Description

CHESTER CITY (IM)

SJ4066SE NORTHGATE STREET AND ROW
595-1/4/310 (East side)
Nos.22 & 24 Street

GV II

2 medieval undercrofts altered C18 and later and a town house
rebuilt probably C18 and c1840; converted to electricity
showrooms and offices 1924 by PH Lawson for Chester City
Council, William Vernon and Sons Ltd, builders, contract sum
»390; the lower 2 storeys refronted the offices moved out and
the showrooms enlarged 1930 by FC Saxon, William Vernon and
Sons builders, contract sum »3,980; refurbished internally
1989-90 for the Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board,
Leonard Fairclough Ltd., builder. Brown brick, Flemish bond to
front; grey slate roof.
EXTERIOR: cellars and 4 storeys. Up to 1924 the frontage to
Northgate Street was similar in form to Nos 44 & 46, Nos 48 &
50 and Nos 54 & 56 Watergate Street (qv) with steps to the
former Row level in a tall recessed porch; the porch was taken
out in 1924 or 1930, but the face to the upper 2 storeys is
probably early C19, as shown in engraving by G Batenham,
c1820. The facade of the lower 2 storeys, is a rare survival
of the front of an inter-war municipal electricity showroom:
reconstructed stone surround, with corrugated outer moulding
is inscribed CITY OF CHESTER in raised Roman caps; the
street-level shopfront is replaced; the second-storey showroom
has a continuous window of 5 lights with raised serpentine
mouldings on the face of the painted metal pilaster mullions;
the moulded metal sill is largely concealed behind the modern
shop fascia. The third storey has a plain sillband, a central
12-pane recessed sash in a stucco architrave and a tripartite
sash of 4:12:4 panes to each side with a stucco-faced wedge
lintel. The fourth storey is similar, but with painted stone
sills, a central sash of 9 panes and tripartite sashes of
3:9:3 panes. The parapet has a moulded cornice.
At the rear the 2 lower storeys are extended backward; the
rear gable of the upper storeys has 2 replaced windows per
storey, largely in Georgian openings; there is a former
loading-eye in the gable.
INTERIOR: 2 parallel undercrofts, now cellars, have medieval
side, party and front walls of coursed rubble sandstone; the
party wall is 0.85m thick; C18 brick barrel vaults running
back from the street. The south undercroft, now 6.5 x 4.0m,
has a central front opening, altered; the north undercroft,
now 6.5 x 4m, has medieval jambs to the central front opening.

Each undercroft probably had its own steps to the street,
later replaced by a small chamber encroaching on the street.
To the rear the party wall and barrel vaults are removed and
the faces of the side walls concealed. No internal features of
special interest were identified above the former undercrofts.
(Chester Rows Research Project: Harris R: Northgate Street:
1989-; Electricity Committee Minutes: Chester City Council:
8/7/1924 & 7/1/1930).

Listing NGR: SJ4054566364

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26656939

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

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  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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