The site was originally mainly a quarry for the abundant red sandstone that much Chester is built from,[1] but in later years became a centre for salmon fishing in the Dee.

Little is known of Handbridge from this time, as Chester was repeatedly attacked by Viking raiders, leading one commentator to describe it as "an abandoned city on The Wirral".

[4] The book also tells of the constant repairs that had to be made to the river crossing there, the first written record of what would eventually become known as the Old Dee Bridge.

This forced the Parliamentarians to cross the river at a ford ten miles (16 km) upstream, leading to the Battle of Rowton Heath, at which the Royalists lost and Chester became invested.

[6] In the summer of 1645, with the siege less close, the Royalist defenders built a new fort at Handbridge to protect the approaches to the Dee Bridge.

[8] During the Victorian era many of the corn mills which lined the river closed down, to be replaced with hydroelectric power stations to provide electricity to the growing city.

In the extreme west of Handbridge, the Grosvenor Bridge, connecting the city to the main roads to Wales, was built by Thomas Harrison and opened by Queen Victoria in November 1833, as part of a larger trade route to Holyhead and the Irish ports.

However, during a 1963 gig in Chester by The Beatles, John Lennon heard about the house and was intrigued by the name, with the song "Nowhere Man" being inspired by this cottage.

Handbridge is in the City of Chester parliamentary constituency and is represented by Samantha Dixon of the Labour Party, who held the seat in a by-election in 2022 with an increased majority.