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lintshire
landowner Thomas
Pennant
(1726-98)
was
a
distinguished
naturalist
and
travel
writer.
He
was
the
author
of
A
Tour
in
Scotland
(1771)
and
three
Tours
in
Wales
(1778-81)
His
first
Welsh
tour,
taking
in
Chester,
was
undertaken
in
1773.
Dr.
Johnson
called
Pennant
the
best
travel
writer
he
had
read...
"The
approach
to
the
city
is
over
a
very
narrow
and
dangerous
bridge,
of
seven
irregular
arches,
till
of
late
rendered
more
inconvenient
by
the
antient
gateways
at
each
end,
formerly
necessary
enough,
to
provent
the
inroads
of
my
countrymen,
who
often
carried
fire
and
sword
to
these
suburbs;
which
were
so
frequently
burnt,
as
to
be
called
by
the
Britons Tre-boeth,
or
the
burnt
town...
The
form
of
the
city
evinces
its
origin
to
have
been
Roman,
being
in
the
figure
of
their
camps;
with
four
gates;
four
principal
streets;
and
a
variety
of
lesser,
crossing
the
others
at
right
angles,
so
as
to
divide
the
whole
into
lesser
squares.
The
walls,
the
precincts
of
the
present
city,
mark
the
limits
of
the
antient.
No
part
of
the
old
walls
exist;
but
they
stood,
like
the
modern,
on
the
soft
freestone
rock,
high
above
the
circumjacent
country,
and
escarpes
on
every
front.
The
structure
of
the
four
principal
streets
is
without
parallel.
They
run
direct
from
east
to
west,
and
north
to
south;
and
were
excavated
out
of
the
earth,
and
sunk
many
feet
beneath
the
surface.
The
carriages
drive
far
below
the
level
of
the
kitchens,
on
a
line
with
ranges
of
shops;
over
which,
on
each
side
of
the
streets,
passengers
walk
from
end
to
end,
secure
from
wet
or
heat,
in
galleries
(or
rows,
as
they
are
called)
purloined
from
the
first
floor
of
each
house,
open
in
front
and
balustraded.
The
back-courts
of
all
these
houses
are
level
with
the
rows;
but
to
go
into
any
of
those
four
streets,
it
is
necessary
to
descend
a
flight
of
several
steps...
The
streets
were
once
considerably
deeper,
as
is
apparent
from
the
shops,
whose
floors
lie
far
below
the
present
pavement.
In
digging
foundations
for
houses,
the
Roman
pavement
is
often
discovered
at
the
depth
of
four
feet
beneath
the
modern.
The
lesser
streets
and
alleys,
which
run
into
the
principal
streets,
sloped
to
the
bottoms
of
the
latter,
as
is
particularly
visible
in
Lower
Bridge
Street;
but
these
are
destitute
of
the
galleries
or
rows...
Near
the
Bridge-gate
is
one
ascent
to
the
city
walls;
which
are
the
only
entire
specimen
of
antient
fortification
now
in
Great
Britain.
They
are
a
mile
and
three
quarters,
and
a
hundred
and
one
yards
in
circumference;
and,
being
the
principal
walk
of
the
inhabitants,
are
kept
in
excellent
repair
by
certain
impost,
called
murage
duties,
collected
at
the
custom
house,
upon
all
goods
and
merchandize
brought
into
the
port
of
Chester
from
parts
beyond
the
seas,
belonging
to
persons
not
freemen
of
the
city.
The
castle
is
composed
of
two
parts,
an
upper
and
a
lower:
each
with
a
strong
gate,
defended
by
a
round
bastion
on
each
side,
with
a
ditch,
and
formerly
with
draw-bridges.
Within
the
precincts
of
the
upper
Ballium
are
to
be
seen
some
towers
of
Norman
architecture,
square,
with
square
projections
at
each
corner,
very
slightly
salient.
