Chester Society for Landscape History
Main image: The upper storeys of Chester’s iconic Rows. Although the structures date from the Middle Ages, the one on this corner was restyled by T.M. Lockwood for Chester City Council in 1888. Above: Dating from around 1600, the Red Lion in Northgate Street is one of Chester’s oldest pubs.
(Photographs: Vanessa Greatorex)
Forthcoming Events
MEMBERS ONLY
Saturday 26 September 2026, 10am-4.30pm (doors open 9.30am):
Celebrating 40 years of Chester Society for Landscape History:
Exhibition, bookstall, refreshments, talks.
Venue: St Columba’s Church Hall, Plas Newton Lane, Chester, CH2 1SA
Provisional programme:
10am: Welcome from Chair (Diane Johnson) and brief history of Chester Society for Landscape History (Professor Graeme White)
10.20 am: Discovering the Huxley Hoard of Viking Silver (William Hargreaves, Lune Valley Metal Detecting Society)
11.00 am: Coffee/tea break
11.30 am: Sutton Weaver Swing Bridge (Malcolm Verity, CLSH)
11.50am: Markets of Medieval Cheshire (Dr Alan Crosby, British Association for Local History)
12.45pm: Lunch
1.40pm: Historic Towns Map of Chester (Dr Tom Pickles & Professor Katherine Wilson, University of Chester/Historic Towns Trust)
2.30pm: Comfort break
2.40pm: West Park, Macclesfield: A Victorian People’s Park (Dr Sarah Griffiths, University of Chester Press & CSLH)
3.00pm: 1066 and All That: A Hoard of Silver Pennies Minted during the Reign of Harold II (Harold Gaskell & William Hargreaves, Lune Valley Metal Detecting Club)
3.45pm: Talk (title tbc) and closing remarks (Diane Johnson, Chair, CSLH)
4.00pm: Tea
Events open to non-members resume in October. Please see our Lectures page for details.
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:
How rewilding could help stop the spread of Britain’s wildfires
Recommended measures include restoring peatlands, riverscapes, ponds and bogs; recovering broadleaf woodlands (which are less prone to ignite than pine and shrubs); and allowing cattle, deer, horses and bison to reduce the flammability of vegetation through grazing, browsing and trampling.
https://theconversation.com/how-rewilding-could-help-stop-the-spread-of-britains-wildfires-288968?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Count%20Binface%20a%20serious%20business%20-%203897239687&utm_content=Count%20Binface%20a%20serious%20business%20-%203897239687+CID_15b59c65e0d7f0a18f0bad7445ea9931&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=How%20rewilding%20could%20help%20stop%20the%20spread%20of%20Britains%20wildfires
The River Mersey from source to sea
Subtitled YouTube video (lasting around 11.5 minutes) tracing the route of the Mersey from its origins at the confluence of the Tame and Goyt rivers in Stockport to its outlet at the Irish Sea near Liverpool. As place-name aficionados will know, the Mersey gets its name from the Old English words ‘maere’ and ‘ea’, meaning ‘river at a boundary’, having traditionally been viewed as the demarcation point between Cheshire and Lancashire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j0q0YDNOoA
Click on the blue text at the end of this sentence for links to previously recommended Online Resources or for links to specific topics, including: Directories/Databases/Aerial Photographs, Geology, Ecosystems, Prehistory, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Medieval, Tudor and Stuart, Castles, Churches/Cathedrals/Shrines, Industrial, Cheshire, Wales, Other Locations.