4x8 CHE 
large commodious common-hall. The exchange alfo 
contains a manfion-houfe, for the occaiional entertain¬ 
ment of the corporate body. 
The Cathedral hands on the eaftfideof the Northgate- 
ftreet; the reigns of Henry VI. VII. and VIII. are men¬ 
tioned as the periods in which the greater part of this 
Jacred edilice was ereiSled. Simon Ripley, chosen abbot 
in 1485, built the broad-aide. The abbey, which gave 
birth to this fee, was of fuch antiquity as to have been a 
nunnery more than eleven hundred years- ago. The 
neatnels of the choir, and the Gothic appearance of the 
tabernacle-work, have a pleafing effe£t on the eye. The 
bifnop’s throne, which is fuperbly ornamented, is laid to 
have been the ancient fhrine of St. Werberg. There are 
in this lee two archdeaconries, Chefter and Richmond ; 
it is a fuffragan to York; and the diocefe includes Che- ( 
fliire and Lancafhire, a part of Cumberland, Weftmore- 
land, FJintfliire, and Denbighfhire. It contains 256 pa- 
rifhes, ior of which are impropriate. The bifhopric is 
valued in the king’s books at 420k is. 8d. and the tenths 
of the clergy amount to 435I. 12s. per annum. Thefirll 
bifhop of Chefter was John Bird, in 1541. 
The church of St. John Baptill Hands without the 
walls, in a moll delightful lituation, on the ealt lide of 
the city ; it was once collegiate, and was founded by king 
Ethelred, in 689, in confequence of a vifionary admoni¬ 
tion, to build it on the fpot where he fliould find a white 
hind. The welt fide of the fteeple now prelents an im¬ 
perfect figure of this legend. The church is a magnifi¬ 
cent pile, and evidently of Saxon origin; there are no 
remains of the north and fouth tranfepts, and a great 
part of the ealt end is deinplifiied by the tall of the cen¬ 
tre tower. The chapels above the old choir (now the 
parifn church) prefent melancholy pictures of the ravages 
of time ; to the eye of the antiquary, thele ruins are a 
rich fealt. Here is. an anchorite’s cell, where Harold, 
after his defeat at Haltings, is faid to have doled his eyes. 
Among the many public charities which dilvinguilli 
this city, there is an excellent foundation for thirty de¬ 
cayed freemen, to each of whom is allowed the firm of 
4I. annually, and a gown every third year. Here are 
thirty alms-houles, exclufive of fix behind the Bluecoat- 
fchool: namely, ten in St. Michael's parilli; four in St. 
John’s; fix in Commonhall-lane ; fix in St. Olave’s parilh ; 
and four in Trinity. 
Four miles from the city is Eaton-hall, the fine feat of 
Earl Grol'venor, and the 1'pacious forell of Delamere. 
They fay here was formerly an old city, now called the 
Chamber on the Foreif, .probably fome fort or camp to 
fecure the road. From hence is a fine profpeCl of the VVelfh 
mountains. 
The jurifdiftion court of the county palatine of Chefter, 
is under the magiftracy of the city. Where felony is 
committed by any inhabitant of the palatine of Chefter, 
in another county, procefs lhall be made to the exigent 
•where the offence was done, and, if the offender then fly 
into the county of Chefter, the outlawry lhall be certified 
to the officers there. 1 H. 4. c. 18. The feffions for the 
county palatine of Chefter, is to be kept twice in the 
year, at Michaelmas and Ealter: and juftices of peace 
in Chefter lhall be nominated by the Lord Chancellor. 
Stats. 32 H. 8. c. 43. 33 H. 8. c. 13. Recognifances of 
ftatutes-merchant may be acknowledged, and fines levied 
before the mayor of Chefter, for lands lying there. 2 & 3 
Ed. 6. c. 31. But no writ of protection lhall be granted 
in the county palatine. 
CHES' TER, a town of the American States, in Lunen¬ 
burg county, Nova Scotia, onMahonebay, fettled origi¬ 
nally by a few families from New-England. From Windior 
.it is twenty-five miles. 
CHES'TER, a town of the American States, in Hamp¬ 
shire county, Maflachufetts, adjoining Weftfield on the 
ealt, and about twenty miles north-well of Springfield. 
It contains 1119 inhabitants. 
