The Rows, Chester

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The city has been a bustling and commercial centre since medieval times. The Rows have an unclear history, but they do offer a location to shops above street level and away from the street and weather. The shops on the upper level are interesting and meet most if not all our needs.

They are located within the confines of the four main shopping streets of the old city centre. They are somewhat unique and are approximately 700 years old - no other city seems to have this kind of building.

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The rows of Chester are unique covered walkways which house a fantastic array of shops restaurants and Inns. They probably date from the 13th Century. At that time buildings commonly consisted of a cellar or undercroft which was used as a shop or warehouse. In Chester, the undercrofts could not be builts below ground because of the bedrock so the halls were raised above street level with shops in front of them, with private chambers situated above. From the 16th Century, the upper chambers were enlarged and small shops were built together with the first floor walkways which formed continuous rows and a double-tiered arrangement of shops.

The rows are wonderfully restored period buildings (shops) in the main st of Chester.

Its wonderful to wander round here and imagine what it actually looked like in times gone by. You get a good idea anyhows.

The splendid black and white half-timbered buildings of The Rows in Chester's town centre are unique galleried walkways containing shops on two levels. These have existed since Medieval times but have been rebuilt and renovated over time and a closer look reveals that most of the current buildings are in fact Victorian or even Edwardian.

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This is Britain's best collection of half-timbered houses. Dating from the 13th century, they have all been well-maintained, and now comprise a group of shops, restaurants, pubs, and other businesses. It's a perfect place to just hang out.

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Chester is a quaint little Roman town in England. During my visit in November 2001, the main street of Chester was decorated with Christmas lights. The Rows of Chester are old half timbered houses with shops at street level and covered walkways on top of them. They are now occupied by shops selling a variety of goods.
A short walk from The Rows brought me through the Roman walls to the River Dee which flows through Chester.

The rows are two-story shops in the centre of Chester. So there are shops on street level and on top of those shops are "balconies" that you can walk along and shops you can go into. Sort of like in a modern shopping mall.

Just off the Cathedral, these houses line a small street, more or less linking the Town/City Hall with Eastgate.

From what I've heard, even though these houses may look highly medieval, they actually date from the Victorian Era. If that's true, then the street represents one of the oldest attempts at restoration and period architecture that I've seen. If not, it's still quite cool.

The Rows of Chester are old half timbered houses with shops at street level and covered walkways on top of them.

There's a nice mixture of unique shops and the usual shops in these houses.