Building record 10537/2 - Chester Rows: 32 Eastgate Street Row

No 32 Eastgate Street is a three storey town house above the undercroft, currently in use as a shop and offices, of a probable 17th century date but with extensive alterations in the 18th and late 19th centuries. The main building materials are timber framing with plaster panels, hand-made bricks in the western party wall and a grey slate roof on a north south axis. The front facade of the town house appears to be largely 19th century in date with false timbering and close vertical studwork on the first floor above Row level. There are brackets on the first floor supporting a slight jetty for the second floor. The Row level shop front is largely modern with a largely plastered interior but which retains the form of a previous galleried hall. The interior of the town house revealed traces of several phases of work including the 17th century wainscoting in the over Row parlour and a 19th century fireplace. The Row walkway consists of a Row walk approximately 3m wide and a stallboard approximately 2.2m wide. The Row front is bordered by a cast iron Gothic railing. 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.