Building record 11029 - Dee House, Souter's Lane

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 470309 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Please see the linked listed building record for full architectural description.

<2> English Heritage, 2004, The Environs of Chester Amphitheatre: Preliminary Building Assessments, R3210 (Client Report). SCH6526.

The Grade II listed Dee House occupies grounds that partially overlie the Roman amphitheatre. The building faces roughly north-west, and is comprised of a five-bay double-pile house of c 1730, incorporating a service range set back on the west side, and flanked by a chapel block dated 1867 and on the west by a late nineteenth century extension.

The original house is thought to have been built for James Comberbach (d. 1735), Alderman and Mayor of Chester, whose family is said to have owned it until the mid-nineteenth century. Roger Comberbach, whose relationship to James is not known, also owned a garden to the south of St John's Cottages, according to eighteenth century deeds relating to the property.

<3> Chester Archaeology, 1995, Heritage Assessment of Dee House and Environs, Chester., R2685 (Client Report). SCH4794.

<4> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1987, Chester, Little St John Street: Dee House (Unpublished Report). SCH6287.

Report on the history and architecture of the building. Describes Dee House as a house of the 2nd quarter of the 18th century of brick, five bays wide and three storeys high. It was greatly enlarged following its acquisition as a convent school in 1854, first in 1867 by the addition of a chapel to the east (by the architect Edmund Kirby) and again around 1900 by the addition of a residential/ teaching block. Ceased to be used as school on the early 1970s. Since then, further alterations and additions, mainly at the rear of the building.

<5> Lowry, B, 1998, The Defence of Britain: WWII buildings in Chester (Unpublished Report). SCH7074.

An air raid shelter was stationed here during World War II.

<6> Historic England, 2016, Dee House, Little St John Street, Chester. An investigation and assessment of the early 18th century House and 19th Century Convent School (Report). SCH8093.

Report incorporates English Heritage building recording from 2006 and details the historical development of buildings at the site and records what buildings currently survive.

Dee House was probably built for the Comberbach family, around 1730 for James Comberbach (d.1737), a former mayor and alderman of Chester, over the years has served as a family residence, a convent school and a telephone exchange

<7> Giffords Consulting Engineers (Chester), 2011, Dee House Chester Floor Plans (Maps and Plans). SCH9520.

Floor Plans created in 2011