Editing Chester Castle (section)

==History==

The castle was built in 1070 by [[Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester|Hugh d'Avranches]], the second [[Earl of Chester]].<ref name=ccc>{{citation |title=Information Sheet: Chester Castle &#124; |publisher=[[Cheshire West and Chester]] }}</ref> It is possible that it was built on the site of an earlier [[Saxons|Saxon]] fortification but this has not been confirmed. The original structure would have been a [[motte-and-bailey]] castle with a wooden tower. In the 12th century the wooden tower was replaced by a square stone tower, the Flag Tower. During the same century the stone gateway to the inner bailey was built. This is now known as the Agricola Tower and on its first floor is the chapel of St Mary de Castro.<ref name=ccc/> The chapel contains items of Norman architecture.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.crsbi.ac.uk/search/county/site/ed-ch-chsmc.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005145244/http://www.crsbi.ac.uk/search/county/site/ed-ch-chsmc.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 October 2012 |title=St Mary de Castro, Chester, Cheshire |access-date=13 June 2010 |publisher=Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland }}</ref> In the 13th century, during the reign of [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], the walls of an outer bailey were built, the gateway in the Agricola Tower was blocked up and residential accommodation, including a Great Hall, was built along the south wall of the inner bailey. Later in the century, during the reign of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]], a new gateway to the outer bailey was built. This was flanked by two half-drum towers and had a drawbridge over a moat {{convert|8|m|ft}} deep. Further additions to the castle at this time included individual chambers for the King and Queen, a new chapel and stables.<ref name=ccc/><ref name=cow>{{citation  |url=http://www.castlewales.com/chester.html |title=Chester Castle |access-date=7 March 2008 |last=Northall |first=John |year=2006 |publisher=Castles of Wales }}</ref>

[[File:Chester Castle (35).jpg|thumb|left|The Norman chapel]]

Prominent people held as prisoners in the crypt of the Agricola Tower were [[Richard II of England|Richard II]] and [[Eleanor Cobham]], wife of [[Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester]], and [[Andrew de Moray]], hero of the Battle of Stirling Bridge.{{sfn|Richards|1947|p=102}} During the [[Wars of the Roses]], [[House of York|Yorkist]] [[John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu]] was captured and imprisoned at the castle by [[House of Lancaster|Lancastrians]] following the [[Battle of Blore Heath]], near the town of [[Market Drayton]], Shropshire, in 1459. He was released from captivity following the Yorkist victory at [[Battle of Northampton (1460)|Northampton]] in 1460.<ref>{{cite book|first=Jane |last=Laughton|title=Life in a late medieval city: Chester, 1275–1520 |page= 36|publisher=Windgather Press|year= 2008|isbn=978-1-905119-23-3}}</ref> Outside the outer bailey gate was an area known as the Gloverstone where criminals waiting for execution were handed over to the city authorities. The Great Hall was rebuilt in the late 1570s.<ref name=ccc/>

During the [[English Civil War|Civil War]] Chester was held by the [[Cavaliers|Royalists]].<ref name=ccc/> The castle was assaulted by [[Roundhead|Parliamentary]] forces in July 1643, and in January and April 1645.<ref>{{citation  | last =Phillips  | first =A.&nbsp;D.&nbsp;M.  | last2 = Phillips| first2 = C.&nbsp;B.| title =A New Historical Atlas of Cheshire  | publisher =[[Cheshire County Council]]  | year =2002  | location =Chester   | page =37 | isbn =0-904532-46-1 }}</ref> Together with the rest of the city, it was [[siege|besieged]] between September 1645 and February 1646.<ref name=ccc/> Following the civil war the castle was used as a prison, a court and a tax office.<ref name=cow/> In 1687 [[James II of England|James II]] attended [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] in the chapel of St Mary de Castro.{{sfn|Richards|1947|p=102}}  In 1696 Chester [[Mint (coin)|mint]] was established and was managed by [[Edmund Halley]] in a building adjacent to the Half Moon tower.<ref name=cow/> During the [[1745 Jacobite rising]] a gun emplacement was built on the wall overlooking the river.<ref name=ccc/>

[[Image:Chester Castle 1747.jpg|280px|thumb|Engraving by [[Samuel and Nathaniel Buck|Buck Brothers]] of Chester Castle in 1747]]
By the later part of the 18th century much of the fabric of the castle had deteriorated and [[John Howard (prison reformer)|John Howard]], the prison reformer, was particularly critical of the conditions in the prison. [[Thomas Harrison (architect)|Thomas Harrison]] was commissioned to design a new prison. This was completed in 1792 and praised as one of the best constructed prisons in the country. Harrison then went on to rebuild the medieval [[Chester Crown Court|Shire Hall]] in [[neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] style. He also built two new wings, one to act as [[barracks]], the other as an [[Armory (military)|armoury]], and designed a massive new entrance to the castle site, styled the [[Propylaeum]]. The buildings, which were all in neoclassical style, were built between 1788 and 1822.<ref name=ccc/> The architectural historian [[Nikolaus Pevsner]] comments that Harrison's work constitutes "one of the most powerful monuments of the [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]] in the whole of England".<ref>{{Harvnb|Pevsner|Hubbard|2003|p=157.}}</ref>

In February 1867, Irish Fenian [[Michael Davitt]] led a group of [[Irish Republican Brotherhood|IRB]] men from Haslingden on an abortive raid for arms on the castle.<ref>{{cite book|first=Laurence |last=Marley|title=Michael Davitt |page= 26|publisher=Four Courts Press|year= 2007|isbn=978-1-84682-265-0}}</ref>

The [[British Army|Army]] moved in to take hold of the castle and in 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the [[Cardwell Reforms]] and the castle became the [[Regimental depot|depot]] for the two battalions of the [[Cheshire Regiment|22nd (Cheshire) Regiment of Foot]].<ref name=training>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/depot/1873.htm |title=Training Depots |publisher=Regiments.org |access-date=16 October 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210172841/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/depot/1873.htm |archive-date=10 February 2006 |df=dmy }}</ref> Under the [[Childers Reforms]], the 22nd regiment evolved to become the [[Cheshire Regiment]] with its depot in the castle in 1881.<ref name=training/>

In 1925, after being used for 200 years as a warehouse and ammunition store, the crypt and chapel in the Agricola Tower were [[Consecration|reconsecrated]] by the [[Bishop of Chester]] for the use of the Cheshire Regiment. In 1939 the chapel was refurnished.{{sfn|Richards|1947|p=102}} The castle remained the depot of the Cheshire Regiment until 1939, when the regiment moved out to [[Dale Barracks]].<ref name=chapter8>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofuptonbychester.org.uk/Chapter%208.pdf|title=Military & Wartime Activities during the 20th Century|publisher=History of Upton by Chester|access-date=24 May 2014}}</ref>