Building record 10564/2 - Chester Rows : 40 Bridge Street Row

No 40 Bridge Street Row is a 19th century three storey town house, currently in use as a commercial property. It was built in 1858 by Thomas Harrison and is of brick with stone copings and a red tile roof. The front facade is Flemish bond painted brick with contrasting painted stone quoins. The Row level shop front dates to 1900-1910 with a central door to the south of which is a separate access to the above property. At first floor level there is a large oriel window with a lead roof and moulded corbelling and cornice above and string course below. The second floor windows are trefoil headed lancet windows extending into the gable end. The interior is entirely modern. The Row walkway consists of a Row walk 2.16m wide and a stallboard 1.3m wide extending over the undercroft window. The upper floors are supported on two stone piers at either end with a supporting moulded bressumer. The modern wooden railing extends out beyond the building line of the town house. 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.