The Tudor & Stuart Tour of Chester
The year is 1603. The wisest fool in Christendom, King James VI of Scotland, has just ascended the English throne. There are already murmurs of Catholic plots across the country and, in Chester, bubonic plague has struck.
Yet there is good news for the Cappers, Pinners, Wyredrawers, Lynnen Drapers and Bricklayers Company. The king has just confirmed the guild with its own coat of arms.
Meet Miles Mason, son of a Welsh brickman and grandson of a Dutch carver. He will be your guide.
We are proud recipients of a Tripadvisor travellers' Choice awards. We have also been shortlisted for the Visit Cheshire Tourism Awards 2027.
The Tour
A stroll into the past
Explore early modern Chester through the eyes of those who built it, as you hear tales of dissolution, pestilence and civil war.
Connect replica items and imagery with the real, everyday stories of Chester's citizens from all walks of life.
Learn fascinating local facts, from a professional, costumed guide, whilst walking the historic streets of Chester...a city boasting over six hundred listed buildings.
Your Guide
Tom Hudson is an Oxford graduate, with over a decade's worth of experience working within heritage. He has guided in Surrey, Kent, Lancashire and Cheshire since 2013.
Public tours currently take place on the 2nd Saturday of every month. Tours typically last around an hour and a half.
Follow the link below to book your place on an upcominng tour.
 Private tours and school tours can be booked at any time (subject to availability). Please note we require a weeks notice.
Follow the link below to arrange a private tour.
Private Tour Enquiry
"Really enjoyable and interesting tour, the guide clearly knew his stuff and shared lots of stories about Chester and the Stuart/Tudor period (and a few ghost stories thrown in...). Fantastic to see inside Stanley Palace, and lots of tips on other buildings to visit."
Charlotte
"The tour lasted 90 minutes and Miles was able to tell us many interesting facts about the Tudor/Stuart history in Chester. He was excellent with my daughter who is a budding historian, taking time to answer questions and gave her encouragement to learn more."Â
Lynn H
"The guide Miles Mason took us on a walking tour of some of Chester's tudor buildings, including the beautiful Stanley Palace, which the group was show around by the guide. Thoroughly recommend."Â
Sophie C
"Thanks to Miles for the excellent walking tour today ending at Stanley Palace. Good to learn more about Chester."
Debbie M
"Thank you, Myles Mason, for a very informative tour of life in Tudor times. Really enjoyed it thanks."Â
Shane & Angela
"Excellent tour , interesting and informative. Lovely architecture in Chester. Fascinating stories of the people who lived and worked in Chester during this period. The tour was done at a relaxed pace so everyone was able to keep up and enjoy the guide’s humour and knowledge of the subject."Â
Christine G
"Very entertaining and quite funny, lived around chester and found out so many things I’d never known"Â
Jack
"Absolutely fantastic tour! There was so much interesting information and our tour guide was so entertaining and had an unbelievable amount of knowledge. I try to do a history tour in any new city we go to and this has by far been the best. This is an absolute must do tour for a fascinating insight into the history of Chester."Â
Becky
"Had the pleasure of taking this tour last weekend. Completely worth the very reasonable price. Thoroughly enjoyed it, Myles was very knowledgeable and good company."Â
Jacqui S
Disclaimer
If due to unforeseen circumstances a tour is cancelled, and an alternative date cannot be agreed, customers will receive a full refund.Â
Customers should arrive ten minutes before tour start times. If delayed, customers should contact the guide by phone before the tour is due to start.Â
Guides will wait for up to ten minutes after tour start times. If customers do not arrive by this time, there will be no refunds on tickets purchased.Â
For schools in search of Tudor workshop days, please click here.
A brief history of North West England
Scroll through the timeline to discover some fascinating local facts...
