THE TWO SAINTS WAY his superb new guidebook is as clear and colourful as it is A pilgrimage route between the cathedral cities of Tfull of detail. It will enable users to get the very best out and By David Pott of every section of the route, whetting the appetite of those planning a trip, and serving as a souvenir for those looking back on the experience. The Very Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, Dean of Cathedral (formerly Canon Chancellor,​ Lichfield Cathedral)

he Two Saints Way guide is beautifully presented, with a Twonderful range of interesting and inspiring content. Catherine Clarke, Professor of Medieval Literature and Culture, University of Southampton

The Way of St Chad from Chester to Lichfield

The Way of St from Lichfield to Chester www.twosaintsway.org.uk The Two Saints Way is a new 92 mile pilgrimage route between the Available cathedral cities of Chester and Lichfield. Its historic sites, beautiful OCTOBER scenery and hidden treasures provide a perfect opportunity to connect with the past, and find peace in the present. 2015

The accompanying 144 Acknowledgements CONTENTS

Introduction 4 Planning your Journey 6 page guide, written by the I would like to thank the following people for their help in the production of this guidebook: Accommodation 7 Gordon Emery for his contributions about Chester Two Saints Way Stages 8 and the Chester and for proof reading the first part of the publication; Eric and Margaret Harding Waymarking and Signage 11 route's creator David Pott, who provided much helpful information about Visiting Sites 12 public transport and accommodation; David Haden for the points of information in North ; Additional Advice and Stephen Spackman, the site Ranger for the Apedale the Countryside Code 12 Community Country Park, for information about The Two Saints’ Way is a is packed with pictures, the park; John Sparshatt of the Long Distance The Story of the Two Saints Way 13 Walkers Association for providing accurate Who were the Two Saints? 15 information on distances; and Amanda Kay of Copsewood Editorial Services Ltd for copy-editing Connecting Medieval and the manuscript; Richard Merritt and his team at Contemporary Pilgrimage 20 "remarkable achievement: Spark Design and Communication who have worked facts, and maps that make The Cathedral Cities 22 tirelessly on the design of this guide and been so consistently helpful. Extracts are taken from St James’ Church part-long distance footpath, The Way of St Chad (Chester to Lichfield) by David Cummings, published by the author for St walking the route easy James’ Church (2007). Section 1 Chester to 30 Information on religious houses is from Monastic Staffordshire by John L. Tomlinson published by part-pilgrim trail; full of Section 2 Nantwich to Stoke 44 Churnet Valley Books (2000). and informative. Section 3 Stoke to 66 Section 4 Stafford to Lichfield 92 history and natural beauty. The Way of St Werburgh (Lichfield to Chester) The Very Revd Dr Pete Wilcox " Chester as a pilgrimage city Section 4 Lichfield to Stafford 112 Chester also has two perfectly straight In medieval times, Chester became a streets intersecting like the blessed cross, Section 3 Stafford to Stoke 120 Dean of Liverpool (formerly Canon Chancellor,​ Lichfield Cathedral) pilgrimage city on two counts. Firstly, which form four roads, culminating Chester Stoke to Nantwich 128 St John’s Church, the Mercian minster, at the four gates, mystically revealing Section 2 the marvellously innate grace of the THE CATHEDRAL CITIES became the city’s first cathedral. It was Section 1 Nantwich to Chester 138 believed to hold a piece of the true cross Great King, who, through the four (the Holy Rood) and was much visited, evangelists, showed the twin law of the in particular by Welsh pilgrims. Professor old and new testaments to be completed Catherine A.M. Clarke of the University through the mystery of the holy cross of Southampton comments that ‘many ... anyone standing in the the middle Welsh poems about Chester are satirical of the marketplace, may turn his face SECTION 1 Chester to Nantwich 23.5 miles STAGE 1 Chester to Waverton 4.4 miles SECTION 2 Nantwich to Stoke 25.5 miles STAGE 8 Bradwell to Stoke Minster 7.8 miles SECTION 3 Stoke to Stafford 23 miles STAGE 11 Stone to Sandon 4.9 miles and hostile, reflecting the status of to the east and examine the position of Chester as a colonialist city involved in the churches noting John, precursor of the Lord, in the east, Peter the apostle the control and oppression of Wales. Murhall St

