Building record 10540/2 - Chester Rows: 36 Eastgate Street Row

No 36 Eastgate Street Row is a largely 19th century three storey town house, currently in use as a shop and offices. The front facade consists of a 19th century shop front with deeply recessed modern doorway and heavy stone cornices. The upper floors are rendered concealing their building material. The first floor above Row level has three two light casement windows with decorative iron balconies. The second floor has three plain sash windows while the third, attic, floor has a single central sash window. The interior of the town house has been stripped of all original features. The Row walkway consists of a Row walk approximately 3.27m wide and a stallboard approximately 1.5m wide. The piers from the undercroft level are surmounted by two Doric columns flanking the central staircase while a decorative iron railing borders the Row front. 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.