The
handsomest
is
that
called
Julius
Caesar's...
On
the
sides
of
the
lower
court
stands
the
noble
room
called
Hugh
Lupus's
hall,
in
which
the
courts
of
justice
for
the
county
are
held.
The
length
of
it
is
near
ninety-nine
feet;
the
breadth
forty-five;
the
height
very
aweful,
and
worthy
the
state
apartment
of
a
great
baron.
The
roof
supported
by
wood
work,
in
a
bold
style,
carved;
and
placed
on
tho
sides,
resting
on
stout
brackets...
The
county
jail
for
felons
and
debtors
is
the
last
place
to
bo
described.
I
can
do
little
more
than
confirm
the
account
of
it
by
the
humane
Howard.
Their
day-confinement
is
in
a
little
yard,
surrounded
on
all
sides
by
lofty
buildings,
impervious
to
the
air,
excepting
from
above,
and
ever
unvisited
by
the
purifying
rays
of
the
sun.
Their
nocturnal
apartment
are
in
cells
seven
feet
and
a
half
by
three
and
a
half,
ranged
on
one
side
by
a
sub
terraneous
dungeon;
in
each
of
which
are
often
lodged
three
or
four
persons.
The
whole
is
rendered
more
(wholesomely)
horrible,
by
being
pitched
over
three
or
four
times
in
the
year.
The
scanty
air
of
the
streight
prison-yard
is
to
travel
through
three
passages
to
arrive
at
them:
through
the
window
of
an
adjacent
room;
through
a
grate
in
the
floor
of
the
said
room
into
the
dungeon;
and
finally,
from
the
dungeon,
through
a
little
grate
above
the
door
of
each
of
their
kennels.
ln
such
places
as
these
are
the
innocent
and
the
guilty
permitted
to
be
lodged,
till
the
law
decides
their
fate.
I
am
sure
the
humane
keeper,
Mr.Thomas,
must
feel
many
a
pang
at
the
necessary
discharge
of
his
duty.
Mr.
Howard
compares
the
place
to
the
black-hole
at
Calcutta.
The
view
I
had
of
it,
assisted
to
raise
the
idea
of
a
much
worse
prison;
where
No light, but rather darkness visible,...The present cathedral appears to have been built in the reigns of Henry VI, VII and VIII; but principally in those of tho two last . . . The center beneath the great tower is much injured by a modern bell-loft, which conceals a crown-work of stone, that would have a good effect was the loft destroyed... The choir is very neat; and the Gothic tabernacle-work over the stalls carved in a light and elegant manner.
Served only to discover sights of woe.
The
number
of
inhabitants,
including
the
suburbs
of
Boughton
and
Hanbridge,
are
estimated
to
be
fourteen
thousand
seven
hundred
and
thirteen.
The
houses
are
almost
entirely
situated
on
a dry
sand-stone
rock.
Whether
it
be
owing
to
that,
the
clearness
of
the
air,
and
the
purity
of
the
water,
it
is
certain
that
the
proportion
of
deaths
among
the
inhabitants
is
only
as
one
to
thirty-one;
whereas
I am
informed,
by
my
worthy
friend
Doctor
Haygarth
of
this
city,
that
in
Leeds,
one
in
twenty-one;
in
North
ampton
and
Shrewsbury,
one
in
twenty-six;
and
in
London,
one
in
twenty
and
three-fourths,
annually
pay
the
great
tribute
of
nature".
Right:
The
ruins
of
St. John's
Church
by
George
Cuitt
(1779-1854)
"I
do
not
recollect
any
thing
remarkable
on
the
outside
walls
which
has
been
unnoticed,
unless
it
be
the
Rood-eye,
and
the
adjacent
places.
The
Dee,
after
quitting
the
contracted
pass
at
the
bridge,
flows
beneath
an
incurvated
clayey
cliff,
and
washes
on
the
right
a
fine
and
extensive
meadow,
long
since
protected
against
its
ravages
by
a
lofty
dike...
