Building record 10508 - Chester Rows: 21-23 Northgate Street

No 21-23 Northgate Street are two three storey town houses rebuilt together in around 1897. The total width of the facade is 8.9m of three bays. At street level the shop front and interior is modern with two steps up from the street to Row level across the street frontage. The Row walkway is stone with a width varying from 2.49m in the south to 2.63m in the north. The upper floors are supported by two large stone piers at the north and south end and two wooden posts between creating to narrow arches to the north and south and a large central arch. The first floor has two 8 pane oriel windows over the north and south arcades and a central 12 pane window between them. Below the windows is close vertical studding. The jettied front of the second floor has a single central window with decorated pargetted panels below inscribed ‘18’ ‘C’ ‘B’ and ‘97’. Both this floor and the gable end above has close studwork. 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.