Under Rome, Chester was the location of a substantial Legionary Fortress, which influenced the layout of the medieval city. By the later middle ages it was the most important English port on the Irish Sea and a thriving urban centre. However, following the disappearance of the Fortress, it remains unclear when, how and why an urban centre evolved. Using the new Historic Towns Trust Historical Map of Chester, this paper will set out the evidence, some of the problems, and some possible approaches to explaining urbanisation.

Tom Pickles

Tom Pickles is Associate Professor of Early Medieval History at the University of Chester. His research is interdisciplinary, combining analysis of texts, buildings, sculpture, and place-names. He has investigated the relationship between social organisation and religious beliefs in the period 400-1200, particularly the emergence of religious communities and local churches.

Katherine Wilson

Katherine Wilson is Professor of Later Medieval European History at the University of Chester. Her research is interdisciplinary, using documentary sources and surviving objects to think about the social circulation of material culture. She has investigated the production, circulation and use of tapestries in the Burgundian Netherlands, and the dynamics of the commercial and consumer revolutions.