The Blue Bell is at 63–65 Northgate Street,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. Originally it consisted of two medieval houses which were joined in the 18th century. The pavement runs through the ground floor storey of the northern part of the building, leaving a separate cabin or chamber between the pavement and the road.

History

The building dates from the mid- to late 15th century, and is said to be the oldest surviving intact medieval house in Chester. It was originally two houses, which were joined in the 18th century. It formed part of Lorimer's Row, a group of buildings with an arcade at ground level, as distinct from the Rows in the centre of the city whose walkways are at the first floor level. From an early date, the south part of the building has been an inn, its first

licence A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

possibly dating from 1494. The separate cabin or chamber has been used for a number of functions; these include being a ticket office for

stage coach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

operators in the 18th century and in the 20th century a soda fountain bar and a barber's shop. In the 19th century the southern part of the building was an inn while the northern part housed a shop. The inn closed in the 1930s. In 1948 the building was used as an

antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

shop but its condition deteriorated so much that it was threatened with demolition. In the 1950s the Chester Civic Trust campaigned for its survival, it was restored, and has since been used as a clothes shop and, more recently, as a restaurant.

Architecture

The building is timber-framed on a sandstone plinth with brickwork added later which has subsequently been rendered and painted. The roofs are of grey

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

s. The two buildings comprising the whole have separate frames each with roofs leading to gables over the street. At ground level the southern part of the building has an arcade open to the street with a pier to the south and an octagonal

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

south of the centre. The northern part has a separate cabin or chamber adjacent to the street with the walkway between its rear and the rest of the building. On the street side of the chamber is a three-pane

canted Cant, CANT, canting, or canted may refer to: Language * Cant (language), a secret language * Beurla Reagaird, a language of the Scottish Highland Travellers * Scottish Cant, a language of the Scottish Lowland Travellers * Shelta or the Cant, a lan ...

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window is most commonly found pro ...

and a door. On the upper floor each part of the building has a horizontal window with a small one-paned window between them.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chester, Blue Bell Blue Bell Grade I listed buildings in Chester Medieval architecture Restaurants in Cheshire Timber framed buildings in Cheshire Grade I listed pubs in Cheshire

History

Architecture

See also

References