Building record 10459/2 - Chester Rows: 8 Watergate Street Row Deva Hotel

No 8 Watergate Street is a three storey timber frame and brown brick structure of probable early 17th century date but refronted in the early 19th century. The Row building is currently in use as ‘The Deva’ hotel. The Row building has a modern shopfront at Row level with two upper storeys of Flemish bond brickwork. The windows have painted stone sills and wedge lintels with 16 panes on the first floor and 12 uneven panes on the second floor. Internal features include traces of raised 17th century panelling in a cupboard on the first floor with a substantial chimney piece of a similar date. The stallboards of the Row walkway are not evenly rectangular with a wider western end that may indicate encroachment with a cast iron railing across the front. The upper floors of the Row building were supported by three Tuscan iron columns. The steps up from street level to the west end of the stallboard are extremely steep. The traditional arrangement on the Rows consisted of a single storey stone undercroft at street level and a Row level building over it. Above the undercroft, the Row level building was more often timber built and consisted of a 'Row' level storey incorporating the Row walkway or stallboard extending over the frontage of the undercroft (this allowed extra head room for the undercroft and additional space for traders on the stallboards). The Row walkway was approximately 4-6m in width and incorporated the path and the stallboards themselves. The Row level storey formed the medieval shop opening onto the Row walkway. Due to differences in ground level between the front and back of the plots, the undercroft is at street level at the front and the Row level storey at ground level to the rear. The Row building also often included at least one further storey above it that extended forward again over the Row walkway. The upper floors were private, domestic quarters. The Rows are believed to be of medieval origin, dating at least to the 13th century followed by a gradual evolution of built form over a period of perhaps 100 years to create the present elements of undercroft, Row walkway and Row building. Survival of the built form of the Rows varies considerably and different elements of a single building can vary enormously in date from the 13th century through to the 20th century.