Building record 10565/2 - Chester Rows : 42 Bridge Street Row

No 42 Bridge Street Row consists of an 18th century four storey town house, currently in use as a commercial property, there is no evidence of any earlier features. The main material is painted brick with painted false quoins. The front facade of the property consists of a 19th century shop front with a door to the south and a multi-pane window to the north. The upper floors have large central three part sash windows with stone sill and segmental brick head with a smaller central single sash window on the fourth level extending into the gable end. The interior is largely modern, however, some 19th century moulding survives at Row and first floor level. The Row walkway consists of a Row walk 2.32m wide with no stallboard. The upper floors are supported by brick piers to the north and south with a plain bressumer over and iron railings along the Row front. 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.