Building record 10597 - Chester Rows: 11-11a Lower Bridge Street

No 11 & 11a Lower Bridge Street consists of a stone undercroft at street level and a brick three storey town house above. It is the only surviving part of open galleried row on the street. The undercroft level has no clear datable features although there is an 18th century barrel vaulted extension to the rear. The Row level town house is 18th century and the cellar below street level is likely 18th or 19th century. The street or undercroft level is stone with a modern shop front and an interior floor level slightly above (c.0.07m) the street level. The height of the first bay below the Row walkway is 2.55m, with a second bay of 2.26m. The 18th century barrel vaulted extension is 6.94m. The cellar beneath the undercroft is cut into the natural rock to a depth of 2.43m below street level and is of handmade brick. The Row walkway consists of a paved Row walk with the upper floors supported by two brick piers at the north and south ends and two central columns. There is a wooden balustrade to the Row front. The Row level town house is three storeys and of handmade brick, the Row level shop front has a slightly bowed 1970s five pane window to the south and a door to the north adjacent to the Row steps. The upper floors have three sash windows on the first and second floors. 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.