-:-
Roman invasion of Britannia
Romans build forts at Carlisle (Luguvalium), Chester (Deva Victrix) and Manchester (Mancunium) with an auxiliary station at Lancaster (Calunium)
-:-
First church on site of Lancaster Priory
Monastery founded in Carlisle by St Cuthbert
Chester and Manchester burhs created by Aethelflaed and Edward the Elder
-:-
Chester castle built by William the Conqueror
Carlisle Castle built by William II
Lancaster Castle built by Roger of Poitou
Caer Luel/Carlisle becomes a city when King Henry I's founds its Diocese
Carlisle receives its first charter
King John grants Liuerpul (Liverpool) charter and 1421: original building (now Chetham’s Library) erected in Mameceastre (Manchester)
Duchy of Lancastre/Lancaster created by King Henry III
Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy’s rebellion in Chester
Wars of the Roses end Â
-:-
Chester becomes a city after King Henry VII's great charter
Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries
Henry VIII dissolves Chester‘s friaries, turning St Werburgh’s Abbey into new cathedral
(www.chestercathedral.com)
Lancaster Priory dissolved, reopening as parish church
(www.lancasterpriory.org)Â Â
Carlisle Priory dissolved, with secular chapter added
(www.carlislecathedral.org.uk)
War of the Rough Wooing between England and Scotland
George Marsh under house arrest for heresy in Chester
chesterghosttour.co.uk/
Birth of William ShakespeareÂ
 Mary Queen of Scots under house arrest in Carlisle Castle
Death of Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarchÂ
Pendle witches tried at Lancaster Castle (www.visitlancashire.com)
James I
visits Carlisle, Lancaster and Chester on his jubilee progress
Royalists capture Lancaster but not its castle
(www.lancastercastle.com)
Carlisle Castle made a royalist garrison
Parliamentary siege of Chester (www.visitcheshire.com)
Parliamentary siege of Carlisle
Start of Second Civil War as Scots and royalists seize Carlisle
Quaker George Fox preaches in Lancaster (www.pendleheritage.co.uk)Â Â Â
Charles II visits Lancaster Castle, freeing its prisoners (www.lancashire.gov.uk)Â Â
Great Plague
(www.sicktodeath.org)Â
James IIÂ talks religious
toleration when visiting Chester (www.westcheshiremuseums.co.uk) Â
William III brings troops to Chester for Irish campaign
Tullie House built in Carlise
(www.tullie.org.uk)
 Death of Anne I, the last Stuart monarch
 First dock in Liverpool
Carlisle town hall built
 Lancaster’s port breaks free of Chester’s control (www.visitlancaster.org.uk)
Precautionary walling up of Chester’s Watergate and Northgate against Jacobites
Bonnie Prince Charlie arrives in Lancaster with 5000 Jacobites (www.visitlancaster.org.uk)
Carlisle besieged and captured by Bonnie Prince Charlie
Carlisle-Newcastle turnpike road constructed
John Poole publishes Chester Chronicle
Start of American War of Independence
Chester-Nantwich Canal opens (www.gps-routes.co.uk)
 Skerton Bridge built in Lancaster
-:-
John Rennie’s Wyre Viaduct opens for Lancaster’s canal (www.lancaster.gov.uk)
Wedding of novelist Sir Walter Scott in CarlisleÂ
The Carlisle Journal newspaper introduced
William Minshull
publishes Lancaster Gazette
Anne Lister studies at York
Start of Napoleonic Wars
Demolition of Chester's Pentice
New courthouse built in Carlisle
Wigan highwayman George Lyon hanged in Lancaster
Gas lighting introduced in Carlisle and Lancaster
Peterloo Masacre in Manchester
Duke of Wellington visits Park House, Chester
Princess Victoria opens the Grosvenor Bridge in Chester
Great Reform Act
"The worst army hospital in Britain" built within Carlisle Castle
Cholera epidemics in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Liverpool
Birmingham's botanical gardens opened
George Hudson begins work on the Leeds-York line
 Grasshopper Tea Warehouse opens in Lancaster
(www.thecoffeehopper.com)