It's thought that a city called Genuina (or Gunia) existed here in the years BC, but the modern confines of the City centre were mostly laid out when the Romans arrived in the 70s AD in the form of a 62 acre strategic military fort called Deva Victrix. This fort was rebuilt twice over the next 150 years and gradually a civilian settlement grew up around, and then inside, the fort. To the south of the city walls, across the c14 Old Dee Bridge, is the only in situ, rock-cut Roman shrine in Great Britain; Minervas Shrine.

The city has been populated ever since and remains from the Norman, Medieval, Tudor and later periods can all be seen within the city. Many of the Tudor style buildings within the city are actually late 19th and early 20th century mock rebuilds, though a handful of genuine Tudor buildings survive. A lot of these re-imaginations are built on the foundations of medieval buildings and examples of building fabric dating to the 12th & 13th century can be seen in the basements of some of the shops.

These photos were taken on a five hour walk around the city, firstly on a circumnavigation of the city walls and then within the walls themselves, on 2 August 2023.