# Crypt Chambers

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{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox historic site | name = Crypt Chambers| native_name = | image = Crypt Chambers 1.jpg| image_size = 200| caption = Crypt Chambers| locmapin = Cheshire| map_width = 200| map_caption = Location in Cheshire
| coordinates = {{coord|53.19046|-2.89031|scale:2000|display=inline,title}}
| gbgridref = SJ 406,663| location = 28–34 Eastgate Street and 34–40 Eastgate Row, [Chester](/source/Chester), Cheshire, England| area = | elevation = | formed = | founded = | built = 1858 | built_for = William and Charles Brown| demolished = | rebuilt = | restored = | restored_by = | architect = [T. M. Penson](/source/Thomas_Mainwaring_Penson)| architecture = [Gothic Revival](/source/Gothic_Revival_architecture)| visitation_num = | visitation_year = | governing_body = | designation1 = Grade I| designation1_offname = No.28 Street and No.34 Row (Crypt Building)| designation1_type = | designation1_criteria = | designation1_date = 28 July 1955| delisted1_date = | designation1_parent = | designation1_number = | designation1_free1name = | designation1_free1value = | designation1_free2name = | designation1_free2value = | designation1_free3name = | designation1_free3value =  }}

'''Crypt Chambers''' (or '''Crypt Building''') is at 28–34&nbsp;Eastgate Street and 34–40&nbsp;Eastgate Row, [Chester](/source/Chester), Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the [National Heritage List for England](/source/National_Heritage_List_for_England) as a designated Grade&nbsp;I [listed building](/source/Listed_building) and incorporates a section of the [Chester Rows](/source/Chester_Rows).<ref name=images>{{NHLE |num= 1376232|desc= Number 34 Row Crypt Building 34, Chester|access-date= 15 July 2012 |mode=cs2}}</ref>

==History==

Crypt Chambers is built on the site of a [medieval](/source/England_in_the_Middle_Ages) house whose [undercroft](/source/undercroft) is still present.<ref>{{Citation | last = Hartwell | first = Clare |last2 = Hyde | first2 = Matthew |last3 = Hubbard | first3 = Edward | author3-link = Edward Hubbard (architectural historian) | last4 =Pevsner | first4 =Nikolaus | author4-link =Nikolaus Pevsner | series= The Buildings of England| title = Cheshire | publisher =[Yale University Press](/source/Yale_University_Press)| year =2011| orig-year=1971| location =New Haven and London| page = 257|  isbn =978-0-300-17043-6 }}</ref> The present building was constructed in 1858 to a design by [T.&nbsp;M.&nbsp;Penson](/source/Thomas_Mainwaring_Penson). It was built as a [department store](/source/department_store) for William and Charles Brown of the [Browns of Chester](/source/Browns_of_Chester) family of [draper](/source/draper)s.<ref name=images/>
thumb|Entrance to the undercroft|alt=Two columns with a railing between, under which is a stairway leading from the street to a lower level

==Architecture==
===Exterior===

The building is in four storeys plus attics. It is constructed in red and yellow [sandstone](/source/sandstone) with a roof of brown tiles. The [façade](/source/Facade) is asymmetrical, having a square stair [turret](/source/Turret_(architecture)), with three bays to the east and one wider bay to the west. At the street level five steps at the base of the tower lead down to the undercroft and in the middle east bay eight steps lead up to the Row level. Between these are shop fronts. At the Row level are [cast iron](/source/cast_iron) railings behind which are stallboards and above them are [moulded](/source/Molding_(decorative)) arches. On the front of the tower at this level is a blank scroll, on the east face is a recessed panel containing the initials W. B. (for William Brown), on the west face the initials are C.&nbsp;B. (for Charles Brown) and on the rear face is a scroll inscribed AD 1858: CRYPT CHAMBERS. On each side of the entrance to the shop are the Chester City [arms](/source/Coat_of_arms). In each of the third and fourth storeys of the east bays are three pairs of arched, two-light windows with slender columns between each pair. In the west bay are four two-light arched windows in each storey. At this level on the tower is a two-storey [oriel window](/source/oriel_window). Above these storeys, the central eastern bay has a [gable](/source/gable) containing a [traceried](/source/Tracery) window in a [rounded triangle](/source/Reuleaux_triangle), on each side of which are three-light [dormer](/source/dormer) windows. The west bay also has a gable; this contains a small triangular oriel. The tower has a four-light window between shallow [buttress](/source/buttress)es. The top of the tower consists of a [truncated](/source/Truncation_(geometry)) [spire](/source/spire) with a gabled dormer on each face. At its summit is a cast iron rail.<ref name=images/>

===Interior===
The undercroft consists of four bays with [chamfer](/source/chamfer)ed [rib-vaulting](/source/Rib_vault); the [masonry](/source/masonry) is "of high quality".<ref name=images/> The architectural historian [Nikolaus Pevsner](/source/Nikolaus_Pevsner) considered its undercroft to be "one of the best medieval crypts of Chester".<ref>{{Citation | last =Pevsner | first =Nikolaus | author-link =Nikolaus Pevsner | last2 = Hubbard | first2 = Edward | author2-link = Edward Hubbard (architectural historian) | series= The Buildings of England| title = Cheshire | publisher =[Yale University Press](/source/Yale_University_Press)| year =2003| orig-year=1971| location =New Haven and London| page = 163| isbn =0-300-09588-0 }}</ref> Much of the structure above the undercroft has been changed or covered by modern materials.<ref name=images/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Cheshire}}
*[Grade I listed buildings in Cheshire West and Chester](/source/Grade_I_listed_buildings_in_Cheshire_West_and_Chester)

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1858
Category:Grade I listed buildings in Chester
Category:Medieval British architecture
Category:Department store buildings in the United Kingdom
Category:Gothic Revival architecture in Cheshire
Category:Thomas Mainwaring Penson buildings

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Crypt Chambers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypt_Chambers) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypt_Chambers?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.