From the disposition of the four principal streets,--Northgate Street, Eastgate Street, Bridge Street, and Westgate Street, together with the walls surrounding the city, and the selection of a rocky site on the bank of a fair-sized river, Chester gives a good illustration of the principles upon which the Romans went to work. From a determined centre these roads run out to their respective gates in the boundary walls, in the direction of the four cardinal points. The walls of this city are the only ones in England that are perfect in their entire circuit of two miles, though the gateways have all been rebuilt within the last hundred years. On the departure of the Roman soldiery, England reverted to the Britons, who appeared to have been helpless, so long had they relied upon their late conquerors for protection. From them Chester was taken by Ethelfrith, King of Northumbria, who defeated them under the King of Powysland in 607. The Britons, however, regained possession and maintained it till 828, when Egbert, who was then the sole monarch of England, annexed it to his possessions. The Saxons, during their occupation of the city, named it Legancæster and Legecester. The Danes, in the ninth century, caused severe damages. On their retreat Ethelfreda, Countess of Mercia, repaired the walls. On her death the Britons once more became the city's masters, but were driven out again by Edward the Elder. Athelstan, it is said, revived its mint. About the year 972 Edgar assembled a naval force on the river Dee. To demonstrate his supremacy he caused himself to be rowed by eight tributary kings from his palace on the south bank of the river to the Convent Church of St. John's. To increase the desired effect, we are told that he took the helm,--the symbol of government. [Illustration: CHESTER THE ROWS] On the division of England, in 1016, between Canute and Edmund Ironside, Canute gained possession of Mercia, in which were included Chester and Northumbria. Chester remained as a city of Mercia, governed by its earl, till the Norman Conquest. William then bestowed it with the earldom on his nephew Hugh Lupus. He was, in view of the proximity of Wales, invested with sovereign or palatine authority over the tract of country now represented by the county of Cheshire and the coast-line of Flintshire as far as Rhuddlan. Chester was made the seat of his government. At that time it is described in "Doomsday Book" as Cestre, and as possessing four hundred and thirty-one houses within its walls. For over two centuries after the Conquest this city formed an important military station for the defence of the English border against the Welsh. The Norman Earl Ranulph I. granted the first charter, though its purport proves that Chester already enjoyed certain municipal rights. On account of its garrison it was frequently visited by reigning monarchs.