Chester City Walls
Current work on the Walls
Collapse on the City Walls by the Eastgate Clock
In 2020 a section of the wall collapsed close to the famous Eastgate clock. To ensure that residents, visitors and businesses can still benefit from and enjoy this section of the walls our engineers, alongside external specialists, designed a temporary walkway which is incorporated into the scaffolding that is needed to prop up the wall. The scaffold was carefully designed to protect the Wesley Church Centre, take into account crypts and other buried archaeology between the Church and the walls, and maintain a fire escape route for the surrounding buildings.
More scaffold propping has been designed to support the partially-collapsed inner wall to prevent any further damage, with a roof added for further protection. This will be installed in the first phase of the repair work.
Work to repair the City Walls at the collapse site
Since the collapse near to the Eastgate Clock, we have been considering potential legal action, as it is our understanding that we have grounds to investigate negligence by a third party which may have contributed to the collapse of the City Walls.
We began a legal process to seek recovery of costs from those third parties who we believe to be responsible for the collapse; letters of claim have been issued. The prospective defendants deny wrongdoing.
The site of the collapse is landlocked. For a significant amount of time we have been seeking access from the owners of the land where the collapse occurred, however this has been denied. As access has not been granted, legal options have been progressed to enable access to the site to carry out inspections, and possible remedial works.
Enabling works, including vegetation removal were completed this summer in preparation for the main repair works.
We hope to be able to share a works schedule for repairs very soon – teams are currently reviewing and agreeing contracts with our suppliers.
We will continue to pursue every avenue available to ensure that the City Walls, an internationally recognised heritage asset, are preserved and maintained to the highest standard.
Although you may think this bridge and steps, dated 1966, look like a modern structure, they are actually classed by Historic England as being part of the City Walls - a legally protected Scheduled Monument.
The design of the bridge and steps was also approved back then by the Royal Fine Art Commission, which from 1924 and then for three quarters of a century, was the UK Government’s advisor on design in the built environment.
Inspections discovered the joints in the steps were rusting and unsafe. Work on the City Walls is prioritised to make sure available budget is spent where it is most needed. Therefore, these steps had to be propped and made safe, so they could remain open for use, while other more urgent safety-critical projects had priority.
Stages for this project:
A ‘Stage 1’ study has been commissioned to identify key stakeholders who need to be involved. Stakeholders will probably include Historic England, the Royal Fine Art Commission, the Corporate Disability Access Forum (via the Council’s Accessibility Officer) and local heritage and history groups, such as the Civic Trust, Chester Archaeological Society.
A ‘Stage 2’ study will follow on from this to develop the most appropriate solution to repair the structure.
Work on the City Walls is always complex and resource intensive and it has taken time to procure a suitably qualified and experienced consultant to lead the study, but work will begin this autumn. Progress updates will appear on this webpage.
These steps showed signs of movement and were therefore propped, so they could safely remain open for the public.
Work on the City Walls is prioritised to make sure available budget is spent where it is most needed. Therefore, these steps had to be propped and made safe, so they could remain open for use, while other more urgent safety-critical projects had priority.
A plan is being drawn up for investigation work, including obtaining Scheduled Monument Consent.
This work will provide an opportunity to investigate a section of the City Walls to the east of this location at the same time – as their construction is unknown and to protect masonry from future erosion.
This site is currently subject to an ongoing dialogue with the landowner through legal channels. Further updates will appear on this page.
A partnership between Cheshire West and Chester Council and Chester Cathedral has revived stonemasonry skills that had previously almost died out. The mutually beneficial approach means one team of stonemasons work on both the Cathedral and Chester’s historic City Walls.
The Cathedral’s stonemasons understand local conditions and materials and have spent a long time refining their understanding of hot lime mortar, a skill that is currently hard to find. One of the biggest maintenance issues on the City Walls was the use of hard cement mortar in the immediate post World War Two years.
It does not allow moisture to evaporate from the joints. Instead, it forces water to evaporate through masonry blocks which are already very soft (as is the nature of the local sandstone), causing them to erode instead. In some sections of the City Walls, the sandstone is almost eroded away completely, but the cement mortar joints stand proud.
Stonemasons are currently trialling different mixes of hot lime mortar at locations across the City Walls.
