Building record 10573 - Chester Rows : 7 Bridge Street & 7 Bridge Street Row

No 7 Bridge Street and No 7 Bridge Street Row consists of an undercroft and town house built in 1889 by W.M. Boden. It forms part of a contemporary structure built together with No 3 & No 5 Bridge Street. The undercroft level has a modern shop front and interior with few original features. The Row level town house consists of a three storey building of brick with part applied and part structural timber framing and a red tile roof. The Row level shop front is modern in a mock 19th century style with a recessed door at 45 degrees. The central part of the facade consists of a jettied section containing an oriel mullion and transom window. This extends to the second floor. The roof ridge runs parallel to the street. Although the interior is largely modern, the layout appears to be in keeping with Lockwood’s original design. The Row walkway consists of a Row walk 2m wide and a stallboard 1.93m wide. The upper floors are supported by a sub four centred wooden arch resting on a corbel at the south end and square wooden post at the north end. The Row front is bordered by a 19th century balustrade. 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.