Minerva's Shrine at Handbridge

What you will see

In the face of a low sandstone outcrop is a niche framed like a little temple. Inside, much worn by eighteen centuries of weather, is a figure of Minerva: you can make out her outline, and with a little help her spear, her shield and the owl at her shoulder. A stone surround was built round it in the 19th century to protect it. Beside it is Edgar’s Cave, also part of the old quarry.

The weathering makes it a carving to look at slowly. A cast of the shrine in the Grosvenor Museum shows the details more clearly.

A goddess for quarrymen

This was a Roman quarry. Stone cut here was carried over the river to build the fortress, and the men who worked it carved a shrine to the goddess who looked after craftsmen and skilled work. Minerva was also a goddess of wisdom and of war fought with strategy, which made her a natural patron for a military town.

What makes the shrine rare is that it is still where it was carved. Plenty of Roman altars and reliefs survive in museums; a rock-cut shrine still in its original quarry face is, on the council’s description, unique in western Europe. It is Grade I listed, and the quarry, the cave and the carving are protected together as a scheduled monument.

Getting there

From the city, walk down Lower Bridge Street to Bridgegate and cross the Old Dee Bridge, the medieval bridge over the river. Edgar’s Field is the park on your left at the far end, with the shrine in the rock outcrop. The park is named after the Saxon king Edgar, who held court at Chester in 973. From the Roman Gardens, follow the riverside path along to the bridge.