Author: Dr Sue Rosen, Emily Pickering [research]
Client: Private Client
No. 25 Chester Street is a largely intact working-class cottage dating from c. 1906. It has deeply entangled connections to the nurserymen, tradesmen, shopkeepers and workers who resided in the area at the time of suburban subdivision and subsequent decades.
Starting with the Hopkins, Catts, Burkes, Watkins, Pierce and Simpson families, there is a deep community and interfamilial connectedness that was linked to the Methodist church.
As an original construct on the block, repaired and modified over its history, No. 25 Chester Street contributes as an exemplar of an early form of housing in the street and enables the character of the conservation area from the area’s initial subdivision to the present day to be demonstrated. It plays an important role, without which there would be a ‘missing link’ in the story of the subdivision and development of the Field of Mars Common.