Chester High Cross

Chester High Cross
Chester High Cross
	Chester High Cross standing at the junction of streets known as Chester Cross
Location	Chester Cross, Chester, Cheshire, England
Coordinates	53°11′25″N2°53′30″W / 53.190290°N 2.891635°W Coordinates: 53°11′25″N2°53′30″W / 53.190290°N 2.891635°W
OS grid reference	SJ 405 662
Listed Building – Grade II
	Official name: Chester High Cross
Designated	28 July 1955
Reference no.	1376246
	Location in Cheshire

Last updated March 19, 2019

Chester High Cross is in Chester, Cheshire, England. It stands in front of St Peter's Church at the junction of Watergate Street, Eastgate Street and Bridge Street, a site known as Chester Cross. The cross is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.^[1]

Chester is a walled city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales. With a population of 118,200 in 2011, it is the most populous settlement of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 332,200 in 2014. Chester was granted city status in 1541.

Cheshire is a county in North West England, bordering Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south and Flintshire, Wales and Wrexham county borough to the west. Cheshire's county town is the City of Chester (118,200); the largest town is Warrington (209,700). Other major towns include Crewe (71,722), Ellesmere Port (55,715), Macclesfield (52,044), Northwich (75,000), Runcorn (61,789), Widnes (61,464) and Winsford (32,610)

St Peter's Church is in Eastgate Street in the centre of the city of Chester, Cheshire, England, immediately to the north of Chester Cross. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Chester. The ancient walls mark the boundaries of the parish.

History

The original cross dated from the 14th century.^[1] This cross was replaced by a new one in 1476. It consisted of an octagonal pillar surmounted by a carved head and a crucifix on its top. The cross was gilded in 1603.^[2] It was damaged and broken up by the Parliamentarians during the Civil War in 1646. The head was saved and kept in the grounds of Sir John Cotgreave at Nesterleigh.^[3] The head and another possible fragments were rediscovered in the 19th century. They were used in a restoration of the cross which was erected near the Newgate in 1949. In 1975 the cross was moved to its present site, near to its original position.^[1]

A crucifix is an image of Jesus on the cross, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the corpus.

Gilding is any decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold to solid surfaces such as metal, wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, it was traditionally silver in the West, to make silver-gilt objects, but gilt-bronze is commonly used in China, and also called ormolu if it is Western. Methods of gilding include hand application and gluing, typically of gold leaf, chemical gilding, and electroplating, the last also called gold plating. Parcel-gilt objects are only gilded over part of their surfaces. This may mean that all of the inside, and none of the outside, of a chalice or similar vessel is gilded, or that patterns or images are made up by using a combination of gilt and ungilted areas.

The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists ("Cavaliers") over, principally, the manner of England's governance. The first (1642–1646) and second (1648–1649) wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third (1649–1651) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The war ended with the Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651.

Structure

The cross is constructed in red sandstone. It consists of a crown surmounted by a finial with a ball on its top. It stands on a shaft on a plinth below which are three steps. The head is hexagonal, while the shaft, steps and plinth are octagonal. The head, and possibly the moulded base of the shaft, date from the 14th century; the rest of the structure is modern. The head is badly weathered; niches which formerly contained statues are on each side, but two of these have been weathered away.^[1]

Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized mineral particles or rock fragments.

A finial or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture it is a decorative device, typically carved in stone, employed to emphasize the apex of a dome, spire, tower, roof, or gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Where there are several such elements they may be called pinnacles. Smaller finials in materials such as metal or wood are used as a decorative ornament on the tops or ends of poles or rods such as tent-poles or curtain rods or any object such as a piece of furniture. These are frequently seen on top of bed posts or clocks. Decorative finials are also commonly used to fasten lampshades, and as an ornamental element at the end of the handles of souvenir spoons. The charm at the end of a pull chain is also known as a finial.

Molding (decorative) class of decorative elements in the ornamentation

Moulding, also known as coving(United Kingdom, Australia), is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster, but may be of plastic or reformed wood. In classical architecture and sculpture, the molding is often carved in marble or other stones.

Today

Chester High Cross stands at the centre of the city of Chester and is a popular meeting point. During the summer months Chester's town crier makes a midday proclamation from its steps.^[4]

A town crier, also called a bellman, is an officer of the court who makes public pronouncements as required by the court.

Related Research Articles

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References

1 2 3 4 Historic England, "Chester High Cross (1376246)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 15 July 2012
↑ Thacker, A. T.; Lewis, C. P. (eds.) (2005), Local government and public services: Municipal buildings, A History of the County of Chester: The City of Chester: Culture, Buildings, Institutions, 5, Part 2, pp. 15–20, retrieved 11 August 2009
↑ Historic England, "Chester High Cross (69180)", PastScape, retrieved 15 July 2012
↑ Chester Cross Proclamation, Chester Town Criers, archived from the original on 7 January 2009, retrieved 15 July 2009

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[images-1] 1 2 3 4 Historic England, "Chester High Cross (1376246)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 15 July 2012

[2] Thacker, A. T.; Lewis, C. P. (eds.) (2005), Local government and public services: Municipal buildings, A History of the County of Chester: The City of Chester: Culture, Buildings, Institutions, 5, Part 2, pp. 15–20, retrieved 11 August 2009

[3] Historic England, "Chester High Cross (69180)", PastScape, retrieved 15 July 2012

[4] Chester Cross Proclamation, Chester Town Criers, archived from the original on 7 January 2009, retrieved 15 July 2009