Building record 10534/2 - Chester Rows: 22 Eastgate Street Row

No 22 Eastgate Street Row is a narrow three storey town house, currently in use as a shop and accommodation, of probable 17th century origin but with extensive 19th century alterations. The main building material is Flemish bond red brick. The front facade of the town house is plain brick with a central recessed doorway on the Row level and a single sash window on each of the upper floors. The roof is Welsh slate on a north south axis. Traces of a mid 17th century date timber framing with wattle and daub was recorded at Row level only, while remaining internal features were 19th century in date. The Row walkway consists of a Row walk some 2.62m wide and a stallboard some 2.05m wide. 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.