Modern

Modern Chester (1901 - 2004)

During the 20th century, Chester witnessed enormous economic and social changes. The city lost most of its old-established industries and never developed as a manufacturing town, although modern industries, notably aerospace and chemicals have grown up nearby. Instead, Chester has strengthened its position as a service centre, reflecting the city's regional importance in the fields of administration, retailing, commerce and tourism.

BUILDINGS The exhuberant 'black and white' revival of the Victorian period continued until after the First World War. St. Michael's Row, built in the Baroque style for the 2nd Duke of Westminster in in 1910, caused such a public outcry, that it was reclad in timber the following year. The Royal Bank of Scotland in Foregate Street (formerly the Manchester and Liverpool District Bank) is a superb half-timbered structure dating from 1921.

In the fist half of the century, the pace of building diminished due to the upheaval of two world wars and the intervening recession. Maxwell Ayreton's St. Werburgh's Row (1935) and Harry Weedon's Odeon Cinema (1936) are the most notable inter-war buildings. Post-war modernism failed to find favour in Chester: both St. Martin's Gate (1966) and the County Police Headquarters (1967)aroused fierce controversy when they were built. More recently, the desire to design buildings which are sympathetic to the existing character of the city has tended to produce replica facades or buildings which rely heavily on designdetails from the past. However, buildings like the Bell Tower (1975), Rufus Court (1991) and Chester Magistrates' Court (1991), have demonstrated how modern archtecture can respond sensitively to historic settings.

DEVELOPMENT At the end of the First World War, housing became a major issue. Municiple housing estates providing 'homes fit for heroes' were developed at Buddicome Park, Handbridge and Lache. After the Second World War, the City Engineer and Surveyor, Charles Greenwood produced a major redevelopment plan for Chester which included the creation of 'neighbourhood units' - large housing estates with their own amenities, which could develop as self-contained communities. Widescale slum clearance took place behind the Town Hall and in 1948, the Council began building Blacon to the west of Chester.

The greatest changes to central Chester took place in the 1960s. The building of the Inner Ring Road, resulted in the loss of many important Georgian buildings. Chester alsolost its much loved Victorian market hall, when the area was developed for the Forum Offices, new market and Gateway Theatre. However, the Grosvenor-Laing shopping precinct, set behind the Row buildings of Eastgate Street and Bridge Street, was much admired when it opened in 1965.

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