Building record 10507 - Chester Rows: 19 Northgate Street

No 19 Northgate Street is a three storey with gable level town house built in around 1900 in the Vernacular Revival style. The total width of the facade is 7.12m. There is an undercroft below street level of possible medieval date however it was not available for survey during the Chester Rows Research Project. At street level the south wall of the rear storeroom contains medieval stonework up to a height of 1.5-1.75m. At street level the shop front and interior is modern with a Row walkway two steps above street level. The upper floors are supported by square stone piers to the north and south and two stone columns between. The total width of the Row walk varies from 2.58m in the south to 2.56m in the north. The first floor has an ornate central three lobed bow window with leaded light windows on the upper half of the floor continuing onto the flat plane and vertical studwork surrounding. The second floor has a continuous jettied front supported by brackets above the north and south end posts. There are two slightly projecting 5 pane oriel windows on this floor surrounding by false studwork and two gable ends above. 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.