Building record 10517/2 - Chester Rows: 11 Eastgate Street Row

No 11 Eastgate Street Row consists of a Row level townhouse three storeys high and one bay wide, currently in use as shops and offices, it is largely 19th century in date. The Row walkway is 2.2m wide and the stallboards a further 2.4m wide. The upper storeys are supported by piers refaced with modern brickwork with a steel railing on the Row front. The dogleg open-string stair, flights parallel with front, is c1800 with shaped brackets, turned newel and stick balusters. The third storey has a cornice and a blocked fireplace, the fourth storey a 18th century strutted truss with a 17th century oak reused tie-beam. 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.