Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Enhancement on 18 September 2024 to amend the name, address and description, add references to selected sources and to reformat the text to current standards.

SJ4066SE
595-1/4/39

CHESTER CITY (IM)
BRIDGE STREET
No 14
and
BRIDGE STREET ROW WEST
Nos 12A-12D

(Formerly listed as BRIDGE STREET AND ROW (West side), No.14 Street and Nos.12 & 12A Row, previously listed as: BRIDGE STREET No 14 Street & Nos 12 & 12A Row)
28/07/55

GV
II
The building developed from the medieval ‘selds’ or stalls which were recorded in this part of Bridge Street by the C14. The Chester Rows Research project dated the shallow timber-framed structure at Row level and above to the C17, based on the carved bressumer over the Row front and the roof structure. Late-C19 photographs of the building show the upper storeys with a, probably planted, timber-frame with rendered panels in a Vernacular Revival style that was popular in Chester in the mid- to late C19. At that time there was also a canted central-bay shopfront at street level. The street level shopfront was replaced in the late C20 and was occupied by a building society in 2022. The Row, upper storeys and cottage to the rear were converted to housing in 1997. The building is constructed of sandstone, timber framing (now rendered) and brick. There is a grey slate roof at right-angles to the street.

EXTERIOR: the building is of four storeys including the undercroft and Row levels.
The undercroft has a late-C20 shopfront at street level, but with the fluted pilaster of an earlier shopfront to each side.

At Row level there is an iron balustrade to the Row front with three rails and triple spearheads and a gently sloping stallboard measuring approximately 3m from front to back. The side walls are of brick and a north post at the rear of the stallboard has shaped brackets to the main beam and beams over the stallboard and Row walkway. The joists above the Row are exposed. The back wall to the Row has a shopfront of probably around 1900, having a door of four panels with a two-pane sash window above a raised panel to each side, in a case with a moulded architrave and timber-framed plaster panels. There is a framed and boarded rear-passage door to the south, in a heavy frame with an architrave.
The upper storeys have a carved fascia above the Row opening and have a rendered timber-frame. There are three flush sash windows to the third storey with six over six-panes, the glazing bars had previously been removed from the lower leaves.
The fourth storey has one flush six over six-pane sash window, partly in the gable. The gable has plain renewed bargeboards and a finial.

The rear elevation has a door from the passage and a pair of margined flush 12-pane sashes in a single opening. The upper storey has two eight-pane sashes with one glazing-bar removed and a flush verge. There is a former cottage at the rear of C19 date.

INTERIOR: access to the undercroft is not normally practical, but it was opened in early 1990 for structural inspection. It is stated to have approximately 4 feet 6 inches headroom beneath the present street level floor, with a stone flag floor and squared rubble sandstone walls. It is believed to project beneath the pavement, and to be approximately 30 feet long under the building. The rear room at street level has some probable medieval squared rubble sandstone walling with brick walling above and a blocked opening in the north wall. All features further forward are covered. Two probable C17 beams are now concealed.

The rear room partly extends behind number 16 Bridge Street. At Row level all the features are clad. The third storey has a large parlour, partly over the Row, with joists running north-south which are probably of the C17. There are C19 features including a corner fireplace. The rear room is clad. The fourth storey has a C17 roof structure, which is partly visible, and some C19 features.

Listing NGR: SJ4051066240

External Links

• Wikidata Q26656739

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)