r Yet the poems relating to the relics of in the west, Werburgh the virgin in the ee t reet B5051 S s you start your journey along The next lock is Tarvin Road with its you reach the canal. Go over the bridge urn right and then cross over the Before you make your right turn you Hall Stpen A5271 s St Pepper S t lace r Cr eet t P the cross show that Chester had a very north, and Michael the Archangel in the t ree Bl oss S eet eet ak Swan Nile St l St r e St Marke r a Str e St treet e h Ln n the canal, you soon come to characteristic lock cottage and unusual and through the gate on your right. A34 at the lights into Bradwell may wish to walk a few yards up the trt tle et eet eav re a eet ueen S Birch eat ee eet as r a r Square re Ellgr u H C Church Sq Str eet wc Bridge L A T Sant St Dale St ndhurst St B5051 eel Str St t south. There is nothing truer than this P Ne wat ee powerful spiritual pull – and the power of er St Bou Chatterle Clos Billinge e reet Shirle B5051 eet lobe Str rnes Ba Villag G r r Hoole Lane Lock. On the opposite circular Lengthsman’s Hut, one of Turn right again under the bridge and Lane. Take the third road on the left – canal to Westport Lake where there eet ell Str Bradw eet Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, I eet W t Str oodbank verse: nk pilgrimage and spirituality to transcend t iffe e Rd Stree cl w tree reet L S St Duncalf side is a small chapel with an three still in existence on the Chester continue along the towpath. On your Bursley Way. Eventually you come to is a visitor centre with good facilities ongbridg ngsha Newcas eet W Str Lo re t tle Str Lo eet treet

Rake Station Str w ist S e have appointed watchmen [Isa 62:6]. eet Stree N er Cr pt eet Hadder Ba

political difference and division’. Christleton e Ha Str Cro L cas o ss

le wpo Hill

ongpor a ft u B5051 Lane et V S A brief history Longport L attractive little spire, now converted Canal. Next you pass under the A41 right between here and the next village a school on your left. Go straight over and refreshments available. tr es Roa re Port

Chester has some fine medieval t rt Dain St t idge eet A500A500 S Lan e ee n t Ro S o co reet Co r t Str d t eet

Nothing is sweeter than this evidence tati ad h S t Lid eet ane icable S into houses. This was a chapel of ease (bridge no. 122B) and the canal then of Waverton is Rowton Moor which was the roundabout into Chatterley Close. g Enoc alk Ro A timber-framed buildings and The second reason why Chester Porthill unction ett Maddock Str Road nna W R eet urlong L A wton B This area is called Longport and L that God gave us such guardians: it ong oad t ee hester was founded by the r rton Str Plea ueen por vigation Por av Mo ra Str for St Paul’s Church Boughton, called crosses over the railway. After passing the site of one of the last battles in the A few yards before the end of the road, Na sant Str eet although a number of the black and t Road e tr Leono developed as a pilgrimage site was A5271 rs St S t S the other ports nearby – Westport, eet r oolrich is a sacred offering and charming th eet W ve ridg Hillp swa tr Su ro Romans who built a large fort ort A eet eet pr St Paul’s Mission, and it was probably under the A55 (no. 122A), go up Civil War. It took place on 24 September take the footpath ahead of you which ace venue white buildings in the centre are ee otterill G of course because of the shrine of St Plough Lane ess Str C t Pl

