13 and 15 Watergate Street and 17 and 19 Watergate Row South, Chester, Cheshire West and Chester

Summary

A pair of medieval shops and town houses with open stalls at Row-level, over undercrofts at Street-level, re-built and altered during the C18, C19 and C20.

Description

13 WATERGATE STREET and 17 WATERGATE ROW SOUTH

Medieval undercroft, shop and side entry town house, re-built 1771 with C19 and C20 alterations.

MATERIALS: red sandstone undercroft and inserted brick-lined barrel vault, with timber-framed, brick-clad structure over; Welsh slate-clad roof.

PLAN: Rectangular three-storey shop and side-entry town house with an attic floor, built over an ‘L’-plan undercroft, to form a four-storey street frontage. The base of the ‘L’-plan undercroft wraps around the rear of the undercroft to the adjacent property. The undercroft is effectively a street-level basement and is connected by a doorway to the undercroft of the adjacent property to the E (National Heritage List for England: 1376424). The Row-level above is effectively the ground-floor and is today connected by doorways in the party wall to the adjacent property (19 Watergate Row South), as are the two upper floors.

EXTERIOR: the undercroft has a C19 timber butchers’ shop front with a nine-panelled ventilated door, flanked to the left by a pair of windows with moulded surrounds and rounded upper corners, separated by a central plain pilaster, with a name board above. An open stairway to the left of the shop front rises to the Row-level, which has an open veranda forming a stall, with a timber balustrade with turned fluted baluster spindles to the front, and a section of concrete surfaced continuous open walkway to the rear. A cast-iron Tuscan column at the front of the stall supports the over-hanging floor above, which forms a ceiling decorated by a plaster frieze. The shop-front set to the rear of the veranda is mid-C19 in character with a dentil cornice and four large glass panes. A recessed door with fanlight over is situated at the left side of the shop-front. This leads to a cross passage running to the rear of the building which has a side-entry door along its length. The passage has a concrete floor with two pairs of engaged pilasters supporting round arches, coved panel ceiling, and the E wall has a timber wainscot and dado rail. The two floors of the front elevation above the Row-level are clad in late-C18 orange-brown Flemish-bond brickwork, with a moulded painted stone cornice and a coped parapet wall. The parapet continues around the W side of the building and merges into a brick chimney stack. The Row-level +1 is pierced by a pair of late-C19 two-pane horned sash windows with plain painted stone sills and wedge lintels. The Row-level +2 has a pair of late-C18 nine-pane sash windows in exposed sash boxes with plain painted stone sills, rusticated wedge lintels and false keystones. The brick three-storey rear gabled elevation was re-built in the mid-C20 and has painted galvanised steel casement windows, beneath flat concrete lintels. The elevation is partially obscured by a late-C20 full-height four-storey stair tower, with an attached two-storey cat-slide wing that forms an extension to the rear of the adjacent property to the W. An entrance leads into the rear of the cross passage.

INTERIOR: the undercroft has walls of squared red sandstone blocks and bricks, and it is divided into three chambers and a short corridor. The largest chamber had been divided into a butchers’ shop to the front and a meat hanging room to the rear, with a secondary segmental brick barrel vaulted ceiling pierced by two rows of meat hooks. The undercroft is entered from the adjacent property (NHLE: 1376424) by a round-arched open doorway, cut through the E wall. The W wall has a blocked basket-arched doorway situated towards the N end, which is aligned with the doorway in the opposite wall. The chamber has stone slab flooring inclined to the rear, much of which is obscured by a modern lounge bar seating cubicles. The S wall of the undercroft has been broken through to form an open doorway that leads into a short corridor, which provides access to a half-barrel vaulted chamber set at right-angles to the rear of the main chamber and a small rectangular room to the W.

