Tudor House
Text: Chester City Council
Although a plaque on the front of Tudor House dates it to 1503, this building is unlikely to be earlier than 1603, the year of Elizabeth I's death and the end of the Tudor dynasty. With its elaborate timber framing and jettied upper floors, Tudor House is typical of early 17th century merchants' houses elsewhere in Chester.
Like so many other houses in Lower Bridge Street, Tudor House once had a Row. This was enclosed in 1728 by the owner Roger Ormes, who created a new room at first floor level, complete with three fashionable new sash windows fronting the street. The position of the Row walkway and stall can still be seen from the position of timbers embedded in the south side of the building, adjoining the narrow entry.
In Victorian times, Tudor House was connected to the adjacent Caernarvon Castle Inn by a bridge where the Row had once been. The bridge can just be seen in this undated 19th century view.
Over the centuries, Tudor House has had many different uses. The two undercrofts at street level were once quite separate, and one still contains a baker's oven. As one of the most picturesque of Chester's black and white buildings, Tudor House's different uses and changing character have been well recorded through photographs and post-cards.
By the early 1970s, Tudor house was in very poor condition and the timber frame was structurally unsound. The restoration of the building was a major achievement for the Chester Conservation Programme.
Since the restoration, Tudor House has been in full use, with commercial activity at street level and residential accommodation above.