Building record 10553/2 - Chester Rows : 12 Bridge Street Row

No 12 Bridge Street Row consists of a three storey timber framed town house, currently in use as a shop and offices, of a 17th century date but with evidence of substantial remodelling. There is a 19th century free standing building to the rear of the main structure. The Row level town house consists of a modern shop front at Row level, the interior of the Row level is modern clad, however, few features of 17th century date are preserved in the upper floors including a number of joists forming part of the original timber framing as well as several roof trusses. To the rear of the 17th century town house there is a flat roof over the undercroft and behind this, a free standing 19th century building now known as ‘The Cottage’. It is three storeys in height and brick built throughout. 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.