The Row-level comprises a shop, formerly part of a house, with exposed oak timber framing visible in the W party wall, where a door opening has been cut through to 19 Watergate Row South. A side-entry door in the E wall leads from the cross passage into a central stair hall, which spans the width of the house. A well stair rises from the stair hall, with a moulded swept handrail and turned newel posts, one with a pendant orb. Each tread has three turned balusters and an individually carved floral cut and bracketed string; the treads and risers are obscured by a modern covering. The soffit of the stairs and the ceiling of the stair hall have decorated plaster strap-work with flower buds and Tudor rose motifs and the walls of the stair have panelled wainscoting. A low six-panelled door beneath the stairs gives access to 19 Watergate Row South. The stair is flanked by a large mirror in a highly decorated carved frame in the classical style. The front room has an open segmental arch to allow access from the stair hall; it has a plain Tudor-style stone fireplace set in a chimney breast, decorated with a plaster putto in an oval panel flanked by swags. The walls have shouldered moulded plaster panels, some of which have been partially obscured by modern shop fittings. The ceiling has a deeply moulded cornice and is decorated in plaster strap-work with Tudor rose motifs. The rear room is decorated by floral plaster panels in relief on the walls, chimney breast and ceiling. Those on the walls are partially obscured by modern shop fittings. The ceiling has a simple coved plaster cornice and is divided by a substantial transverse painted timber beam.

The Row-level +1 is reached from a landing at the head of the well stair. The doorway leading to the front room has reveals moulded with low-relief panels, while the walls are decorated with moulded plaster panels that are largely obscured by modern shop fittings, which also obscure a fireplace. The room has moulded window architraves, picture rails, a decorated frieze with repeating shell and foliage motif, a moulded cornice, and the ceiling has a moulded plaster panel that is divided by an encased transverse beam. An open doorway connecting to 19 Watergate Row South is situated within a former depressed arch alcove in the W wall and a further doorway on the half-landing of the stairs, also leads into the adjacent property. The rear room has a dado with two rows of panelling on the S and E sides, a plain frieze and cornice and an early-C19 cast-iron fireplace. The staircase no longer rises the full-height of the property and a modern door in the S wall of the landing gives access to the late-C20 stair tower to the rear.

The Row-level +2 is reached from the stair tower at the rear; an axial corridor on the W side of the building provides access to a number of storerooms, an office and a staff room. A doorway in the W wall gives access to the upper-storey attic room of 19 Watergate Row South. A number of encased beams in the ceilings span this floor.

The Row-level +3 is an attic floor, also accessed from the late-C20 stair tower. It has been sub-divided by modern partition walls into two flats served by an axial corridor. Encased heavy purlins are exposed in both slopes of the roof. The front room sits within the hip of the roof, it has interrupted tie-beams (probably late-medieval) in the S wall, together with a blocked fire-breast and a modern roundel window in the W wall.

15 WATERGATE STREET and 19 WATERGATE ROW SOUTH
Medieval undercroft, shop and house with C18 and C19 alterations; substantially re-built during the mid-C20.

MATERIALS: red sandstone undercroft with timber-framed brick-clad structure over. Welsh slate clad gable roofs.

PLAN: rectangular, three-storey shop and town house, built over a rectangular undercroft, to form a four-storey street frontage. The undercroft is effectively a street level basement and the Row-level the ground-floor. The Row-level is today connected by doorways in the party wall with 17 Watergate Row South, as are the two upper floors. The building has a rectangular three-storey front range and an attached rectangular two-storey rear range with a slightly different alignment. A late-C20 cat-slide extension is attached to the rear wall of the rear range.

EXTERIOR: The street-level undercroft has a large C20 shop window within a late-C19/early-C20 timber shop front that has a recessed glazed two-panel door to the left, with a canted timber name board above. An open stone stairway to the right of the shop front rises to the Row-level, which has an open veranda forming a stall, with a plain timber balustrade to the front and a section of continuous open walkway with a concrete surface to the rear. A cast-iron Tuscan column at the front of the stall supports the over-hanging floor above. The shop-front set to the rear of the veranda is early C19 'classical' style with a dentil cornice and fluted end pilasters; it has three large glass panes to either side of a glazed recessed door. The front elevation of the two floors above, are clad in mid-C20 orange-brown stretcher-bond brickwork with a coped parapet wall with a stack-bond course that obscures the roof from street-level. The Row level +1 is pierced by three late-C20 four-pane sash windows all with plain painted stone sills and wedge lintels, and there are two small cast-iron signs attached to the front elevation, reading SPP and TP. The Row level +2 has a three-light casement of eight-panes in a similar surround. The two-storey rear brick gable is partially obscured by a late-C20 two-storey cat-slide extension, attached to a four-storey full-height brick stair tower, built to the rear of 17 Watergate Row South. The exposed brickwork is laid in English-bond; with two mid-C20 timber casement windows.

