Nine Houses, Chester

Nine Houses is a terrace of residential cottages on Park Street, where six remaining connected structures stand in a row along the street. Each cottage has a two-story layout with brick and sandstone construction on the lower level, timber-framed upper sections that project outward, and oak-boarded entrance doors set within stone frames.

These cottages were built around 1650 as almshouses to provide shelter for people in need, making them the last surviving structures of this pre-19th-century housing type still standing in Chester. They have endured for over 350 years and gained legal protection to ensure their continued survival.

The Chester Archaeological Society and Chester Civic Trust initiated preservation efforts in the 1960s when the structures faced potential destruction.

The cottages sit directly on a public street in the city center, so you can view them from outside at any time and walk around to see the different sides of the row. Daylight is ideal for spotting the details of the brickwork, timber projections, and stone features that make each cottage distinctive.

The 1968 restoration involved using reclaimed old bricks to match the end wall while the rear section had to be completely rebuilt from scratch. This careful balance between maintaining original materials and creating a stable structure helped preserve the cottages for future generations.