Description

CHESTER CITY (IM)

SJ4065NE LOWER BRIDGE STREET
595-1/6/258 (East side)
28/07/55 No.51

GV II

Town house, now hotel and restaurant with No.49 (qv). 1700.
For John Mather, lawyer. Flemish bond brown brick with grey
slate roof, ridge at right-angle to front.
EXTERIOR: semi-basement, 3 storeys and roof attic; 3 windows.
Rendered stone plinth to former Row level, rusticated quoins
above. 4 steps down from south to basement; stone stair from
north to main entrance; quarter landing provides porch to
basement doorway. 9 steps and quarter landing with simple
wrought-iron railing to front door of 6 fielded panels with a
3-pane overlight in a substantial painted stone case with
eared bolection architrave on square plinths and broken scroll
pediment on consoles. Recessed sashes of 16 and 12 panes north
of entrance and a 16-pane sash to south. Stone floor-bands to
second and third storeys; 3 sashes of 16, 12 and 16 panes to
second storey and 12, 9 and 12 panes, with short upper leafs,
to third storey; all have stooled sills of painted stone and
keyed wedge lintels. Decorated frieze and modillion cornice
with boxed timber gutter, down-pipe on south return. A gabled
central roof dormer. Lateral chimneys. The south side has a
projecting wing, set back with a projecting chimney at its
west corner, a flush chimney at its east corner, a broad
window to the second storey and a flush 12-pane sash to the
third storey.
The rear, symmetrically disposed, has a C20 extension to the
first storey, masking the lower part of a small rear closet
wing at each corner having a narrow 2 x 6-pane sash to the
second storey and one of 2 x 4 panes to the third storey;
continuous brick floor-bands across the rear and around each
closet-wing. A replaced attic window in the full-width rear
gable; flush eaves.
INTERIOR: could not be inspected fully, but was recorded in
1988. The undercroft is 0.6m below street level and 2.45m
high, 15.5m from front to back and 9.6m wide; the rear part
has a brick barrel-vault. The first storey is altered. The
north front room has dado rail, fire surround and cornice; the
altered rear room has parts of dado-rail and dentil cornice;
these features are probably late C18. The rebuilt stair
retains barleysugar balusters and handrail, early C18. The
second storey has late C18 architraves and cornices. No
features of special interest are visible in the third storey.

The attic displays purlins and construction of roof hips.
(Chester Rows Research Project: Grenville J: Lower Bridge
Street, East: 1988-).

Listing NGR: SJ4062865966

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26656917

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

• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy