Chester Society for Landscape History
Upper storeys of Chester’s iconic Rows (Photograph: Vanessa Greatorex)
Field trip to Aldersey Green (Photograph: Carol Sparkes)
Forthcoming Events
Saturday 22 March 2025, 2pm
Lecture (visitors welcome): Saving Parks and Gardens
Speaker: Glynis Shaw, Welsh Historic Gardens Trust
Admission: Members free, Visitors £4, Student Visitors £2
Venue: St Columba’s Church Hall, Plas Newton Lane, Chester, CH2 1SA (free car park; for directions see https://sscolumbaandtheresa.co.uk/about/st-columbas-church/directions-and-location/).
Saturday 26 April 2025
Field Trip (members only): Bidston area of Wirral
Leader: Emeritus Professor Jim Marshall, Liverpool Geological Society
Booking essential. Details of how to book will be emailed to CSLH members in due course.
Saturday 31 May 2025
Field Trip (members only): Eastham Victorian Pleasure Gardens
Leader: David Mottram
Details: From the 1840s to the 1920s, Eastham Pleasure Gardens provided extensive attractions and entertainments for day trippers on the Liverpool to Eastham Ferry. Attractions included floral and zoological gardens, music, dancing and theatre productions, circus acts, a boating lake, water chute and a loop-the-loop railway ride. On this walk we will try to re-live these exciting days.
Booking essential. Details of how to book will be emailed to CSLH members in due course.
Thursday 3 July 2025: Chester Festival of Ideas
Venue: Chester Town Hall, Northgate Street,
Chester CH1 2HJ
Free public talks by members of Chester Society for Landscape History:
10am-11am: What’s in a Name? Understanding Place-Names and their Link with the Local Landscape
(Speaker: Dr Sharon Varey)
1pm-2pm: Magna Carta: Take Two
(Speaker: Emeritus Professor Graeme White)
3pm-4am: Unforgotten Children: The Moving Story of the Foundling Hospital at Chester
(Speaker: Dr Anthony Annakin-Smith)
What is Landscape History?
Landscape History is the study of how people have altered the landscape through time.
It seeks to explain the historical significance of the buildings, earthworks, flora and other physical features which are our common heritage. It embraces aspects of history, archaeology, architecture, geography, geology, botany and other disciplines.
“The English landscape itself, to those who know how to read it aright, is the richest historical record we possess.” – W.G. Hoskins, The Making of the English Landscape (1955).
Picks of the Week
Here are some links to online landscape history resources recently recommended by our Information Officer and other members:
13th-century coin hoard found in Cheshire
Found by metal detectorists searching in the Whitegate and Marton area with the landowner’s permission, the hoard of 69 coins consisted of 63 depicting Edward I (King of England 1272-1307), three of Alexander III (King of Scotland 1249-1286), and three other European coins described as ‘imitation pennies’.
https://www.chesterstandard.co.uk/news/24993687.medieval-coin-hoard-13th-century-found-whitegate-marton/?ref=ebln&nid=1543&block=article_block_a&u=d4c9d445a11ca3b4d5080d09710dae3e&date=100325
Maritime wrecks in protection zones off the coast of North Wales
Photographs and descriptions of six wrecks, the earliest of which dates from the 17 century.
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/secret-wrecks-north-wales-protection-31000739?IYA-reg=76f0b7bd-acc7-413c-8f5a-cb891d809460&utm_campaign=Daily-1622025&utm_medium=email&utm_source=IYA-DailyDigest&utm_term=news-link&source=email&sourceUserIid=76f0b7bd-acc7-413c-8f5a-cb891d809460
Click on the blue text at the end of this sentence for links to previously recommended online resources