Building record 10589/2 - Chester Rows : 57 Bridge Street Row

No 57 Bridge Street Row consists of a late 19th century three storey town house inscribed with the date ‘1891’ on a tie beam in the gable end. The front facade consists of a modern shop front at Row level with a late 19th century painted brick facade with mock timber framing. At first floor level there is a four light mullion and transome window with an oriel window to the south. Brackets to the north and south of the oriel window carry the jetty of the second floor level. The second floor has a two light casement window in the north bay with mock timber framing with a jettied front to the larger south bay containing a mullion and transome window. The mock timber framing continues into the gable end. The interior is entirely modern covered with no original features. The Row walkway consists of a Row walk 2.2m wide and stallboard 2.16m wide. The upper floors are supported by brick piers adjacent to Feathers Lane and to the south. 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.