New blue plaque for Chesterfield building transformed into luxury apartments - which has links to a former Archbishop of Canterbury

A new blue plaque will be unveiled at 87 New Square in February to replace an earlier one which is worn and factually incorrect as it described the building as the childhood home of Thomas Secker, a former Archbishop of Canterbury.

The original plaque was erected by Chesterfield and District Civic Society at some point in the past 60 years since the society was formed.

Thomas Secker went to school in Chesterfield in 1699 but could not have spent his formative years in the present house because it was built by Dr Richard Milnes, who lived from 1726-1795. Philip Riden is among various historians including the late John Bestall who have looked for a direct link between today’s building and Thomas Secker.

Philip, who is former chairman of Chesterfield and District Civic Society, said: “I wished to re-examine the traditional story that the present building was the childhood home of the future Archbishop Secker when I was writing Chesterfield Streets and Homes because I didn’t think the dates matched. That proved to be the case but I think Secker probably did live in the previous house on the site.”

Bess of Hardwick and her son William Cavendish bought the site from Hercules Foljambe in the 16th century. It was part of a portfolio which included a couple of houses on Beetwell Street, several others around the Market Place and Whittington corn mill.A family of lawyers named Waller made 87 New Square their home in the late 18th and early 19th century. Chesterfield council bought the property in the 1920s and housed the borough treasurer’s department until that moved to the Town Hall in 1938.

During the Second World War the building was requisitioned as the Food Office where people collected their ration books. Latterly, 87 New Square was sub-divided and used by charities and a radio station.

Marcus Leverton, director of Leverton UK Ltd, said: “We purchased the building from the council six years ago and have since undertaken a comprehensive redevelopment of the whole building restoring its original features and sympathetically converting it in to nine high specification apartments. During our refit we have repaired the delicate plaster works including arches and coving, templated and recreated the skirting boards to match exactly the original design, repaired the original windows, removed the rotten stone lintels, repaired the parquet flooring and terrazzo flooring, repaired the existing fireplaces...the list goes on. It’s looking beautiful.

"We will look to rent the apartments out and hopefully help to regenerate footfall within the town centre helping to bring a positive impact to local shops, restaurants and bars.”