Monument record 10699 - Former Row at No 57-71 Lower Bridge Street (demolished)

<1> Brown. A. (ed), 1999, The Rows of Chester: The Chester Rows Research Project, p.166 (Book). SCH6790.

The present large concrete garage that occupies the site of no. 57-71 Lower Bridge Street formerly held a block of seventeenth to nineteenth century town houses of the Row type. Nineteenth century prints of the area indicate a Row walkway running in front of the buildings and supported on a stone retaining wall.

<2> Matrix Archaeology, 2013, St. Olave's Church, Lower Bridge Street, Chester. Historic Building Assessment, p.5-6 (Client Report). SCH7076.

"A group of three-storey jettied timber-framed buildings, which were illustrated by Louise Rayner (1832-1924). The date of this painting is unknown, although it was probably undertaken before 1874,....the buildings were then in use as a ‘Malt Store’, belonging to the Chester Northgate Brewery Co."

<3> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Edwards R, 04/01/2017 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

It is possible that the brewery was utilising some or all of the three storey jettied timber-framed buildings which fronted Lower Bridge Street (see CHER 11252). Photographs held at (4) clearly show the Malt Store and all but the southernmost building facing Lower Bridge Street being demolished. The latter was demolished c.1963

<4> Cheshire Archives & Local Studies, Chester History & Heritage and Cheshire Libraries, Various, Cheshire Image Bank, ch6769, ch8555, ch8556 (Web Site). SCH8053.

Two photographs of some the buildings prior to demolition. It is clear that the depicted buidings have (at the very least) been re-faced in brick and the row level is no longer extant. The nearest building in the photographs has a marked industrial character. This building corresponds with the area of the Malt Store (CHER 11252).

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1872-1875, Metric Ten Foot Scale Town Plan of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH6780.

The northernmost building (no. 57) had been demolished by this date.

<6> Howe, S, 2012-Present, A Virtual Stroll Around the Walls of Chester, https://chesterwalls.info/louiserayner/raynerlowerbridge.html (Web Site). SCH6990.

The page for Louise Rayner's paintings of Lower Bridge Street contains many artistic representations and photographs of this row. The site's author refers to this row as being known as Old Coach Row, and later as Rotten Row, due to the poor condition of the buildings. He also states: "Some of the buildings had the characteristics of a true Chester Row, with a covered gallery above cellars entered from the street, whilst others boasted merely an arcade over a raised pavement. Most of the true Rows had gone by 1880 and, by the mid-twentieth century, the frontages had become utilitarian with occasional street-level arcading."

<7> Cheshire Archives & Local Studies, Chester History & Heritage and Cheshire Libraries, Various, Cheshire Image Bank, ch8556, ch8593 (Web Site). SCH8053.