Chester, Cheshire : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Chester. You may be able to find further references to Chester in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Abbey Precincts extra-parochial district Bartholomew
Chester parliamentary and municipal borough, city, and county in itself Bartholomew
CHESTER a city and two sub-districts Imperial
CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY a railway Imperial

This additional information from our descriptive gazetteers is for locations within the parish or parishes associated with Chester.

Place Type of entry Source
Blacon-cum-Crabhall township Bartholomew
LACHE (THE) an outlying part of St. Mary-on-the-Hill parish Imperial
LACHE-WITH-SALTNEY a chapelry Imperial
Lea Newbold township Bartholomew
Marlston-cum-Lache township Bartholomew
Molllington Banastre (or Little Mollington) township Bartholomew
Moston township Bartholomew
Saighton township and village Bartholomew
Upton township Bartholomew
Wervin township Bartholomew

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Chester within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
George Borrow Introduction; Norfolk to Chester 17
William Camden Shropshire and Cheshire 17
Daniel Defoe Letter 7, Part 1: Cheshire and North-West Midlands 15
George Borrow Wrexham and Llangollen 11
George Head Cheshire 7
Gerald of Wales Book II, Ch. 11: Chester 6
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Cheshire and Lancashire 6
Thomas Pennant Chester to Bunbury 5
Thomas Pennant Appendix VIII: Itinerary 5
George Borrow Bangor, Anglesey and Snowdon 4
George Borrow Tom O' the Dingle 4
William Camden The Division of Britaine 3
William Camden Durham, Lancashire and Westmorland 3
Daniel Defoe Appendix to the second volume 3
Daniel Defoe Letter 10: Lancashire, Westmorland and Cumberland 3
John Wesley 1751-3: Wesley's Marriage; Cornwall Smugglers; Illness and Recovery 3
George Borrow Conclusion: Newport and Chepstow 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 6, Part 3: Worcester, Hereford and Wales 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 8, Part 1: The Trent Valley 2
John Wesley 1754-6: Retirement in Paddington; Wesley Slandered; Premonitions 2
John Wesley 1781-4: An Ideal Circuit; Wesley in his Eighties; Wesley Visits Holland; Scotland 2
Thomas Pennant June 26-July 3: Cheshire to the East Riding 2
Thomas Pennant September 18-23: The Borders and back to Cheshire 2
Arthur Young 1776 Tour from Essex to Shropshire 2
George Borrow To Ruthin 1
George Borrow Llangollen to Cerrigydruidion 1
George Borrow Around Anglesey (1) 1
George Borrow Around Anglesey (4) 1
George Borrow Llangollen Again 1
George Borrow To Wrexham 1
Gerald of Wales Book II, Ch. 12: Oswestry and Shrewsbury 1
Gerald of Wales Book II, Ch. 13: Ludlow and Hereford 1
William Camden Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincoln 1
William Camden Rest of Wales 1
William Camden Yorkshire: East and North Ridings 1
William Camden Ireland (2) 1
William Cobbett Sept. 12th to 27th, 1826: Malmsbury to Worcestershire 1
Charles Wesley Jan: 15 - Apr. 29, 1748: Ireland, Wales and meeting future wife 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 8, Part 3: South and West Yorkshire 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 9: Eastern Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland 1
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Staffordshire 1
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Durham to Shropshire 1
George Head The Wirral 1
John Wesley 1760-2: Letter to an Editor; Impositions and Declarations; Speaking Statue; Pentecost 1
John Wesley 1785-90: Collects Money for the Poor; Visits House of Lords; Reasons for his Long Life 1
Thomas Pennant Nantwich 1
Thomas Pennant Lichfield 1
Thomas Pennant Tamworth to Meriden 1
Thomas Pennant Gorhambury and Verulamium 1
Arthur Young 1776 Tour of South Wales and South Midlands 1
Arthur Young 21st to 31st July 1776: Down, Armagh and Antrim 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Spital Boughton 0 2
Handbridge 4 1
Lache 0 3
Bache 0 2
Newton By Chester 0 2
Blacon 0 2
Saltney 0 2
Claverton 0 2
Hoole 0 2
Great Boughton 4 2
Upton By Chester 0 3
Marlston Cum Lache 0 2
Little Mollington 0 2
Huntington 0 2
Crabwall 0 1
Moston 0 2
Little Saughall 0 2
Littleton 0 2
Eccleston 0 2
Great Mollington 0 5

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Chester. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
ABBEY PRECINCTS John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
CAER LEGION William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CAER LEON AR DUFYR DWY William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CAER LEON VAUR William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CHESTER John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
DEONNA Thomas Pennant A Tour in Scotland 1769 (London: Benjamin White, 1776).
DEVA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
Thomas Pennant The Journey from Chester to London (London: Wilkie and Robinson, 1811).
Thomas Pennant A Tour in Scotland 1769 (London: Benjamin White, 1776).
DEVANA Thomas Pennant A Tour in Scotland 1769 (London: Benjamin White, 1776).
DEVNANA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DOVERDWY Gerald of Wales The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales (Oxford, Mississippi, 1997).
LEGEA CESTER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
WEST CHESTER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
WESTCHESTER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.