tree.acton.au (Build: 2026-08-14 16:03)

pringfield Cottages (now numbered 169–175 North Hill) were built in 1877 specifically to replace what was then described as a "plague-spot" or "eyesore."

The cottages were constructed by the Highgate Dwellings Improvement Company, a charity run by Sir Sydney Waterlow and the Congregationalist minister Josiah Viney. Their goal was to provide "model" housing for the working class to compete with—and eventually replace—the dilapidated, unsanitary slum housing in that specific area at the foot of North Hill.
Residents of "Old" 169 North Hill (Pre-1877)

Before the 1877 renumbering and the construction of the cottages, the people living at this location were likely living in very different conditions than the "model" brickwork you see today:

Brickmakers and Laborers: In the mid-1860s, the land at the foot of North Hill (near the Wellington public house) was bordered by brick-fields. This strongly connects to your family research, as John Acton and his father were Brickmakers. It is highly probable that the residents here were the families of the men working those local clay pits.

Carriers and Carters: Because this was the main thoroughfare into London (near the Archway Road junction), the area was a hub for Carriers like George Cokeham.

Slum Conditions: Historical accounts describe the pre-1877 buildings in this specific pocket as "plague-spots" and "eyesores." They were likely cramped, multi-family tenements with poor drainage, which is why the Charity stepped in to demolish them and build the modern-standard Springfield Cottages.

The 1877 Transition

Renumbering: When Springfield Cottages were built, the street was standardized. The cottages were assigned the numbers 169 to 175.

Bye-Laws: The new 1877 buildings featured vertical brickwork "fire walls" and damp-proof courses—luxuries that the previous 1850s-era residents (like the Actons or Cokehams might have been) would not have had.

The Coleridge Buildings Connection

Coleridge Buildings (located on the corner of Archway Road and Shepherd's Hill) was actually built slightly earlier, in 1867. It was one of the first major "model dwellings" in the area, designed specifically to replace the "miserable hovels" and unsanitary lath-and-plaster cottages that littered the slopes of North Hill and Archway Road.

The suggestion that people were moved there makes sense for two reasons:

Timing of Displacement: When the local authorities or developers (like the Highgate Dwellings Improvement Company) targeted a "plague-spot" for demolition (like the old 169 North Hill), the residents needed somewhere to go. Coleridge Buildings was the primary local "overflow" for families of artisans, brickmakers, and laborers.

The "Model Housing" Movement: Both Springfield Cottages and Coleridge Buildings were part of the same philanthropic movement. Reverend Josiah Viney (the Congregational Minister) was involved in both. He helped build Coleridge Buildings in 1867 and then formed the company that built Springfield Cottages a decade later.

Records not imported into INDI (individual) Gramps ID I312681183244:

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