Building record 10610 - Chester Rows: 44 Lower Bridge Street

No 44 Lower Bridge Street is a four storey town house, built of brick in Flemish bond with a stone facade at street level and rusticated quoins above. It is two bays wide (5.44m) with a modern shop front at street level. The gable end of the roof is just visible behind a blind coped parapet. Documentary sources suggest it was refaced and the Row level enclosed in 1717. The front facade consists of a 20th century shop front at street level with upper floors of brick with two sash windows at the former Row level and the first floor above. Access to the former Row level is provided by a set of stairs beneath a tall arch in No 46. The rear facade of the three storeys of the town house has seen significant alteration. The interior has been much altered although there are a number of cross beams still visible at street level and in the former Row level. The open well staircase is also an early 18th century feature. 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.