Bishop of Chester

The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York.

The diocese expands across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the City of Chester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was formerly the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Werburgh, being elevated to cathedral status in 1541. The Bishop's residence is Bishop's House, Chester.

Cheshire has held a bishopric since 1072 when the seat was at the collegiate church of Saint John the Baptist until 1102. The present diocese was formed in 1541 under King Henry VIII. The current incumbent is Peter Forster, the 40th Bishop of Chester, whose election was confirmed in late 1996, and who signs Peter Cestr. At present the Bishop is permitted to sit in the House of Lords as one of the Lords Spiritual.

Earliest times

Chester at various periods in its history had a bishop and a cathedral, though till the early sixteenth century only intermittently. Even before the Norman conquest the title Bishop of Chester is found in documents applied to prelates who would be more correctly described as Bishop of Mercia or even Bishop of Lichfield. After the Council of London in 1075 had decreed the transfer of all episcopal sees to cities, Peter, Bishop of Lichfield, removed his seat from Lichfield to Chester, and became known as Bishop of Chester. There he chose as his cathedral collegiate church of Saint John the Baptist, an arrangement which continued until 1102.

Chester (district)

Chester was a non-metropolitan local government district of Cheshire, England, with the status of a city and a borough.

Apart from Chester itself, which was the principal settlement, the district covered a large rural area. Other settlements included Malpas and Tarvin.

Creation

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of the existing city and county borough of Chester with the Chester Rural District and Tarvin Rural District. The district council used the name Chester City Council.

City council

Membership and wards

The first council had 62 members and was elected as a shadow authority (known as Chester District Council) on 7 June 1973. The council came into its powers on 1 April 1974, on which date a royal charter and letters patent came into force with the authority becoming Chester City Council and the chairman of the council having the title of mayor. An election of the whole council was held again in 1976.

The number of councillors was reduced to 60 at the next council election in 1979. Thereafter the city council elections were "by thirds": with 20 councillors retiring in three out of every four years. In the fourth year, elections to Cheshire County Council took place.

Chester (Homeville, Virginia)

Chester is a historic home located near Homeville, Sussex County, Virginia. It was built in 1773, and is a two-story, three bay, frame dwelling with side gable roof. It features two exterior chimney stacks, joined on both the first and second floor levels by pent closets. Attached to the main section is a two-story wing with an exterior chimney and a shallow gable roof added in the 1820s.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

References

Chester Transportation Center

The Chester Transportation Center is a SEPTA bus and train station in Chester, Pennsylvania. The outside portion of the ground level serves SEPTA City Transit Division Route 37, and Suburban Transit Division Routes 109, 113, 114, 117, 118, and 119.

Above the building of the transportation center is the train station. The tracks run over the building. The station is served by the Wilmington/Newark Line. The line offers southbound service to Wilmington and Newark, Delaware and northbound service to Philadelphia. This station is located at 6th and Welsh Streets, Chester, PA 19013.

History

Chester station was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1903. In the 1940s lots of NY-Washington trains stopped there; in 1970 one Philadelphia-Washington train stopped, and in 1978-83 Amtrak's Chesapeake stopped both ways between Philadelphia and Washington. PRR/PC/Conrail local trains to Marcus Hook/Wilmington/Newark continued until SEPTA took them over in 1983.

Stairway to the rail platforms