The Chestnuts – Bricks and Medicine
A History of Family Practice at 70 East Street
by Paul Staker
Paul is a recently retired General Practitioner who practiced at The Chestnuts Surgery for over 30 years.
A fascinating book that evokes memories of the doctors who looked after us.
“In 1889 a doctor opened his door at 70 East Street, Sittingbourne. He would not be the last. For the next hundred and thirty-six years — through wars, epidemics, and the coming of the National Health Service. The house, known as The Chestnuts, remained what it had become: a place where the people of Sittingbourne brought their troubles and usually left a little easier.
Bricks and Medicine tells the stories of the doctors who served here across six generations — their training, their wars, their families, and the patients they cared for. Drawing on archives, personal records, and local history, Paul Staker has written a portrait of general practice as it was actually lived: unglamorous, essential, and deeply human.
A fitting tribute to a building that, in November 2026, finally intends to close its doors.”
Available from our online shop or from the Mini hub at Flowers by Beatrice in East Street (Open: Thursday and Friday 10-2 and Saturday 10-12)