Professor Robert Newstead

In Overleigh cemetery lies the grave of Professor Robert Newstead, after whom the Newstead Gallery in the Grosvenor Museum is named. He did not do well at school and left early, but managed to work his way up to being a full Professor at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, as well as becoming a leading archaeologist and excavating half of Chester. A fascinating man, his grave is surprisingly modest, and was, until recently, neglected. However, I am told that the staff at the museum are now having outings to keep it tidy. You can read more about him here: http://www.chesterarchaeolsoc.org.uk/LRoyles-NewsteadLecture_05-12-09.pdf

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Silver Badges

Badges were often worn by occupants of almshouses, to show who was supporting them with their charitable donations, and these were usually made of silver and worn on shoulders/tops of arms. Those shown below came from the Hospital of St John the Baptist, which stood outside the Northgate.

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Chester Mystery Plays

The Mystery Plays were originally performed in medieval times, to educate those who could not understand Latin in the 'mysteries' of the bible. In Chester there was a cycle of 24 plays, performed on carts which were dragged round the city. Each play was performed by a different guild, and attempts were made to make them appropriate, e.g. the Bakers guild might perform the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Nowadays they are still performed by various social groups within the city, and almost entirely by amateurs. They occur every five years, and preparations are now being made for next years cycle, which, for the first time ever, is being performed inside the Cathedral. You can find out more about them here: www.chestermysteryplays.com

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Last Silver Hallmarked Chester

On display in the Grosvenor Museum is the last pieces of silver ever hallmarked Chester, just before the closure of the Chester Assay Office in 1962. It was made by Francis Maurice Lowe, who used the maker's mark of A. Vincent Ward because he had not registered his own mark.

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Overleigh Cemetery Geology II

This impressive tomb is made of oolitic limestone, and comes from Dorset. If you look closely you can see fossils and small balls called ooids, which form when small grains wash up and down the beach. There is no name on the stone, and surprisingly for such a large monument, no-one now knows who is buried there.

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Canal Companies

Originally there were two local canal companies, Chester and Ellesmere, which had the objectives to link the rivers Mersey, Severn, and Dee. The sharp bend created where the two canals joined, directly underneath King Charles' Tower meant that an iron hook was needed, so that boats could be pulled to the outer corner of the bend before turning.

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Horse-Drawn Narrow Boats

In the photo below, taken underneath King Charles' Tower, you can see where the ropes linking the narrow boats and the horses that used to pull them have worn grooves under the city walls, cutting deep into the sandstone bedrock.

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