Building record 10495 - Chester Rows: 10 Northgate Street

No 10 Northgate Street consists of a stone undercroft and three storey Row level town house built in the 1816 and currently in use as shops and offices. The building is 5.73m wide and made of red brick with a Welsh slate roof. The facade dates to the 1820s and is slightly later than the core of the building although the shop front at street and Row level is modern. The Row walkway consists of a Row walk widening from 1.47m in the south to 1.73m in the north and a stallboard widening from 1.22m to 1.34m. The Row front is bordered by a wooden bressumer carved with ‘Cheese established 1740 Factor’ and a simple moulded rail. The upper floors are supported by two central cast iron Doric columns and brick end piers. The interior is modern throughout. 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.