HIGHLIGHTS OF A WALL WALK

THE ROWS

Visible from many points on the walls, the Rows are the unique two-tiered medieval shopping galleries that line the four main streets of Chester, with shops on ground level (sometimes just below it) and the upper level. They date back to the Middle Ages but their origin is unclear; one theory is that there was so much Roman debris and hard sandstone in the foundations of the city that it was easier to build an extra layer upwards rather than spread outwards and have to dig more.