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11 and 13 High Town Road Luton

11 and 13 High Town Road June 2011
11 and 13 High Town Road June 2011

11 and 13 High Town Road were occupied as separate premises until the late 1920s when they were united udner the ownership of Henry Swallow, tobacconist. The premises were later used as a laundry and then a builders' merchants. At the time of writing [2011] the shop is vacant.

The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. The valuer visiting 11 and 13 High Town Road [DV1/R59/9] found the premises owned and occupied by Henry Swallow, a tobacconist, who also had a shop at 16 Bute Street. His business in High Town Road, Kelly’s Directory for Bedfordshire for 1928 notes was a successor to Pitkin and Willden. Swallow charged his business with rent of £78 per annum established in 1924. The valuer noted that sweets were sold as well as tobacco.

The cellar measured 11 feet by 12 feet. The shop on the ground floor was divided into two areas, measuring 26 feet 9 inches by 15 feet and 26 feet 9 inches by 6 feet 6 inches respectively. A store at the back measured 10 feet by 39 feet 6 inches. A first floor storeroom measured 14 feet by 21 feet. A private house occupied the rest of the first floor, comprising a reception room, two bedrooms and a box room. A kitchen measuring 12 feet by 11 feet and a W. C. measuring 6 feet by 5 feet completed the domestic arrangements and lay on the ground floor at the back of the premises. Presumably Swallow and his family lived on the premises as the valuer has recorded no other tenant. Outside lay a garage measuring 26 feet by 19 feet with a loft of the same size above it.

Directories for Bedfordshire were published every few years from 1839, for example, the beginning of the 20th century has directories for 1903, 1906, 1910 and 1914. Countywide directories ceased to be published during the Second World War, the last for Bedfordshire being in 1940. Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service has directories just for Luton for 1939, 1950, 1960, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1974 and 1975. The first street numbers in High Town Road begin to appear in directories in 1885 but it looks as if there was some renumbering of properties on the odd side of the road between 1890 and 1894.

  • 1894: 13 – John Lane Bailey, hardware dealer;
  • 1898: 11 – George Reason, stationer; 13 – Charles Edwin Cooper, tailor;
  • 1903: 11 - Charles Edwin Cooper, tailor;
  • 1906: 11 – Charles Edwin Cooper, tailor; 13 – Harry Swallow, hairdresser;
  • 1910: 11 – Charles Edwin Cooper, tailor; 13 – Harry Swallow, hairdresser;
  • 1914: 11 – Charles Edwin Cooper, tailor; 13 – Harry Swallow, hairdresser;
  • 1920: 11 – Charles Edwin Cooper, tailor; 13 – Harry Swallow, tobacconist;
  • 1914: 11 - Charles Edwin Cooper, tailor; 13 - Henry Swallow, tobacconist;
  • 1928: H. Swallow (Pitkin & Willden successors to), tobacconist;
  • 1936: Luton (The) Bag Wash Laundry Company Limited;
  • 1939: Luton Bagwash Laundry Company Limited;
  • 1940: Luton (The) Bag Wash Laundry Company Limited;
  • 1950: Clark Hunt & Company Limited;
  • 1960: Clark Hunt & Company Limited, builders’ merchants;
  • 1965: Clark Hunt & Company Limited, builders’ merchants;
  • 1968: Clark Hunt & Company Limited, builders’ merchants;
  • 1972: Clark Hunt & Company Limited, builders’ merchants;
  • 1974: not listed;
  • 1975: not listed;
  • 2011: vacant.