Prater's stairs

[GUT]

Re the room size that many worry about being possibly to small, when Mrs Gut and I first married, we didn't have 2 cents to our name we lived for three years in a caravan that was 17x8' bedroom, and then kitchen, living dining combined.

So why is 15x7 or thereabouts so unreasonable?

[GUT]

If 13 was a later addition, perhaps the whole wall was originally brick.

When 13 was added a hole was nicked through part of the wall, leaving the room with a half brick wall (with the fireplace being built into the chimney of 26 and an opening between the two rooms.

Later the opening was partitioned so 13 could be let as digs to people like Joe and Mary.

[Elamarna]

David

Whilst agreeing about the width of the door. Let's try and not confuse Richard.

I am prepared to accept that the whole wall is a partition but made up of what ever was avaliable be that a mix of bricks and wood maybe plaster and a door.
However the map indicates it is brick. Could well be mainly brick with wood facing in 13.

Steve

[David Orsam]

Richard,

Another good job and I agree with Elamarna that in terms of the structure this is probably the most accurate model possible, being based, as it is, on the Goad map.

I would, however, like to discuss the wooden partition a little further. There is an argument to be made that it should have a much wider surface area.

I note that Wickerman, who seems to understand the Goad map very well, stated in #187

"The fact the line [on the Goad map] is broken will indicate access through, but does not indicate what size that access is. It could be a single door, a double door, pocket sliding doors (originally), or even the installation of a RSJ (Rolled Steel Joist) over a wide opening, in order to give support to the wooden floor joists in the floors above."

Similarly, Michael W. Richards stated in #166

"The original "brick wall" as you call it was simply the access point to the salon, it wasn't a brick wall but an opening framed by brick."

On their own, these comments only raise the possibility that the wooden partition was wider but we also have to bear in mind the other available evidence.

First we have the statement in the Times of 10 November 1888 (noted earlier in this thread):

"A correspondent who last saw the room in which the murder was committed says it was a tenement by itself, having formerly been the back parlour of No. 26, Dorset-street. A partition had been erected, cutting if off from the house, and the entrance door opened into Miller's-court."

This, of course, is not a first hand account, but it is from the Times, which was usually accurate, and the partition would not have been said to have been "erected" if it was merely a door that was already there.

Secondly we have the first hand account of Dr Phillips who said that the bedstead, i.e. the framework of the bed, was "close up against the wooden partition". He did not say that only part of the framework of the bed was close up against the wooden partition, so it must have been all of it. In another thread it has been calculated that the bed was probably about 6ft 3" in length. Therefore, the wooden partition needs to have been this wide to fit with the evidence in the case.

I might add that Dr Phillips would not have referred to a door as a "wooden partition". He would have said "wooden door".

Finally, we have the photographic evidence of MJK1. The background wall, as far as I can see, is all made of wood, not brick.

Taking all the evidence as a whole, therefore, it seems reasonable (and indeed sensible) to conclude that the Goad map is showing some sort of alcove at the back of number 26, which never had a door, and that this alcove became room 13. Consequently, the wooden partition (which, as set out currently, does not even appear to be visible from the stairs) must have been added to create room 13 and must have been much wider than currently shown.

[Elamarna]

Robert
You surprise me.
There is no access from 26 to 27 marked on map. There are brick walls. No openings.
The map shows no entrance at the front for 26 . But there is a door there. The sketch Pierre likes to use looking at 26 shows a door. It's not on the map.
Neither are there doors for 27 28 and 29.

We can occluded the map rarely shows doors .

Steve