St Olaves Exhibition Centre Including Forecourt Walls And Railings

CHESTER CITY (IM)

SJ4065NE LOWER BRIDGE STREET 595-1/6/260 (East side) 28/07/55 St Olave's Exhibition Centre including forecourt walls and railings (Formerly Listed as: LOWER BRIDGE STREET (East side) Church of St Olave's & attached forecourt railings)

GV II

Church, now exhibition centre. Founded C11, the present building probably of mid C15, restored with some alteration 1859 by James Harrison and converted to exhibition centre with little alteration 1980s. The forecourt walls, which formerly supported a building in front of the Row walk, are of medieval origin. Red sandstone rubble; grey slate roof. EXTERIOR: a simple hall church. Renewed elliptical-arched west doorway, boarded double door, restored 3-light panel-tracery window above doorway; small gabled stone bellcote. The south side has a rectangular 3-light mullioned window and a 1-light window with cusped head further east. North windows similar, but the rectangular window is of 2 lights; leaded glazing. The east end has a renewed segmental-arched window of 3 cusped lights with three small modern stained-glass panels. INTERIOR is very simple, plastered throughout. The side walls lean outward noticeably. The forecourt at former Row level has sandstone rubble retaining wall with flight of 10 simple stone steps up from St Olave's Street, north; wrought-iron railing to St Olave's Street and steps; the modern steel railing to west and south are not included in this item. (The Buildings of England: Pevsner N & Hubbard EH: Cheshire: Harmondsworth: 1971-: 152; Chester Rows Research Project: Grenville J: Lower Bridge Street, East: 1988-).

Listing NGR: SJ4063065948