"...we admire the monks
of Chester because
they are not wearied
by the toil of their
joyful yoke. To the
local people they are
cheery: to those who
come from afar they
are jovial, ready to open
their hearts to them."
Monk Lucian of Chester(c.1200)
Protected by the City Walls, Chester Cathedral has long been a place of power and influence, worship and pilgrimage, charity, hospitality and learning.
There has been a church here since the 7th century.
Since about AD 900it has housed the shrine of St Werburgh, a 7th-century Mercian princess who became a nun and rose to be in charge of all the nunneries in Mercia.
In 1092 Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, founded the Benedictine Abbey of St Werburgh on this site.
In 1540 Henry VIII seized control during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and the Abbey Church became Chester Cathedral a year later.
A picture of Chester Cathedral in 1811 before its extensive Victorian restoration.
An artist's Impression of St Werburgh's Abbey and Kaleyards Gate.
This artist's impression shows monks from the Abbey in about 1380 using the Kaleyards Gate to reach their kitchen gardens beyond the City Walls. Granted by special royal decree, this private gate ( about 50m to your right) used to be locked every night at about 9 o'clock to keep invaders out.
A picture of St Werburgh, patron of Chester on a stained glass window that can be seen when you visit her shrine inside the Cathedral."
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