Watergate House

Watergate House, Chester

Town house built in 1820 by architect Thomas Harrison for Henry Potts, Clerk of the Peace. Later served as headquarters of North Western Command, now converted to offices.

The building is constructed in Flemish bond brown brick with stone dressings, later stuccoed, and has grey slate roofs with lead rolls. The main block has a distinctive square plan with a basement and two storeys. The principal rooms are arranged on all four sides, accessed through a central top-lit octagonal hall reached via the main entrance. A contemporary service wing is positioned to the south, recessed on the east side and projecting on the west.

The north front facing Watergate Street displays three 9-pane sashes to the basement, which face an area with stone retaining wall and cast-iron railings. Each upper storey has three recessed 12-pane sashes with simple painted stone sills and gauged brick flat arches. A 2-storey convex quadrant recessed into the north-east corner contains the main entrance. This features a curved 8-panel door with 4-pane sidelights and 3-pane overlight in an Ionic doorcase, approached by six curved stone steps (repaired in concrete). Above this, the second storey has a 12-pane sash in a stone architrave bearing the initials ER (Edwardus Rex). All fronts have a plinth, moulded band and cornice.

The east front to Nicholas Street Mews has a barred opening in the plinth behind a raised pavement with damaged cast-iron railings on a round-topped stone base. Each upper storey has three sashes matching those on the north front. Six repaired stone steps rising parallel with the frontage lead to a door of six flush panels with a blocked overlight to the left.

The west front to the garden features a broad segmental central brick bow containing a curved tripartite French sash of 8;12;8 panes, with a tripartite sash of 4;12;4 panes above. To each side is a 12-pane recessed sash to each storey. A raised stone pavement has a grated recess for a basement window. The projecting service wing to the right has a damaged 16-pane sash to the lower storey, with a similar window and blocked opening above.

The recessed service wing behind a shallow brick-walled yard has an altered door and a 12-pane recessed sash with one blocked window opening to each of the two storeys above, plus an added dormer to the attic. The south elevation of the service wing displays a 20-pane recessed sash and a damaged tripartite sash of 4;12;4 panes to the lower storey, three 20-pane sashes to the second storey, and two blocked openings to the attic storey. The lower portion to the left has a replaced boarded door with overlight, a 16-pane sash to each side, and three 20-pane sashes to the upper storey.

Internally, the entrance leads through a domed circular corner lobby to the octagonal central hall, which has a pair of pillars to the west supporting a gallery-landing. The stone main stair to the south has moulded iron balusters. The plan is notable for its sophisticated arrangement. Conversion to offices has left the structure and detail largely undamaged, most notably in the west range of rooms.