The Boot Inn is at 17 Eastgate Street and 9 Eastgate Row, Chester, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The building consists of a shop occupying a former

undercroft An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground (street-level) area which is relatively open ...

at street level, above which is a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

at the level of the

Row Row or ROW may refer to: Exercise *Rowing, or a form of aquatic movement using oars *Row (weight-lifting), a form of weight-lifting exercise Math *Row vector, a 1 × ''n'' matrix in linear algebra. *Row (database), a single, implicitly structured ...

and above.

History

The Boot Inn was built in the early to middle part of the 17th century, opening as an inn in 1643. Its façade was rebuilt and restored in the late 19th century. For many years most of the front section of the building at Row level was occupied by a barber's shop, with a corridor leading to the public house beyond it. Since alterations and restorations were carried out in 1988 the whole of the Row level has been occupied by a public house.

Architecture

The building is constructed in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

, the upper storeys being

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

with plaster panels, and is roofed in slate. It is in three storeys, and has one bay. At ground level is a modern shop front. At the level of the Row a shaped balustrade. Behind this is a stallboard, the paved walkway of the Row, and the restored entrance front to the public house. The top storey is

jettied Jettying (jetty, jutty, from Old French ''getee, jette'') is a building technique used in medieval timber-frame buildings in which an upper floor projects beyond the dimensions of the floor below. This has the advantage of increasing the avail ...

and carried on brackets carved with figures. It contains a canted five-light

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

ed and transomed oriel window above five shaped panels. At the sides of the window are

close studded Close studding is a form of timber work used in timber-framed buildings in which vertical timbers ( studs) are set close together, dividing the wall into narrow panels. Rather than being a structural feature, the primary aim of close studding is to ...

panels and

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s. Above the window is a carved tie-beam, and a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

containing herringbone studding. The

bargeboard Bargeboard (probably from Medieval Latin ''bargus'', or ''barcus'', a scaffold, and not from the now obsolete synonym "vergeboard") or rake fascia is a board fastened to each projecting gable of a roof to give it strength and protection, and to ...

s are moulded with a drop finial.

References

{{Reflist Grade II* listed buildings in Chester Pubs in Chester Timber framed buildings in Cheshire Medieval architecture 1643 establishments in England Grade II* listed pubs in Cheshire Timber framed pubs in England

History

Architecture

See also

References