Passing on to the lower end of the street, we come to St. Olave’s Church,
an edifice of very mean pretensions, but of very ancient foundation. In
the copy of an old Court Roll, the advowson of St. Olave’s is mentioned
among other advowsons, belonging to the Abbey of St. Werburgh. A clerk
was instituted and inducted upon the presentation of the Abbey, in the
time of King John. Divine service is discontinued at St. Olave’s, and
the parishioners attend St. Michael’s. Continuing down the street we
arrive at a handsome arch called the Bridgegate, beyond which is the old
bridge, which will lead the tourist (should his curiosity incline him) to
Edgar’s Cave, already described under the head of antiquities.
Returning on the west side of the street, we come to a steep lane, called
St. Mary’s-hill, which leads to the Castle and to St. Mary’s Church, a
most interesting edifice, worthy of the tourist’s examination.
Opposite St. Olave’s Church, before mentioned, is an old house, formerly
occupied by the Gamul family, which possesses great interest from the
fact of its having given protection to Charles I. during the siege of
Chester by the Parliamentary forces. There is some very curious painted
panel work and beautiful carving in the interior, which render it well
worthy of inspection. A little higher up is an antiquated building
called “The Falcon Inn,” a fine specimen of the old timber houses of
Chester. Adjoining this house formerly stood the OLD LAMB ROW, which was
one of the most remarkable objects of curiosity in the city. The
materials of which the buildings were composed were the same as that of
the Falcon, which is probably an older building than the Old Lamb-row
was. It was constructed of massy beams of oak, heavy roofs, and the
interstices of the timber in the fronts filled up with sticks and clay.
The age of the row is pretty clearly determined by the inscription on a
stone, discovered after the fall of the building:—
16—H—55
R. H.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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