Students and staff share knowledge at Chester Heritage Festival

The fascinating history of Chester will be revealed in a series of heritage events supported by students and staff from the University.

The Chester Heritage Festival runs from Saturday, June 17 until Wednesday, June 28 and brings the city’s rich history and heritage to life, telling the stories that have accumulated over two millennia.  

Dr Rebecca Andrew will present a self-guided interactive walking tour via Google Maps on Chester’s most famous department store in ‘More than a Shop: How the Browns shaped modern Chester’ which takes place throughout the festival.  

Chantal Bradburn, Outreach Widening Participation Officer at the University, will deliver an online talk about the historic Army headquarters Western Command, which was located at what is now the University’s Queen’s Park site as well as a talk looking at the Victorian Architecture on Parkgate Road, close to the University’s Exton Park site. Both talks take place on Monday, June 19. 

Talking Chester is a drop-in day-long event on Friday, June 23 organised by David Atkinson, a Visiting Lecturer from the Department of Music, Media and Performance featuring an exhibition on Browns of Chester by Dr Rebecca Andrew and Chester Record Office and a talk on Chester and the Vikings by Dr Thomas Pickles. 

An online research resource, ‘How to research Chester via travel writing and tourist guides to the city’, is available throughout the festival. It was created by MA History graduate, Olivia Ignatowicz and based on her dissertation research.

Historians and Archaeologists from the University will also feature in a series of short films shown throughout the Festival with a film premiering each day at 2pm screened at a variety of Chester venues. ‘Revealing the Rows’ have been created as part of the Heritage Action Zone project, funded by Historic England and each film looks at a different theme related to Chester’s Rows. 

The Chester Heritage Festival includes events and experiences for all ages and incorporates the Midsummer Watch parades and the first night of the Chester Mystery Plays. 

Dr Sam Chadwick, Visiting Lecturer in the History and Archaeology Department of the University of Chester, will also present the talk ‘S.O.U.S. Sieges of Style – How Chester was only Mostly Dead’ which will explore the siege of Chester during the First English Civil War, and how, despite being near the front line for the entire war, the city did not fall until the conflict was all but over. 

Dr Hannah Ewence, Head of History and Archaeology at the University of Chester, said: “Chester is such a beautiful and historic city and we enjoy sharing our knowledge about this special place with as many people as possible during the Heritage Festival.”