Building record 10562/1 - Chester Rows : 36 Bridge Street

No 36 Bridge Street is a stone undercroft, currently in use as a shop, of a 14th century date with later alterations. The front facade is modern, dating to the 20th century and consists of a recessed door to the south and a large plate glass window occupying the remainder of the facade. To the south, there are 12 steps up to Row level adjacent to the door. The interior of the undercroft can be dated to the 14th century with two north south spanning chamfered stone supporting joists of apparently the same period. Beyond the rear arch, the joists can be seen to support rubble infill. Also at the rear a recess in the south west corner is believed to be a blocked in rear access. The present floor is 18th century, the medieval floor can be seen in the present cellar area below where a joist dated ‘1593’ was recorded in the cellar ceiling in the 1950s. 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.