INTERIOR: The rectangular undercroft has walls of squared red sandstone rubble and cut blocks, with brick patching. The E wall steps in towards its S end with exposed secondary trimmers and a trimmer joist in the ceiling. A single oak post survives in the brick-built S wall. The ceiling has three large exposed chamfered oak beams supporting oak joists. The floor is obscured by parquet flooring.
The Row-level has a largely mid and late-C20 shop interior with few historic features visible, though there are substantial encased ceiling beams and it is considered that structural remains are obscured behind modern partitions. Oak timber framing is exposed in the E party wall, where a door opening has been cut through to 17 Watergate Row South. There is now no access to the two upper floors from this level, as the former staircase has been removed and access is now achieved from within 17 Watergate Row South.

The Row level +1 is entered from 17 Watergate Row South, by doorways in the E wall, one from the winder of the staircase and the other through a former alcove position in the front room. The front room occupies the whole of the first-floor of the front-range and few historic features are visible, though fragmentary sections of decorative plaster work are visible and encased ceiling beams remain. A substantial truncated tie beam and king strut (probably late medieval) that formed part of a collar and tie-beam truss, have been cut through and opened up to allow open access into the former rear-room, which has a C20 extension, entered by a doorway in the S wall.

The Row level +2 is accessed from 17 Watergate Row South by an open doorway and a short flight of steps that lead into the SE corner of the attic room. There is a three-light casement of eight-panes in the N gable wall and a low-set blocked window position in the S gable wall. Two substantial encased purlins are exposed below the ceiling, which are supported by an inserted secondary principal rafter truss.

Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ('the Act') it is declared that the late-C20 stair tower built to the rear of 17 Watergate Row South together with the attached two-storey cat-slide roofed extension to the rear of 19 Watergate Row South, the lounge bar furnishings and toilet fittings in 13 Watergate Street, and all C20 shop fittings and changing room cubicles are not of special architectural or historic interest.

History

Chester was founded as the Roman legionary fortress Deva Victrix in the 1st century AD. It has been in continuous occupation since this time and has retained its important trading role between Wales and England up to the present day. The main commercial streets of the town were re-built during the medieval period with Watergate occupying the alignment of the western half of the former Via Principalis. Chester is unique in Great Britain in having ‘Rows’, with street-level shops occupying undercrofts and the row-level above forming further shops, with dwellings above. The rows form continuous open walkways, which pass over the undercrofts and run along the length of the street. The row is reached by stairs from the street-level below and has boarded open stalls for traders.

Generally over time, the alterations of undercrofts have been limited to changes of internal shop arrangements, as they form the foundations of the shops and dwellings above. The properties above have generally been re-fronted or re-built as the fashion of the times dictated. During the late C18, the medieval undercroft that forms 13 Watergate Street was altered to become a butcher’s shop by the insertion of a brick barrel vault; it currently (2016) functions as a lounge bar with toilets. The medieval undercroft that forms 15 Watergate Street, functions as a clothes shop. The pair of medieval timber-framed shops and town houses that forms 17 and 19 Watergate Row South, currently functions as a single property and are inter-connected by doorways that have been opened through the party wall. Number 17 Watergate Row South was re-built c1771; 19 Watergate Row South has been altered on a number of occasions, including a substantial mid-C20 re-construction, although substantial encased beams, exposed medieval timber framing and a former gable-end truss indicate its medieval core. Both properties are combined to function as a shop and the attic floor of 17 Watergate Row South has been converted into two flats

Reasons for Listing

13 and 15 Watergate Street, and 17 and 19 Watergate Row South, of late-medieval date with later alterations, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Level of survival: dating from before 1700, they retain a significant portion of their original fabric, and their post-medieval development is easily appreciated;

* Architectural interest: they form a significant part of the Chester Rows, considered the pre-eminant example of medieval town houses with shops and undercrofts, illustrating the unusual commercial system that operated in Chester during the medieval period;

* Plan form: they are good examples of a unique plan-form with street-level shops occupying undercrofts, and the row-level above forming continuous walkways with shops and dwellings above;

* Internal features: parts of the houses retain C18 decorative features that contribute to the overall special interest of the buildings, and which illustrate the unusual commercial system which operated in the city during the medieval period;

* Group value: they benefit from an exceptionally strong group value with the wider remains of the Chester Rows, many of which are also listed.

External Links

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