Booth Mansion

At a time when buildings elsewhere in the town had enclosed their portion of the Rows, the architect designing the frontage of Booth Mansion retained its section of the Row.^[3] The frontage is built in brick with stone quoins; it has eight bays and two storeys.^[7] Behind the frontage is medieval stonework and timber; the roof is of grey slates. At the street (undercroft) level are shop fronts and doorways between nine stone piers. At the Row level, overlooking the street, are three piers and six Tuscan columns. In the storey above the row are eight tall windows, each with four leaded lights, above which is a string course. The top storey has eight six-light sash windows. Above these is a cornice and, from the roof, four gabled dormers with two-pane casement windows protrude.^[1]

In the undercroft is a medieval stone arcade and a wooden joist which has been dated by dendrochronology to 1260–80. At the level of the Row, a 13th-century oak doorway remains from the medieval hall. In the storey above the Row is the 18th-century assembly room which measures 16 by 10 metres (52 by 33 ft) and stretches across the full width of the building. The room is panelled and has a fireplace against the east wall. Elsewhere the medieval details of rooms has been obscured by modern additions.^[1]

• Grade I listed buildings in Cheshire West and Chester