THE WATERGATE, the custody of which formerly belonged to the Earls of Derby, who held a valuable river jurisdiction, in executing the mayor’s warrants on the Dee, which formerly flowed close underneath. It was purchased from the Derby family by the Corporation in 1778, taken down in 1788, and the present structure erected in 1789, the expense being defrayed out of the murage duties fund. It consists of a wide and lofty arch, thrown over the Watergate-street, where a rapid descent adds much to its apparent elevation. The west side bears the following inscription:— IN THE XXIX. YEAR OF THE REIGN OF GEO. III. IN THE MAYORALTY OF JOHN HALLWOOD, AND JOHN LEIGH, ESQUIRES, THIS GATE WAS ERECTED. THOMAS COTGREAVE, EDWARD BURROWS, ESQUIRES, MURENGERS. The view from the summit of this gate is very extensive, the objects immediately surrounding adding much to the pleasure of the scene. On the opposite bank of the river Dee is Curzon Park, with its beautiful villa residences. On the left is Grosvenor Bridge, with its far-famed noble arch, the widest arch of masonry in the world; a little beyond may be seen the grand lodge entrance to Eaton Park, erected at the cost of £14,000, the _toute ensemble_ forming a most charming picture. The site of the present Crane-street and the parts adjacent were formerly under water. Immediately below is the beautiful and spacious meadow called the ROODEYE. It contains about eighty-four statute acres of land, and is let by the Corporation as a pasture for cattle. It was once the arena for ancient sports, and the city games and gymnastics were celebrated here, respecting which there are many curious records extant. Of these, however, the horse races alone remain, which continue to be held in the first week of May, this Spring meeting being considered one of the most important and interesting illustrations of the national sports of the turf. The course is little more than a mile, and affords the spectators the singular advantage of seeing the horses during the whole race. The Earl of Chester’s Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry assembles annually on the Roodeye for exercise. The antiquity of the Chester races appears from the following extract from the collection of the late Mr. Nicholls of Chorlton, to whose researches the authors of the ‘History of Cheshire’ are much indebted. The MS. from which this is extracted is entitled, “_Certayne collections of anciante times_, _concerning the anciante and famous cittie of Chester_, _collected by that Reverend Man of God_, _Mr. Robert Rogers_, _bachelor of divinitie_, _archdeacon of Chester_, _parsone of Gooseworth_, _and prebande in the Cathedral of Chester_, _being put in scattered notes_, _and by his son reduced into these chapters following_:— “OF ST. GEORGE’S RACE, OF LATE TIME INVENTED, AND WHEN ALTERED.