Here Then Heritage

21/04/2026

This odd Medieval creature might look like the lovechild of a giant flea and a hedgehog, BUT… It’s actually an interpretation of the astrological sign Cancer! This is one of only two stained-glass roundels of that Zodiac sign known to survive from the Medieval era. It’s located today in the South porch of St Mary’s Church in Shrewsbury. But why does it look so strange?...

Cancer was commonly depicted as a crab or crayfish in the Medieval period, but the somewhat dodgy depiction seen here hints to us about the life of the artist. It suggests that they hadn’t encountered a crustacean for visual reference before – so they’d perhaps never visited the coast nor spent time near any rivers home to freshwater crayfish! Even so, the Zodiac had become a familiar part of the calendar year in Medieval Europe…

In the era this glass was painted (around the 1490s), Cancer represented the entire month of June. The name literally means ‘crab’ in Latin – something that Early Medieval scholar, Saint Isidore, claimed was due to the crab-like “to-ing and fro-ing” movement of the sun when its arc appears to enter that constellation then descends backward after the summer solstice.

St Mary’s Church holds an extensive collection of stained glass salvaged from across England and the Continent. Most of it was sourced by the church’s 19th-century vicar, William Gorsuch Rowland. This wee, wonky beastie is one of my favourites, though! And its painter definitely gets points for trying.
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06/04/2026

An ancient king's legendary boat ride 🌊 | Edgar the Peaceful rules as the Anglo-Saxon king of all England from the year 956. And as his epithet suggests, Edgar's reign sees a level of peace that’s rare for the Medieval period. He introduces the concept of shires across England, strengthens the naval fleet, and grants new power to the Church. He ultimately shapes a blueprint for rulership that later monarchs of England would all emulate -- including the idea of a coronation…

To celebrate his successful rule, Edgar is the first English monarch to have a crowning ceremony. Proceedings are in orchestrated by his close advisor, Dunstan of Canterbury, and take place in Oxford on 11th May 973. But, for good measure, another symbolic event is also planned in Chester shortly afterwards. It’s a day that will pass into legend…

Edgar probably arrives here with his royal fleet in tow for maximum pomp. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘰-𝘚𝘢𝘹𝘰𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 tell us that he then holds a special council with a small group of Scots, Welsh, and Scandinavian rulers from around Britain. They have been summoned to Chester, in part, to recognise Edgar's supreme authority. Later creative flourishes by chroniclers in the 12th century describe an incredible event next…

To show their submission to King Edgar, up to eight of the sub-kings supposedly row him in a boat on the River Dee from a palace near the river to a ceremony at St John’s Church. It's a remarkable image of royal theatricality in action!

Edgar would pass away just two years afterwards, at the age of 33. Whatever watery event did or didn’t occur that day in Chester, the legend of the boat-rowing petty kings has stuck in the local popular imagination…

In a doorway of Chester’s Victorian pub, The Bull & Stirrup, you can spot a ceramic tile mural romantically depicting Edgar’s proud moment on the waters of the Dee. The eagle-eyed might also notice Edgar's legend has inspired the names of locations near the River Dee too. Have you spotted any on your own wanders?

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19/03/2026

A real-life ancient lefty? 🏛 | This relief carving of a Roman gladiator was accidentally discovered in around 1740, during groundwork for a house being build on what is Chester's Newgate Street today -- just yards from the once-lost Roman amphitheatre. It depicts a 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴, a type of gladiator who fought using a trident, a weighted net, and a dagger. But what's most compelling about this carving fragment is the fact that the figure is fighting with his left hand... It's one of only two known Roman depictions of a left-handed gladiator (both of which are from Britain) and is carved onto slate from nearby North Wales. This means that the portrayal could well be of a REAL fighter -- one who fought right here in Chester's Roman fortress of 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘢 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘹.
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19/03/2026

One of my favourite things about Chester is how the primeval desert sand that the city came to be founded upon erupts through all the man-made layers built aeons after it turned to stone. The past refuses to stay buried here!
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17/03/2026

Is it just me, or does this sudden burst of spring weather have you thinking about leafy faces...?
Technically called 'foliate heads,' these curious motifs are more often known by another name: a "Green Man". It's a term that conjures up visions of an ancient deity, worshipped by a shadowy magical cult since time immemorial, sacrificing himself each year to renew the lifeforce of nature... Unfortunately, however, he's also completely made up.

The 'Green Man' descriptor dates back to only 1939, when it's applied by the aristocrat and folklore enthusiast, Julia Somerset. She argues, without strong evidence, that the heads seen in medieval Christian places of worship across Western Europe are proof of a half-forgotten god of nature and rebirth. Her claim emerges in an era when the idea of shadowy Western-European "Witch Cult" lineage has also taken root. First proposed by the scholar Margaret Murray, that idea comes to the attention of a man named Gerald Gardner... He then claims to be part of an ancient coven of witches and from there, Wicca -- Gardner's neopagan religion -- is born. And the notion of a pre-Christian "Green Man" god of seasonal resurrection soon grows into popular belief alongside it.

It's an evocative and romantic idea, but the reality unravels the romance... Yes, it's true that surviving Roman art in Europe DOES feature different elemental gods crowned with leaves and seaweed. But, after the decline of the Western Roman Empire, foliate faces don't appear at all here again until they start popping up in the twelfth century!

Some recent historians suggest that the heads are imports from the medieval Arab world via the Vikings or Crusaders; that they originate in ancient Indian architectural designs or in the figure of al-Khidr from Islamic tradition -- a mystic whose name literally means 'The Green One'. They are fascinating theories, but these too lack a great deal of proof at present.

Whatever your thoughts on their origin, foliate faces have undoubtedly captured the human imagination. For me, they speak to the instinctive yearning many of us (increasingly) have to reconnect with the wild and living world all around us.

10/03/2026

28/02/2026

Have you noticed how uncanny familiar places can feel by night? Time seems to fold in on itself as the twilight falls. A canalside walk here in Chester becomes a wander through some phantom in-between, where epochs jostle together in the creeping half light.

22/02/2026

Notice something unusual here…? The iconic, red-coloured postal pillar box has been a familiar sight on UK streets ever since they were first introduced back in 1874. But did you know that there are some rare blue pillar boxes as well?

For a brief time in the 1930s, these blue boxes used to specifically handle air mail. Their colour was a nod to the blue of the Royal Air Force uniform. Only a few hundred of them were ever created, and almost all the originals have since been repainted -- with the exception of a lone survivor outside Windsor Castle. The one you see here in Manchester was painted in 1983, to commemorate that postal heritage for the opening of the now-closed Air & Space Museum. But your eyes have not deceived you, if you’ve spotted a handful of other blue postboxes in the wild more recently too…

During the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic, Royal Mail decided to honour the tireless efforts of NHS workers in tackling the outbreak by painting five pillar boxes blue.

Have you encountered any of these rare pillar boxes on your travels?

02/02/2026

Chester is determined to show itself off at every given opportunity. Absolutely zero complaints from me.