Description

This list entry was subjected to a Minor Enhancement 17 September 2024 to update name, address and details, add Source and reformat the text to current standards

SJ 4066 SE;
595-1/4/70

CHESTER CITY (IM),
RIDGE STREET ROW EAST
Nos. 43, 45 and 47

(Formerly listed as BRIDGE STREET AND ROW (east side), Nos. 43, 45 & 47 Row, previously listed as: BRIDGE STREET No 39 Street & No 45 Row, previously listed as No 45A Row))

28/07/55

GV
II

Number 43, 45 and 47 Bridge Street Row East comprises a neo-Jacobean style brick building designed by Edward Hodkinson and erected in 1864 for the landowner, the second Marquis of Westminster. Hodkinson contributed to the developing Chester Vernacular Revival style in the mid-C19 and was a strong exponent for the restoration of historic buildings ‘to their original design’. A member of the Chester Archaeological Society and, later, its Honorary Librarian and Curator, he was also responsible for rebuilding number 13 Bridge Street and 15 Bridge Street Row East and 31, 33 and 35 Bridge Street, 37 and 39 Bridge Street Row East which, less than fifty years later, was replaced by William Thomas Lockwood’s St Michael’s Arcade. Number 43-47 Bridge Street Row was erected over medieval undercrofts, one of which includes the remains of C2 AD Roman baths, which have separate entries on the National Heritage List for England.

Initially there were three Row shops, all of which were in separate occupancy to those in the undercroft, and the upper floors provided accommodation. In 2023, the Row level was occupied by one large and one small retail shop with storage in the floors above. The building is constructed of brown brick with blue diaper pattern and stone-dressings. It has a grey slate roof with its ridge parallel with the street.

EXTERIOR: The list entry relates to the Row storey and two upper storeys, which form three symmetrical units.

The Row front has brick end-piers and a cast-iron railing with a bottom rail, spirally moulded balusters, a top rail and ornate spearheads. There are two cast-iron intermediate columns with patterned plinths and strapwork on their shafts. A sloped stallboard, measuring 1.8m front to back, is boarded to number 43 and 45, and covered to 47. The Row walkway is boarded to number 43 and 45, and 47 has concrete flags. There are two modern shopfronts. A rear passage at the south end leads to number 45A, 45B and 47A Bridge Street Row. The Row has a plaster ceiling and a plain wood-faced bressumer to the Row front.

The brick third and fourth storeys have recessed two-pane sash windows with moulded stone sills and segmental blue brick arches. There are three triple sashes to the third storey and three dual sashes to the fourth storey. There is a central gable with a smaller gable to each side, each is stone-dressed and has kneelers, rectangular side-projections, coping and a stumpy octagonal finial.

The rear face appears to be constructed in two phases. Number 43 and 45 are under a wide gable which projects beyond the gable of number 47.

Listing NGR: SJ4056966172

External Links

• Wikidata Q26656754

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

• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)