68 Park Lane Blunham

Looking from outside The Salutation towards The Hill and Park Lane junction about 1900 [Z50/19/10]

The range of buildings standing at a commanding position at the junction of Park Lane and The Hill used to be commercial premises as the photograph above shows. The Rating and Valuation Act of 1925 specified that every piece of land and building in the country should be assessed to determine the rates to be paid on it. Blunham was assessed in 1927. The valuer visiting 68 Park Lane [DV/1/C155/49] discovered that it was a single, large premises called Grove House, owned by W. E. Judd and occupied by A. C. D. Judd.

The building comprised a drawing room, with a bay, a dining room, with a bay, a morning room, a kitchen and scullery, the shop, measuring 25 feet by 27 feet (divided into two smaller areas of 25 feet by 15 feet and 25 feet by 12 feet) and two stores downstairs with five bedrooms, two store rooms and a bathroom above. Water was laid on and the house had "Indoor Sanitation" still comparatively rare in Bedfordshire villages in the 1920s. A small, unheated greenhouse stood in the garden and outbuildings comprised a timber and corrugated iron garage, a cottage converted into a store, a timber and tile stable for two horses, with a loft over and two timber and tile cart lodges. This substantial property stood in 0.468 of an acre.

The Judds were shopkeepers in Blunham for many years as entries in directories reveal:

• 1847, 1853, 1854: William Judd, draper, grocer and Post Office;
• 1861: Robert Judd, draper and Post Office;
• 1862, 1864, 1869, 1871: Robert Judd, draper, grocer and Post Office;
• 1876: William Judd, draper, grocer and Post Office;
• 1885: William Judd, linen and woollen draper, milliner, grocer and provision dealer; William Henry Judd, draper;
• 1890, 1894, 1898, 1903: William Judd, draper, grocer and Post Office;
• 1910, 1914: William Edwin Judd, draper, grocer and Post Office;
• 1920, 1924: Judd and Son, drapers and grocers;
• 1928, 1931, 1936, 1940: Judd and Son, grocers.

Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service does not have any local directories beyond 1940.

68 Park Lane October 2009