Chester achieves first heritage inland port status in UK
LOCAL IWA members have played a pivotal role in the success of Chester’s nomination for canal and river system Heritage Port status.
The team from the Chester and Merseyside Branch have, after much hard work with partners Chester Civic Trust and Cheshire West and Chester Council ( CWAC), been informed that their nomination has now been recognised by the national body responsible for promoting this new designation scheme.
The plan was submitted to organisers Maritime Heritage Trust ( MHT), National Historic Ships (NHS) and European Maritime Heritage (EMH).
The heritage port scheme aims to properly recognise long established but often forgotten ports that played such an important role in the maritime and industrial history of the country.
Jim Forkin, chairman, IWA Chester and Merseyside Branch, said: “This new scheme brilliantly reflects the important role played by inland ports in British industrial and maritime history, hopefully helping preserve these sites for future generations.”
Chester, a port since Roman times and possibly earlier, had to submit an application outlining its unique historical development, cataloguing its surviving features and evaluating the environmental and historical features in relation to the criteria laid down in the heritage harbour designation process.
An interconnected system
The 21-page application stressed that Chester’s waterways were part of an interconnected system linking the open sea, Dee estuary and non-tidal Dee with the national canal network and River Mersey via the Shropshire Union Canal.
Heritage assets covered both maritime and inland waterway features with a focus on Tower Wharf, Northgate Locks, the Dee Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal and the adjacent tidal Dee frontage of the old port of Chester. Downstream anchorages on the Wirral side of the estuary were also included.
A great deal of the application naturally focused on the Shropshire Union Canal as it threads its way through the city but the early history of the waterways in Chester, as a result of its position as the highest navigable point for sea-going vessels, was strongly emphasised.
Roman beginnings
One particular advantage the city had was the fact that in Roman times it was the busiest port in north-west England with an old quay wall remaining on the Roodee racecourse. As a port it grew until around 1700 when silting in the river prevented vessels above 20 tons reaching its wharfs.
Even the creation after the 1730s of a 16ft deep navigable channel with associated new warehouses could not prevent the port’s ultimate demise as Liverpool finally grew to be the dominant port in the North West.
In the 1770s the Chester Canal aimed to boost the port’s importance but the canal initially terminated in a dead end at Nantwich and was a failure.
In 1795 saviours were found in the form of the Wirral line of the Ellesmere Canal to the Mersey and by 1833 Chester was fully linked to the national canal network by what was to be known as the Shropshire Union Canal that brought trade from the Midlands, the Potteries and Wales.
It was as a result of these connections that Chester acquired warehousing and a graving dock at Tower Wharf, the core of the heritage port. Trade continued on the waterway through the 19th century but after the First World War this declined steeply and by 1957 all trade had left the canal.
The 1970s canal revival
The waterways of Chester suffered decay in the 20th century but from the 1940s the public began to take an interest in Britain’s transport history and a revival began. Chester’s remaining port facilities were increasingly recognised from the 1970s as an asset of great historical importance.
John Herson, co- author of the nomination submission, said: “The approval process was stringent on all aspects, from historical buildings to public access and regeneration potential. Chester, with many listed structures still existing, scored well on historical waterside buildings and public access via towpaths but much lower on regeneration potential. There are admittedly a number of significant challenges to be tackled.”
Jim Forkin added: “Observing canals today, especially post-lockdown, there is absolutely no doubt that the public has a growing appreciation of the waterway network.
“We will continue to campaign for better access to the Dee, especially the non tidal section, and encourage other towns with equally good prospects to apply.”