Bear And Billet Public House

The Bear and Billet Public House is a historic building located on Lower Bridge Street in Chester, originally constructed in 1664 for the Earl of Shrewsbury. This three-storey timber-framed structure features plaster panels and brick at the rear, topped with a purple slate roof that has a ridge running at a right angle to the front.

The exterior includes cellars and an attic. The entrance has a replaced door flanked by a mullioned window with three single-pane lights on each side; the northern side is separated by a panel. The aprons beneath the windows have been replaced with brick. A broad oak door on the south side consists of four panels, two of which have lozenge bracing. The floor is below pavement level, with a beer drop located before the southern window. The central and corner posts support a jetty bressumer, which features a fascia carved with semicircles.

On the second storey, there are eight pairs of panels between consoles that support a sill-jetty; each pair includes a central splat-baluster post. A full-width leaded mullioned and transomed window with 16 lights is present here. The third storey has a slightly jettied floor beam with a similarly carved fascia and 12 basket-arched panels between consoles that support another jettied sill, leading to another full-width leaded mullioned and transomed window with 16 lights.

The attic storey features a jettied beam inscribed with "16:HH:64" and decorated with a running vine pattern. It also has a row of 12 square panels, framed and boarded double loading doors in the gable, and two-light leaded casements on each side and above, all set in small framing. The apex displays herringbone struts, carved bargeboards, and a drop finial. There are lateral chimneys on the north and south sides, as well as one on the west gable. The building was unoccupied during a change of ownership in 1991-1992. The interior could not be inspected.