Chester’s Civil War, 1642-46: regional capital or damp squib?

From autumn 1642 until the opening months of 1646 Chester served as a major royalist base, garrison and stronghold in the northern Marches and the North West. This talk explores the role which it might therefore have played and was expected to play in the civil war, assessing its potential and value to the king’s cause and its threat to the parliamentarians. It argues that in fact Chester was viewed very differently, not only by the two sides but also when placed within local, regional and national contexts, and that for a variety of reasons in reality it never served as a dynamic regional capital.

Questions from the audience at the end of the talk are welcome. 

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