n Str C e Rd Middleport and Newport indicate Burg re mystery. It comforts men’s spirits and nna C scent eet e e et used as an outreach to boatmen and onto the next bridge (no. 122) and 1645 and was decisively won by the descends steeply through woods to an Melvn there called Deva Victrix in AD 79. Victorian reconstructions, many of Werburgh at the church which was Cand Lane A527 vigation Str a E that this was where the wharfingering Na a W irst A s encourages contemplation. sla t Staf ngels Vie A ter s their families. Just past the Water turn left on the road into Christleton. Parliamentarians with 600 Royalists underpass at the A500. Turn slightly ve fo w N nue rd t the internal features date back to the ew r dedicated to her. This abbey church eet r to Manchester Line Second communities, which handled the f p or o l L r Chester’s four main roads, Eastgate th ane d St t Lan eet A s e Str Tower is Chemistry Lock. A factory Proceed past the law college along killed and 800 taken prisoner. Charles right and left into Peel Street and then e re century. The city walls, which are venue h Luk et c V e 13 e became Chester’s later cathedral e thill Bank ale Vie th From the church, go down Village Road, import and export of cargoes to The h e B Por Street, Northgate Street, Watergate A527 Sain w All this no doubt sounds fanciful to here in the 19 century produced Pepper Street. You soon reach St James I is said to have watched the battle as it cross the footbridge over the railway. t Ed Malkin rrace 250 und almost complete, are some of the best under Henry VIII. e Potteries, once existed. There is a fine r Porthill unction Sunn W eet passing the old Victorian Pump House, r s a Av Street and Bridge Street, still follow the th pla 15 B n St e a modern ears, but it surely provides a naphtha, hence the name of the area. Church on your left. reached the suburbs of Chester from The path goes straight ahead through e Middleport Pottery which hasnu an shape and then other one square with a preserved in . century, a monk from bottle kiln on the opposite side of the ee pattern laid down 2,000 years ago. Two In the late 12 context for understanding the deep the well and village green. The Ring O the Phoenix Tower (now King Charles’ patchy woodland and past a mill excellent visitor centre and café. See heavily moulded cap. canal before you pass under the busy significant Roman features that can still Chester was somewhat overshadowed St Werburgh’s wrote a book called De significance of Chester as a Bells pub is on your right. Continue on Tower) before fleeing to Denbigh. on the right to reach the Trent and middleportpottery.co.uk. Walk to the end of Village Road until you see A527 (bridge no 126). On the right is an area which is subject be seen are the amphitheatre, which in the early stages of the Industrial Laude Cestrie (On the Glory of Chester). pilgrimage destination. St James’ Christleton Mersey Canal, where you turn right. on along the towpath until you reach The bridge at Waverton (no. 119) marks to development so the route may have could seat up to 10,000 people, and the Revolution and as the River Dee In it he writes of Chester as a holy city, Christleton High School on your left. Continue down the canal and note bridge no 123. After passing under the end of the first stage. This is a significant point to change in future, but for now turn Minerva shrine which is the only rock- silted up, Liverpool took over as the spiritually significant in its basic structure: Recent investigations suggest that a During 1645 the church was occupied Continue straight across and along the Middleport Pottery on the opposite the bridge, turn right and go over the on the pilgrimage where first right down a lane lined with scrap cut Roman shrine still in its original main port of the region. Later on church existed on this site soon after by soldiers from the Parliamentarian narrower Rowton Bridge Road until side. At the next bridge (no 125), bridge. On your left is Oliver’s Mill Burston Pond © David Pott Shruggs Lane Swans & Cattle © Candice Smith the predominantly easterly and out into an area where there is a location in Britain.th After the Roman however railways, and new the Roman occupation of Chester, Army commanded by Sir William you may well want to cross over built in 1909. It includes two calcining Lichfield Road century, a Romano- direction of the route becomes valley ahead of you. Turn left here. army left in the 5 roads were built leading to rapid and before the arrival of the pagan Brereton. In 1873 part of the roof of and double back the 250 yards to ovens, one in the traditional bottle th predominantly southerly. ane After passing the pond on your left British civilian population remained. expansion and development. Saxons during the 7 century. The the Georgian brick building of 1736 A51 th and a small car par park on your right, century, the name Christleton means ‘the place collapsed and the congregation was Burston L Early in the 7 Much of the land in the city Burston Pond take the turning on your right down th of Christians’ and is the only place covered in snow. The rebuild, featuring The Trent & Mersey Canal Northumbrians captured the city after centre is owned by the Duke century of the T a lane which will soon return you to ren with this name in the world. It is red and creamy white sandstone, was t & the gruesome Battle of Chester. The Westminster. In the 19 M the next bridge over the canal. Before er Burston se B5066 almost certain that a more substantial designed by William Butterfield and R y ive C inhabitants called their city Legacaestir – Duke employed an architect called th r Tr a you continue your southward journey The idea of this canal linking The canal was authorised by Act en n wooden building existed by the 14 consecrated in July 1877. t a the city of the Legions. The Welsh name John Douglas who designed many l on the canal towpath take a look back century and the present tower is the two rivers to provide a water of Parliament in 1766 and Josiah A51 Caerleon had the same meaning. The prominent buildings including the The church contains many historic at the field on the eastern side of the transport link from the east coast to Wedgwood cut the first sod at Enso thought to be from the second church, n Lane Lichf Grosvenor Hotel and the City Baths. items including a bell tower with eight canal where a clump of trees hides a R shortened forms of Chester and Caer iv the west coast was that of the great Middleport. The whole canal of 93 e Sandon RoTad built in the time of Rector Thomas bells; stained glass windows by Charles OpenStreetMap and contributors r re developed during the Middle Ages. William Smith plan of Chester (1588) © The British Library23 well, which is known as St Rufin’s or Tr nt ield R In 2007 a ten-year plan, called Chester in 1484. It is said that a woodcutter, canal builder and miles with 70 locks and 5 tunnels was ent & M Kempe & Co.; a font cut in Sicilian erse the potter Josiah Wedgwood. A high opened only 11 years later. The canal urston is a delightful village St Chad’s Well. Hereabouts also was y Ca Chester was the last town in England to Renaissance, was initiated at a cost of Thomas Mayor from Bavaria, marble and fossil-rich Derbyshire nal oad percentage of Wedgwood’s pottery was therefore a key element in the with an attractive row of the original chapel, no doubt often be captured by the Normans. William the £1.3 billion to develop the city as ‘a was employed at this time and his limestone; a wooden carving of a B was broken as it was transported prosperity of The Potteries. There was cottages beside a millpond. visited by pilgrims in the Middle Ages. Conqueror ordered the castle to be built must-see European destination’. descendants have worshipped here pelican tearing open her breast to Ancient Chapel Stone on the rutted turnpike roads and still heavy traffic on the canal into the and Chester was always a key location for ever since. The church was in the feed her young with her own blood; a St Rufin’s Church at the end of the Continue250 m under bridge no. 84. When he knew that this canal link would 1960s, with cargoes of salt, beer and be available at cottage no 9. The first the domination of Wales. patronage of the monks of the Abbey Royal Coat of Arms dated 1665; an row of cottages is a very unassuming you1 : 10reach 709 the next bridge (no. 83) the The Dog & Doublet pub at Sandon is enable the pottery industry in the coal as well as pottery. The canal is now chapel was most probably close to the in Chester. Water from the Abbot’s old village constable’s staff ; a Jacobean building which blends inconspicuously canal goes under the B5066. 200 metres to the left. area to export more efficiently both part of the and Four Counties canal and it seems that the last stones 22 Well in Christleton was channelled in altar table; and a Millennium window into the scene. It was built in 1859 nationally and globally. cruising rings and sees around 10,000 Staffordwere probably to Lichfield cleared and 20 used miles in the clay pipes through Boughton to the site depicting figures from the village life and replaced an olderSECTION chapel. It is 4 boats a year plying this stretch. construction of the canal in the 1770s. of the Abbey (now Chester Cathedral). over the last 1,000 years. often open, but if not, the key should St James Church Middleport Pottery © David Haden

