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THE ROWS
Henry Dawes Harrod Esq., F.S.A. February 19th 1901

(Chester Archaeological Society & Historic Society - available Chester C. C. Library) One of the most interesting features of Chester is the origin of the Rows.

abridged version

The generally received explanation of the Rows in former times was that the original ground - level of the City was the same level with the Rows, and that the streets were cut from this level 16 to 20 feet down in solid rock . This opinion was confuted by Dr. Brushfield research has clearly shown that the roadway represents the original ground - level and that the Rows are artificially raised above that level. Another early opinion was that the porticoes and piazzas of Roman Chester were the ideals on which later architects worked. (British Archaeology ; Journal XLIV., 361) The Roman origin of the Rows is dismissed by Mr. Hewitt, (Journal N. S. L. 31) who on this point has the support of Dr. Brushfield (Journal V., 217) Their unanimity on this sole point is remarkable, as otherwise they are opposed, You will see when I am finished that they are wrong in wholly dismissing this suggestion. A third theory, which also has the weight of antiquity, was that of Archdeacon Rogers (who died in 1595) , which explained that the Rows were constructed for defensive purposes . Ormerod quotes this suggestion with approval (Helsby ' s Ormerod I., 187 ) but Hemingway characterises it as puerile (I.,396) and as there is no record of the Welsh having ever effected an entrance into the town , the precaution would have been superfluous. Fourthly, Hemingway (I,396) says that some have asserted that the Rows "were built for the accommodation of citizens and traders, by sheltering them from the summers 's heat and winter's storm. In Turner & Parker's Domestic Architecture, this theory is elaborated:-

"In rebuilding the town after a great fire it was found more convenient to make a foot way and a sort of bazaar for shops upon the top of the vault of the cellars, and by taking a passage out of the solars, than in the narrow roadway below, where the cellars would not generally make convenient shops."

Dr. Brushfield unanswerably confutes this theory. Apart from the inherent improbability of all the inhabitants giving up their "first floor," so to say, there is no shred of historical support for the idea. The assertion that the Rows were built over the vaults is itself erroneous, as only in three known cases is this the fact ; and in the great majority of instances the vaults are behind the Rows . Moreover, the crypts were evidently the result of the elevation of the Rows, and not the cause of it.

Finally Dr. Morris Chester during the Plantagenet and Tudor Periods . profound's a new theory (pp 289 - 290)

" When after the long interval of comparative desolation extending over several centuries, and the alternating ravages of Saxon and Dane, Chester became, once more, under the firm rule of its Norman Earls, a city of settled inhabitants, and, for the sake of its commanding position both from a military and commercial point of view, an increasing resort for merchant and traders , that the same circumscribed area to which reference has been made ( as in the City of London ) would be most valuable for trade. The course of the four streets would have been kept free and unencumbered for traffic , even during Saxon and Danish times; but along the line would remain the ruins of the dismantled Roman buildings , which as each century passed would have been covered more deeply with rubbish and soil . Traders would erect their shops along the level of the four main streets - Bridge Street , Watergate , Eastgate , and Northgate which in the mediaeval times were the only streets so called; all the other lines of traffic being called loanes, or lanes, with the single exception of Pepper Street.

"At first these shops on the level of the street were not properly shops, but selde , mere sheds often moveable, such as those which were set up at the great Annual Fairs; and as we learn from the agreement between the Abbot of St. Werburgh and the Mayor of Chester, were to be removed immediately at the end of the fair. But the frontage and position was a valuable one, and other traders coming in would wish to enjoy the same advantage. What more natural than that they should erect on the higher ground, formed of the debris of Roman buildings raising behind these seldae of traders ' sheds, their own place of business. These new buildings, perhaps of a more permanent character, would have the advantage of facing the principal business streets. They would be the shop, of a better character than the seldae, open rooms with wide openings ,closed with shutters."

It will be seen that Canon Morris has the merit of an attempt to square theory with fact. Contemporary writers, at the end of the twelfth century, give us a picture of the ruins of vast palaces, temples, baths and theatres. It is evident from the writings of Giraldus Cambrensis, and Higden of St. Werburgh 's that, in that period many of the Roman remains were still exposed to view, as both of them expatiate on their extent. The Cathedral, the original magnificence of which is now only a matter of conjecture, a portion of St. Werburgh's Abbey, and some other churches had been erected but apart from these, the buildings were mostly of wood. The lines of the old Roman streets were retained; The general height of the ground level was raised considerably by the ruins of old buildings and waste and rubbish of ages . On the sites of the old houses were erected wooden structures for shops and dwelling houses. The shops were merely stalls with a projecting roof, probably extending partially over the pathway, affording a shelter to the purchasers, who stood outside on the footway, and made their bargains with the shopkeeper through the open window .

Mr. Taylor ( Journal N. S. II. , 149 ) Quotes a deed of 1367 , which describes a messuage in Bridge Street with lands on four sides of it in other hands , thus clearly proving that at that time the frontage on which the seldae were erected was in other hands from the main building . Canon Morris gives numerous instances of the seldae, or lower shops , being dealt with separately. He quotes a deed of Edward the I.'s reign which mentions eleven seldae in Bridge Street . Numerous later Deeds contain mention of these seldae as separate property . It is certain then that as far back as the time of Edward I., the houses in the Rows and the shops under them were in different holdings .Mr. Cox mentions (Journal V 301) that "in Bridge Street, below Common Hall Lane, and in Eastgate Street , near the Cross, are found very small shops on the outer side of the Row, showing how the stall boards were enclosed first with rails, then with partitions, and so absorbed into the houses."

The name selda, which is applied to these shops, denotes a stall or shed. That they have been for a long time enclosed is obvious. So as early as the time of Henry V. (1420), Canon Morris gives a deed which refers to a shopa under the Row. But frequently later than that, and universally before that date, these shops are referred to as seldae. The same word is applied to the booths erected in the market during fairs, and undoubtedly removable, and means, generally, a moveable stall or shed. There can be no doubt then that formerly the shops below the Row were more in the nature of movable stalls; placed there probably, first of all, for markets and fair days and gradually, as trade extended and became more settled, developing into a permanent shop .

In 1278 the City was almost entirely destroyed by fire. At this period it was the fashion to erect crypts of stone for the storage of goods . The crypts of Hull and Winchelsea are attributed to 1280. The crypts of Chester belong to the same period . It is most probable that the great fire of 1278 led the Chester merchants to consider the safer storage of their goods. Chester was second to no other City in position. It does not appear that they carried the same care to the extent of erecting stone dwelling-houses.

To resume then, we find that in the middle ages the construction of the Rows was as follows:- The Rows existed only in old Roman Chester, and were designed thus ; the house and the shop behind the row, with a lean - to roof over the footway; the stall or shop below in a separate ownership for the most part, and of a more temporary character ; perhaps removed , except on market and fair days ; possibly only defined by a post and rails and a few boards brought in on occasion. Lastly the cellars below the house and behind the lower shop, built behind the Rows for the most part and in some cases in distinct ownership from either house or shop .

The Rows, are like everything else in nature and in art, are the result of laws of evolution and adaptation . Without any great revolution in design or architecture, the Rows have developed, by a natural growth. The origin of the Rows, then, we may say must be sought in ancient Chester . The shop of the ambulatory , with its covered way, is perpetuated in the shop in the Row . The stall, for traders on the steps, finds its lineal descendant in the shop in the street .