1 to 6 Top Row October 2009

Top Row was listed by English Heritage in August 1987 as Grade II, of special interest. It is a late 18th century terrace of six estate cottages which have been fully rendered over a light timber frame on a brick plinth and thatched. The row is arranged in three pairs, each around double sided hearth, with two rooms downstairs, two upstairs - very similar to 54-62 The Avenue.

The terms of the Rating and Valuation Act 1925 required every piece of land and building in the country to be valued to determine its rateable value. Most of Bedfordshire was valued in 1927. The valuer visiting Top Row found that it as, like most of the parish, owned by Lord Saint John. The six individual homes, all noted as being constructed of plaster and thatch, were as follows, beginning with the northernmost and working south (all tenants paid £1/2/6 rent per half year and had a living room downstairs with two bedrooms above): J. Wildman; F. Norman; J. Jacques; G. W. Risley; A, Willmott and J. Partridge.