A historian has brought out two new books that will be a must for people interested in the City Walls and Chester’s original and current cathedrals.

Gordon’s Emery’s 24-page guide, entitled Chester Walls, is aimed mainly at tourists but which locals should also find fascinating.

It tells the story of the walls, suggests a walk broken down in to sections, starting from any gate, and a time-line of interesting events.

Priced just £1.95, it features a map and disability access slopes are highlighted.

Gordon, who splits his time between Chester and Ambleside in the Lake District, said: “Chester Walls was written for the information office. They didn’t really have a good guide to the walls so they asked me if I could produce one.”

He invites everyone to: “Explore or re-explore the history of Chester Walls -– Roman, Medieval and Georgian.”

Medieval Imagination in Chester Cathedrals, priced £7.95, is a more substantial work concerning the city’s original cathedral, today’s St John the Baptist Church, and the current cathedral which was once St Werburgh’s Abbey Church.

A carved misericord or Medieval wooden bench showing a fight between a dragon and a lion.

Gordon says the book is a must for anyone interested in the history of Chester, the cathedral, or myths, legends and fantasies of medieval England. He focuses on the carvings found under the monks’ seats featuring fantastical creatures, legends and myths alongside tales of Christian piety and miracles.

“Medieval Imagination is about all the things in the church that really are not looked at a lot now,” he explained. “People walk past them and it’s the detail, it’s the wooden carvings from 1380.

“It’s fantastic. It’s one of the richest treasures in Chester really and it’s in the middle of the cathedral. You can’t get to all of them but you can see some of them.”

Chester Cathedral

Both books feature wonderful illustrations by Gordon as well as local artist Jay Hurst who created the cover of Medieval Imagination which depicts the author as the Green Man based on a representation found in the cathedral.

The publications are available from History and Heritage in Bridge Street, the Chester Art Centre in Northgate Street, the visitor information centre in Town Hall Square and the cathedral bookshop in the case of Medieval Imagination.

Also available is a limited edition run of 10 photographic prints of the misericords or wooden seats incorporating the carvings.