Roodee Cross

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Chester Racecourse is the oldest still-functioning facility of its kind in the world, established in 1539. It also happens to be the smallest, running a full circuit in just over one mile and one furlong (1.8 kilometers). 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, with 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 1100s, surrounded by the River Dee. At one time, this racetrack was a massive harbor and shipping destination. A 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. 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.