An Historical Map of Chester Education Workshop

Dr Tom Pickles leads the workshop

Following the publication of our An Historical Map of Chester: Mercantile Centre & Cathedral City we held a workshop on 6 July 2025, inviting teachers, educators and educational professionals to discuss how the map can be used in Key Stage 2 classrooms. The event was part of the city's Festival of Ideas and was kindly supported by the Earl of Chester's Fund and the University of Chester.

The workshop was hosted by Dr Tom Pickles and Prof Katherine Wilson, both University of Chester. We were joined by over 20 attendees, who took part in discussions and ideas sharing to help us pull together how we can use our Chester map in classrooms to inspire schoolchildren about the local history and geography.

The event sparked fascinating ideas about how the map can be used to teach a range of subjects as well as discussions about the history of the city. Teachers commented that the map would be a 'very positive classroom resource' and will make 'history more relatable for schoolchildren'.

We hope to organise more workshops like this one, with the goal of making Chester-based school resources to help teach local history in schools throughout the city.

Teachers and professionals discuss how the map can be used in the classroom

The map itself is the result of research by Dr Tom Pickles and Prof Katherine Wilson of the University of Chester, as well as contributions from their students. The map shows how the city developed across two millennia. It includes Chester’s walls and its famous Rows, as well as the sites of former religious buildings and its industrial heritage from the more recent past. A comprehensive gazetteer on the map’s reverse, complete with many illustrations, explains how Chester grew from a Roman legionary fortress into the modern cathedral city, and introduces its historic buildings and places of interest.

You can purchase a copy of the Chester map from our online shop. To hear more about our future projects or if you are interested in our education work and resources, please contact Martin Wills at development@historictownstrust.uk. To donate to our work please click here to be taken to our donations page. Every donation – no matter how big or small – is greatly appreciated.