Victoria Public House

The Victoria Public House is a historic building located on Watergate Street and Row in Chester, originally constructed as two undercrofts and townhouses. These undercrofts likely date back to medieval times, with some visible stonework. The upper structure, built in the 17th century, is timber-framed and clad in brown brick from the early 19th century, with a rendered rear and a grey slate roof that runs parallel to the road over the front portion.

The building stands four storeys high, including the street and Row levels. There are altered painted stone piers at each end of the street and Row levels, and the modern shopfronts at street level lack character. A pair of slender Tuscan columns support a dentilled bressumer over the Row front, which features plain square-section iron railings. The public house frontage behind the Row walk has been rebuilt with white render and varnished woodwork. A rear passage leads west to St Peter's Church Yard.

The windows on the third and fourth storeys have been replaced with tripartite small-pane metal casements, with two per storey; the fourth-storey windows are narrower than those on the third. A chimney is located at the rear, which has a full-width gable with later additions, though many features are altered or obscured by render.

Inside, the structure of the undercrofts is mostly concealed, except for a short section of sandstone rubble wall. The dimensions of the undercrofts suggest a medieval origin. At Row level, one uncut beam and altered joists are visible above the central bar. There is a corner fireplace in the rear corner of the west front room, along with an altered chimney breast in the rear corner of the front east room, likely dating to around 1720. A dogleg stair in a timber-framed stairwell is located between the third and fourth storeys, visible along each side wall.