Building record 10598 - Chester Rows: 15 Lower Bridge Street

No 15 Lower Bridge Street (now No 13) consists of a four storey town house with a width of 5.08m. At street level there are the remains of a medieval stone built undercroft. The Row level town house above is likely 18th century in origin. It is built of Flemish bond brown brick with rusticated stone quoins. The street, or undercroft, level is of stone with a modern shop front. The interior floor plan falls into three sections; towards the front the first four bays are of brick with timber beams. The central section begins with an offset of c0.15m at a distance of 10.32m back from the street frontage with evidence of medieval stone surviving in the north wall. The former Row town house has an enclosed front room at Row level (the former Row walkway) with a facade of brown brick with a central sash window at first to third floor levels. 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.