Building record 10490 - Chester Rows: 71 Watergate Street The Old Customs House Inn

No 71 is a three storey town house including a former undercroft level, currently in use as a public house, of a possible 17th century date but with significant alteration in the 19th century, it is now a single property with the adjacent building. The facade is 6.43m wide and consists of ashlar stone at undercroft level with brown handmade brick above. A single central sash window is recorded on each of the upper floors. The former Row level (the first floor of the building) is accessed via enclosed steps from the street and is 1.13m above the street level, however, the rise in ground level to the south of Watergate Street results in this storey being at ground level to the rear. The interior is divided into four bays with few original features. The second floor level contains a beam of late 17th century and a staircase of mid 18th century date with few other original features. 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.