According to the Guinness Book of World Records Chester Racecourse is the oldest and still functioning such facility in the world, being established in 1539. It also happens to be the smallest, running a full circuit in just over one mile and one furlong (1.8k). However, these stats are not what make these premises unusual. For that, one has to look towards the center of the track for an object made of sandstone.
This rock formation is known as the “Rooddee Cross” or rood cross, having both Saxon and Norse origins. The Saxon name for “cross” is “rood” and the Norse word for “island” is “eye”, thus arriving at ‘island of the cross’ or Roodee. It was meant to be a demarcation of an ancient island that once stood here in the 1100’s, surrounded by the River Dee. At one time this racecourse was a massive harbor and shipping destination. An intricate trading post for the Roman Legions who once occupied the area.
There is also the legend that the stones symbolize the burial location of a statue of The Virgin Mary. This tale involves the death of a Governor’s Wife, who was crushed by the effigy as she was praying for rain at the nearby Saint John’s Church,(https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/medieval-coffin-of-st-johns). As this relic was not a person, it could not be punished by burning or hanging. After a jury trial it was deemed to be buried along the banks of the River Dee.
Whichever story one chooses to believe in, doesn’t diminish the unusual nature of one of Britain’s most odd sporting related objects.
