Ivy Cottage July 2010
Ivy Cottage and Lime Cottage were listed by the former Ministry of Works in Janaury1961 as Grade II, of special interest. The ministry dated the pair of houses to the late 18th century and noted that Ivy Cottage had slightly broader proportions. Both cottages are built of red brick with diamond patterning formed by vitrified headers and both have a slate roof.
Local historian Arthur Parker had access to the deeds of both properties, along those of Tilcocks, How Cottage and Saint Christopher and the Courtney Memorial Hall [CRT130Asp19]. The first reference to the cottages comes in a conveyance of 1811 which refers to a house formerly erected by Richard Cload formerly in the occupation of James Jolles, since Mr. Peyre, then Mr. Wright, now William Askew. Clearly, at this date, Ivy Cottage and Lime Cottage were one dwellinghouse. It was conveyed by thos Bennett of Aspley Guise Guise to Mason Edward Bennett of Aspley Guise, carpenter, for £367/10/-. The list of deeds in an attached schedule goes back to 1791 - an assignment by Joseph Hutton of Aspley Guise to Thomas Bennett. This evidence ties in well with a construction date estimated by the Department of Environment of the second half of the 18th century.
By 1817 the property had been divided into the two cottages we know today. In that year Edward Mason Bennett conveyed both cottages to John Battams. They were described as occupied by men named Unwin and Betts. Battams made his will the following year and devised the cottages to his daughter Sarah.
By 1827 John Battams was dead and Sarah had married a dissenting minister named Richard Eland. They were living at Brackley [Northamptonshire]. They conveyed the cottages to Henry Thomas Atterbury of Woburn, common carrier for £490. two years later Atterbury married Mary Paine Osborne and the cottages formed part of their marriage settlement.
Atterbury died 1843 devising the cottages to Sarah Baker Atterbury who died 1872. In her will of 1862 she devised them to her sisters Hannah Baker Freeman and Mary Elkins but in 1873 they conveyed the properties to Dennis Waterman Woodin of Aspley Guise, boot and shoe maker for £620 following an auction sale.
The sale particulars for Lime and Ivy Cottage read: "All that desirable free hold residence situate and being in the picturesque village of Aspley Guise in the County of Bedford containing Drawing and Dining Rooms, Kitchen, Scullery with hard water pump, Larder, Cellar, Four Bedrooms and two Attics, with the Yard, Stable and Loft over Coachhouse, Coal and Wood House, good Garden and appurtenances at the rear, also capital garden in front with carriage entrance, the whole being in the occupation of Captain Marriott at the yearly rental of £25". This was Lime Cottage
Together with Capital Dwellinghouse adjoining thereto containing two front Sitting Rooms, Kitchen, Pantry, Cellar, two Bedrooms and two Attics, with the small yard, Washhouse, Coalhouse and garden at the rear; also the garden in front, now in the occupation of Miss Osborn at a rental of £27 - Ivy Cottage.
The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed as to its rateable value. Aspley Guise was assessed in 1927. The valuer visiting Ivy Cottage found it owned and occupied by Alfred R. Sinfield [DV1/C239/133]. Kelly's Directories for Bedfordshire list him in occupation from at least 1920 until the last directory for the county, that of 1940.
The brick and slate house comprised two reception rooms, a kitchen, scullery and larder downstairs with three bedrooms and a bathroom and w. c. above with a boxroom in the attic. Outside stood a coal barn and w. c. and a brick and slate garage. Mains water, drainage and gas were laid on.
In 2008 Ivy Cottage was for sale. The particulars [Z449/2/23 2008] noted that the lower accommodation comprised a cellar (14 feet 8 inches by 11 feet 9 inches), a sitting room (13 feet 10 inches by 11 feet 10 inches), drawing room (21 feet 1 inches by 11 feet 10 inches), dining room (12 feet 6 inches by 10 feet 1 inches), kitchen/breakfast room (26 feet 8 inches by 16 feet 4 inches) and utility room (10 feet 11 inches by 5 feet 9 inches). Three bedrooms, a bathroom and store room lay on the first floor with two bedrooms on the second floor. A paved courtyard, front garden, shed, paved dining area and a third of an acre, which was leased, lay outside.
Lime Cottage, at the time of the Rating and Valuation Act inspection was owned by Mrs. Foster, who lived at The Shrubbery, and occupied by Miss Sargeaunt [DV1/C239/132]. She may well have been the sister or other close female relative of two men from Aspley Guise killed in the First World War, both Lieutenant-Colonels - Arthur Frederick Sargeaunt of Westridge who died on 31st July 1917 with the Royal Engineers and is buried at Brandhoek Military Cemetery near Ypres and Herbert Gaussen Sargeaunt who died on 15th June 1917 with the Royal Artillery and is buried at Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension in northern France close to the Belgian border. She paid £30 per annum in rent. Kelly's Directory for 1920 lists Charles Large at Lime Cottage, that of 1924 a Miss Foyster and Miss Sargeaunt in 1931. The last two directories for Bedfordshire, 1936 and 1940 list the Misses Foster at the property.
The house comprised two reception rooms, kitchen and larder with a cellar beneath. Three bedrooms, a bathroom and w. c. lay upstairs. Two attics lay above that. A brick and slate barn and washhouse lay outside. The valuer noted that mains water, drains and gas were laid on and commented: "Very nice old-fashioned house".
Lime Cottage July 2010