The Chestnuts

Description

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.”

Published by The Historical Research Group of Sittingbourne (HRGS)

UK Only Delivery. For International please Contact Us for postage costs.