Building record 10576/2 - Chester Rows : 15 Bridge Street Row

No 15 Bridge Street Row is a red brick three storey town house, currently in use as a shop, built in 1861. There is no trace of an earlier structure. The Row level town house consists of a modern shop front at Row level with deeply recessed doorway and large showcase windows. North of this a modern door leads to the upper floors. The front facade of the upper floors consist of painted brick with a single central mullion and transom window with plain pediment over. The second floor window consists of three horizontally placed lights and a single central light above with the date ‘1861’ inscribed. Above this the gable end rises from a parapet wall. The interior is modern clad with some 19th century features including a cast iron cistern and wash basin in the Row level lavatory and several fireplaces in the upper floors. The Row walkway consists of a Row walk 1.5m wide and a stallboard 2.23m wide. The upper floors are supported by stone piers to the north and south with a wooden bressumer over and a 19th century balustrade in 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.