Numbers 3, 5 And 7 Row Numbers 3, 5 And 7 Street

Numbers 3, 5 and 7 Bridge Street and 3, 5 and 7 Bridge Street Row East, Chester

This building was constructed in 1889–90 as undercroft and Row shops with accommodation above. It was designed by William M Boden, a prolific Chester architect of the period responsible for several other significant buildings in the city, including number 49 Bridge Street and 57 and 57A Bridge Street Row East, and number 12–14 Northgate Street and 10–12 Northgate Row East. Boden was a pupil of Thomas Mainwaring Penson, an influential figure in the development of the Vernacular Revival style in Chester during the mid-19th century.

According to minutes from Chester City Council's Improvement Committee, Boden proposed replacing the original timber and plaster construction (approximately 4 inches thick) with a more robust structure utilising space efficiently. The new design employed 4.5-inch Ruabon pressed brick partitions with hoop iron bands, cast-iron joists and girders resting on strong pillars, a 9-inch thick front wall below timber framing, and 9-inch basement walls throughout.

The building is constructed of Ruabon brick with cast-iron and timber framing with plaster panels, and is roofed in red-brown clay tiles with the main ridge running parallel to the front. In 1902, the undercroft shops housed a pork butchers, hairdresser and tea and coffee dealer, while the Row shops contained a drapers, milliners and wool shop. As of 2023, the six separate units remained in retail and food business use.

The structure is four storeys tall, including undercroft and Row levels, arranged symmetrically in three bays. The undercrofts have 20th-century shopfronts to the street. The Row level features shaped splat balusters to the front opening, brick end-piers and two intermediate supports, probably cast-iron in square wooden cases with moulded capitals. A boarded sloped stallboard extends 1.93 metres from front to back, with a boarded Row walkway adjacent. Row-level shopfronts are 20th-century additions. Above each bay of the Row opening stands a timber four-centred Tudor arch carried on stone corbels and the intermediate capitals, each suspended with an ornate pendant.

The Row level is crowned by shaped brackets supporting a tiled lean-to roof to the third storey. This intersects three canted five-light mullioned oriel windows with concave sub-panels and leaded glazing above their transoms. The brickwork between and beside the oriels is laid in nine-inch English garden wall bond.

Four large shaped brackets support the jettied fourth storey. This storey features small framing and a projecting central bay with a four-light shallow oriel window on a concave sub-panel with leaded glazing above the transom. Each side bay contains a shallow three-light canted oriel window beneath a gablet with a pair of curved braces and bargeboards. The central gable displays a coved plastered jetty with a moulded tie-beam, S-curved herringbone struts, bargeboards and a shaped finial. Three brick chimneys rise behind the ridge.

Internally, the undercrofts are accessed by steps down from the street level: four steps to number 3, five to number 5 and four to number 7. The interiors are lined throughout. The upper storeys are planned around a central lightwell, glazed above the Row storey level.