With the coming of the railways, then the Rochester Way and finally the sale of the Danson Estate, land became available for house-building. At first families camped in shacks or wooden huts on their newly acquired plots of land while their house or bungalow was built.

Conditions for these people were basic, with just an ‘earth closet’ for sanitation. However, ‘Chaynies’, a simple 1920s cottage in Queenswood Road has survived the test of time and still stands, extended and embellished.

‘Chaynies’ in Queenswood Road in 1922 (BLSAC)

Chaynies in Queenswood Road in 2010

There is a great variety in house-style in Queenswood Road due to this early self-build method. Do you live in one of these early cottages? How has it been adapted for modern life?

Queenswood Road, 2010