Building record 10492 - Chester Rows: 4 Northgate Street

No 4 Northgate Street is a town house, currently in use as a shop, of an 18th century date but with a late 18th century facade. The house was originally just two rooms and staircase deep (10.9m) extending back along the Dark Row with a late 18th century addition of a single room and staircase. The present structure now incorporates the Row walkway on Northgate Street and the Row walkway to the rear of the Dark Row. The Northgate Street Row boarded walk is 1.8m wide with only a narrow stallboard that runs out at the northern end. The Dark Row boarded walk is 1.55m wide with a narrow stallboard just 0.56m wide. The Row arcade is supported on modern brick piers with attached stone Doric half-column to the north and two iron Doric style columns in the centre. The street level undercroft has a modern shop front and interior, formerly part of the ‘Owen Owen’ store. The front facade of the Row level building is also modern while the upper floors consists of brown brick with a single central sash window of 19th century date. The interior of the Row level house has largely been stripped, however both the front staircase and a second staircase to the rear off the Dark Row are both original, dating to the 18th century. Some panelling of a 19th century date also survives in the upper floors. 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.