Building record 10475/2 - Chester Rows: 15 Watergate Street Row

No 15 Watergate Street Row is a three storey town house, currently in use as shop and offices, of a mid 18th century date. There are documentary references to the rebuilding of this property in 1744. The Row level town house does not contain any evidence of medieval fabric, rather the features appear consistent with a date of construction in the mid 18th century. At Row level, the house has been split into two parts, the eastern part being a shop with an entirely modern interior and the west an entrance to an office. Although the Row level staircase is 18th century in origin, there is evidence to suggest it was moved sometime in the recent past. The Row walkway consists of concrete paving slabs and a timber stallboard. The Chester Rows Research Project was carried out between 1985 and 1990 and included detailed documentary research as well as architectural surveys of the surviving buildings. The project was initiated by the City of Chester and the former County Council with funding by the Royal Commission on the Historic Monuments, English Heritage, the British Academy, the British Archaeological Research Trust, the St. John's House Trust, Chester, Samuel South Old Brewery, Colin Stannanought Partnership and Chester Civic Trust. A paper archive of documents, medieval deeds and a photographic record was produced on a building by building basis along the four main streets of Chester, both historic and modern buildings were examined although the present extent of the Rows is much reduced. The earliest reference to the unique arrangement of structures dates to the early 13th century. The traditional arrangement on the Rows consisted of a single storey structure at street level and a separate Row level building over it. The undercroft was a stone built structure, often of early origin, constructed at street level. Above it, the Row level building was more often timber built and consisted of a 'Row' level storey incorporating the Row walkway and the building frontage some 4-6m back. The Row building often included at least one further storey above it that extended back over the Row walkway. Due to differences in ground level between the front and back of the plots, both the undercroft and the Row level storey are built on the present ground level. The Row walkway extended over the front 4-6m of the undercroft and included the pathway adjacent to the Row frontage and an area known as the stallboards over the undercroft frontage (this allowed extra head room for the undercroft and additional space for traders for the Row).