At
one
end
of
the
Rood-eye
stands
the
House
of
lndustry;
a
large
and
useful
building,
founded
in
1757,
by
money
raised
by
the
city
on
life
annuities,
for
several
improvements
within
its
liberties.
Here
the
indigent
are
provided
for
in
a
fit
manner,
and
to
the
great
ease
of
the
parishes;
which
are
relieved
from
the
burden
of
a
numerous
poor,
who
are
too
idle
to
work,
and
too
proud
to
enter
into
this
comfortable
Asylum...
A
little
beyond
this
building
are
the
quays,
cranes,
warehouses,
and
other
requisites
for
carrying
on
the
naval
trade
of
the
city.
These
are
opposite
to
the
Water-gate;
and
have
been
much
improved
of
late
years,
and
the
intervening
space
filled
with
a
neat
street.
Ships
of
350
tons
burden
can
now
reach
the
quays,
where
the
spring-tides
rise
at
a
medium
fifteen
feet:
the
neap-tides,
eight...
There
was
lately
a
very
fair
prospect
of
adding
much
to
the
trade
of
the
city,
by
an
inland
navigation,
which
was
begun
with
great
spirit
a
few
years
ago.
It
was
to
run
through
the
county
beneath
Beeston
castle,
and
to
terminate
near
Middlewich.
Another
branch
was
to
extend
to
Namptwich.
One
mouth
opens
into
the
Dee,
below
the
water-tower.
A
fine
bason
is
formed,
into
which
the
boats
are
to
descend,
by
means
of
five
successive
locks,
beneath
the
northern
walls
of
the
city,
cut
in
the
live
rock.
A
few
miles
of
this
design
are
completed:
but,
by
an
unhappy
miscalculation
of
expence,
and
by
unforeseen
difficulties
occurring
in
the
execution,
such
enormous
charges
were
incurred,
as
to
put
a
stop
for
the
present
to
all
proceedings...
The
idea
of
a
canal
along
the
dead
flat
between
Chester
and
Ince
has
been
long
since
conceived,
by
persons
very
conversant
in
the
nature
of
the
trade
of
this
city.
One
mouth
might
have
opened
into
the
Dee
in
tho
place
of
the
present;
another
near
Ince,
which
would
create
a
ready
inter
course
with
Liverpool,
the
Weever,
and
the
salt-works
and
great
dairies
on
that
river;
with
Warrington,
and
with
the
flourishing
town
of
Manchester,
and
a
numerous
set
of
places
within
reach
of
the
Mersey,
and
of
the
canal
belonging
to
that
useful
Peer,
the
duke
of
Bridgewater,
to
which
the
greatest
of
our
inland
navigations
is
connected.
This
litt le
cut
the
city
might,
and
still
may,
enjoy
unenvied,
unrivalled;
and,
what
is
a
material
consideration,
the
distance
is
trifling
(seven
miles),
the
excpences
small,
and
the
profits
to
the
undertakers
great..."
The edition of the Cheshire Sheaf of February 1881 contained a strange anecdote of Thomas Pennant,
Pennant, the eminent traveller, had a great aversion to wigs, which also transferred to their wearers.
Once, in the presence of the Mayor of Chester, who wore a powdered wig, he got very excited and nervous and angrily made some strong remarks about the Mayor to a companion. At last, losing all control over his feelings, he rushed
at the Mayor, pulled off his wig and ran away with it out of the house, waving it aloft as he went. The Mayor followed, to the amusement of the populace; and this curious race was afterwards known as the "Mayor and Mr Pennant's tour through Chester".
The Sheaf remarked upon this tale, "If this anecdote be true it would only be another example of a strong mind having a weak spot."
It was certainly true that, in 1776, when he sat before the great Gainsborough to have his portrait painted, he chose, much against the fashion of the time, to appear wigless.
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