1998/ 473 (Unpublished Report). SCH4570.

<7> Donald Insall Associates, Chester City Walls Conservation Management Plan, R3251 (Client Report). SCH6603.

<8> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 470469 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

<9> 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, p222 (Book). SCH6522.