34 35 58 59 84 ross over the A513 and the green to the car park on the other STAGE 14 Milford to Flaxley Green 6.5 miles 85 Cside. On the left hand side of the car park is the footpath you take up onto Cannock Chase where the Two Saints Way joins the Heart of England Way.

Cannock Chase

Cannock Chase is the remnant of what was a huge forest – Cannock Forest – in which Henry II hunted. It stretched called the Bishop’s Chase, chase being from Wolverhampton to Tamworth the medieval name for a hunting area. and from Walsall to the Trent. In 1290 They hunted fallow and red deer which the hunting rights passed on to the are still found here. Bishops of Lichfield and it was then Cannock Chase, at 26 square miles, is England’s smallest Area of Outstanding Find out more and pre-order by calling or e-mailing us. Natural Beauty (AONB).

Tackeroo © David Pott

seen on your right. Our route continues ahead, but you may like to see a glacial boulder which stands on a plinth in prominent spots between here and behind the trig point. This ‘erratic’ was Millford to commemorate his feat. A carried here during the Ice Ages all the few yards off to your right you should [email protected] 01770 830 317 way from southwest Scotland. find a toposcope which indicates highlights of the view which could at As you continue, you will now see an one time be appreciated from here, but upland marsh pool called Womere on now trees have obscured it. When you come to a small pond, keep Cannock Chase © Teeranlall Ramgopal your right – there are very few of these it to your left and immediately after in the Midlands. Local legend has it that branch off left up onto a narrower path. circling round right and then left to it is bottomless, but in fact it is a shallow You will soon find you are going up a parallel another path in the valley on your pond. When you come to the next path cutting. This section follows the course right till the paths join shortly before you junction at a clump of birch trees, fork of the Tackeroo Railway which was built reach Freda’s Grave car park at Coppice right to arrive at another car park. Walk in 1915 to serve the training camps on Hill. Continue straight over at the car towards the tarmac road, but take the the Chase during World War 1. park. As you come to a more open stretch path to the left before you reach it. This twosaintsway.org.uk 07932 790 525 part of the Chase is called Anson’s Bank Continue onwards, passing Mere Pits on of the Chase where the trees thin out, fork

your right. Keep on the embankment right. Before long you share the route after the Anson family of Shugborough for a few yards with the Staffordshire Hall. The most famous member of the 98 Way, until the point where a trig point is family was Admiral George Anson who sailed round the world in 1740. His brother Thomas planted pine trees

Womere © Graham Walker

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