46 to 52 The Avenue September 2009

The terrace comprising 46 to 52 The Avenue was listed by English Heritage in August 1987 as Grade II, of special interest.  It is a terrace of four early 18th cottages in local chequered brick with light headers and Welsh slate roofs. The plan arranges the houses in two pairs each around a double sided hearth, with two rooms downstairs and two upstairs.

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 the row of cottages [DV1/C106/13-16] noted that it was, like most of the rest of the parish, owned by Lord Saint John. Each of the four homes contained just a living room downstairs and two bedrooms above, apart from what is now Number 52 which also had a kitchen downstairs and was noted by the valuer as "slightly bigger". The houses were renumbered at some time after 1970 as a map of that year shows them as Numbers 29-32. Each tenant paid £2/12/- per annum rent and the tenants in 1927 were as follows:

• 46: R. Salisbury;
• 48: C. Armstrong
• 50: Mrs. E. Carrier;
• 52: S. Brown

The valuer commented on the row: "Good brick - no attic roof. Rents are absurd. Best in village".