Chester Cathedral’s Tower Tour: A Review

Quick overview

Website: https://chestercathedral.com/visit/tours

Booking advised

Tours generally operate at 11am Monday to Thursday, at 11am and 3pm on Friday, and 11am, 1pm and 3pm on Saturday.

Warning: lots of steps and heights

 

I’d previously visited Chester Cathedral on another trip to the city.  On that occasion I’d just wandered around, but it was good to have a purpose in mind for this trip: The Tower Tour. We were in the city for two days: Sunday and Monday, but there aren’t tours on a Saturday.  Our tour was at 1pm despite being on a Monday (so different to the general times stated, but it was clear at the time we booked that it was at 1pm).  We booked online. There is an adult’s price and an under 18 price, but no student or older person’s discount.

We met inside the main entrance.  There are facilities near here, within the cathedral, namely toilets, a cafe and a gift shop.  Our guide was Jacob and he was very knowledgeable and friendly.  He also had a loud, clear voice which was perfect.  Our group was of 10 people, but I’m not sure if this tour was fully booked. Before we set off we were given an opportunity to lock away bags (without charge) and it would be wise to do this if you were carrying a rucksack or larger bag.  The staircases are quite narrow, so you don’t need the extra bulk.

There were a lot of steps to climb up and down through the tour.  On the way up you do this in stages, so it doesn’t feel like too much of a strenuous gym session.  On the way down there’s only one stop, but obviously you need a rest less when going down.  There is no disabled access and you do need to be in reasonable physical shape.  You can take your time going up and down, and no pressure on you to move quickly, but it’s still a lot of steps. The cathedral website says:  The tour may not be suitable for those with breathing difficulties, a heart condition, mobility issues, fear of heights or who are currently pregnant. Children must be over eight years of age, and able to climb the stairs unaided.

First we learnt a little of the general history of the building and had some of the earliest parts of the structure pointed out to us.  We then went up a narrow, spiral staircase with a metal handrail (this was typical of the stairs on the tour) to look down on the cathedral below.  We learnt more about the history as we went along and had architectural or historical features pointed out to us as we went along.

Chester Cathedral now has a separate bell ringing tower, which is detached from the church, and it is called the Addleshaw Tower or known by its nickname the Chester Rocket. Prior to the building of the Addleshaw Tower in the 1970s, bell ringing took place in the cathedral.  The tour visits the former Bell Ringing Chamber.  There’s a chance here to catch your breath, take a seat for a little while or read about the history of bell ringing at the cathedral. You also visit the area where the bells previously hung above the Bell Ringing Chamber (before descending slightly and making your way up to the roof of the tower).

At the top of the tower there is a walkway around the edge which allows you to see views from a range of directions.  At each side of the square there is a viewing board that points out what you can see.  There are views to Wales and to Liverpool as well as over the cityscape.  It’s really interesting to see how the buildings fit together in this ancient city.  You can also see how the cathedral is constructed too e.g. one side of the exterior of the nave roof is much more elaborate than the other (see the picture above). You get a good 10-15 minutes up here to take in the views and find your hotel, your house or that pub you visited the previous evening.

Then we descended quite a way to a point where we could get a bird’s eye view of various parts of the interior of the cathedral.  The choir is quite spectacular, but it was also clear that dusting is difficult to manage in a building of this scale (take a look at the top of the fourteenth century choir stalls).

Perhaps the most spectacular part of the tour is getting the chance to view down the nave at height.  You get a wonderful view of the eight-light Perpendicular Gothic stained glass window. It was designed by W. T. Carter Shapland and completed in 1961, so it’s quite modern, but looks like it was always there. it’s from a height that you can best see the scale of the building and appreciate its full grandeur.

At the end of the tour you leave the upper areas, by a different door to the one you entered the tower area, and before you finish, you can retrieve any bags from the locked cupboard.  The tour was billed to last an hour, but we were actually on it for an hour and ten minutes.  I’d really recommend the tour.  It was very interesting and it was great to see both the interior of the church and the town of Chester’s cityscape and positioning within the landscape from a height.

The cathedral also run a number of other tours, so if heights and steps aren’t your thing, or you simply want to find out more about the cathedral and its history, you could try another tour as they have five available.  I think I would consider doing another tour on a return visit, maybe the stained glass tour.