CHES'TER, a large, pkafant, and elegant town of 
CHE 
the American States, in Rockingham county, Neyv-Hamp- 
fhire. It is twenty-one miles in length ; and on the weft 
fide is a large lake, which fends its w'aters to Merrimack 
river. It was incorporated in 1722, and contains 1902 
inhabitants, who are chiefly farmers. It is lituated on 
the ealt fide of Merrimack river, fourteen miles north- 
weft of Haverhill, as far weft of Exeter, thirty-five weft 
by fouth of Portimouth, fix northerly of Londonderry, 
and 306 from Philadelphia. From the compact part of 
this town there is a gentle defcent to the lea, which, in 
a clear day,-may be feen from thence. It is a poll town, 
and contains a congregational church. Rattleihake bill, 
in this townfhip, is a great curiolity : it is half a mile in 
diameter, of a circular form, and 400 feet high. On the 
fouth fide, ten yards from its bale, is the entrance of a. 
cave, called the Devil’s Den, which is a room fifteen or 
twenty feet fquare, and four feet high, floored and cir¬ 
cled by a regular rock, from the upper part of which 
are dependent many excrefcences, nearly in the form and. 
fize of a pear, which, when approached by a torch, 
throw' out a fparkiing luftre of almoft every hue. It is a. 
cold, dreary place, of which many frightful ftories are 
told by thole who delight in the marvellous. 
CHES'TER, a town of the American States, in Wind- 
for county, Vermont, weft of Springfield, and eleven 
miles weft by fouth of Chaiieftown, in New-Hamplhire, 
and contains 981 inhabitants. 
CHES'TER, a borough and poft town of the Ameri¬ 
can States, in Pennlylvania, and the capital of Delaware 
county, pleafantly fituated on the weft fide of Delaware 
river, near Marcus Hook, and thirteen miles north-eaft 
of Wilmington. It contains a court lioufe and a goal. 
From Cheiter to Philadelphia is twenty miles by water, 
and fifteen north-eaft by land ; here the river is narrowed 
by illands of marfh, which are generally banked, and 
turned into rich and valuable meadows. The firft colo¬ 
nial aflembly was convened here, the 4th of December, 
1682. The place aifords genteel inns and good enter¬ 
tainment, and is the refort of much company from the 
metropolis, during the fummer feafon. It was incorpo¬ 
rated in December, 1795, and is governed by two burgelfes, 
a conllable, a town-clerk, and three affiltants. 
CHES'TER, a county of the American States, in 
Pennfylvania, Vveft of Delaware county, and fouth-wefl 
of Philadelphia; about forty-five miles in length, and 
thirty in breadth. It contains thirty-three townfliips, 
of which Weft-Chefter is the (hire town, and 27,937 in¬ 
habitants. Iron ore is found in the northern parts, 
which employs fix forges. Tliefe manufacture about 
1000 tons of bar-iron annually. 
CHES'TER, a town of the American States, in Shan- 
nandoali county, Virginia, fituated on the point of land 
formed by the junction of Allen’s or North River, and 
South River, which form the Shannandoah; fixteen. 
miles fouth by well of Winchefter. Lat. 39. 2. N, Ion. 
78.22. W. 
CHES'TER, a county of the American States, in 
Pinckney diftrifl, South Carolina, on Wateree river, 
containing 6866 inhabitants. It lends two reprefenta- 
tives, but no fenator, to the (late legiflature. 
CHES'TER, a town of the American States, in Cum¬ 
berland county, Virginia, fituated on the louth-weft bank 
of James river, fifteen miles north of Biandford, and 
fix louth of Richmond. 
CHES'TER-RIVER, a navigable water of the eaftern 
ffiore of Maryland, which rifes two miles within the line 
of Delaware ltate, by two fources, Cyprus and Andover 
creeks, which unite at Bridgetown ; runs nearly louth 
weftward ; after palling Cheiter it runs louth nearly three 
miles, when it receives fouth-eaft creek, and fifteen miles 
farther, in a louth-weft direction, it empties into Chela- 
peak bay, at Love point. It forms an ifiand at its mouth, 
and by a channel on the ealt lide of Kent Ifle, commu¬ 
nicates with Eaftern bay. 
CHES'TER le STREET, an ancient tcwn, in the 
county 
