1 and 5 Molivers Lane Bromham
1 and 5 Molivers Lane March 2012
1 and 5 Molivers Lane is a row of old cottages situated just off The Green. They used to stand opposite the pound. The Bedfordshire Historic Environment Record [HER] contains information on the county’s historic buildings and landscapes and summaries of each entry can now be found online as part of the Heritage Gateway website. The entry for the cottages [HER 10158] ascribes them to the 18th century, with a 19th century extension to the west. There were originally three homes, two of them now comprise Number 1 and one, of the same size comprises the eastern half of Number 5 before the 19th century extension at the west end.
The cottages belonged to the Bromham Hall Estate. When a large slice of the estate was put up for sale by auction in 1924 1 and 5 Molivers Lane were included. The sale particular [AD1147/4] reads as follows:
LOT 26
A ROW OF THREE CAPITAL COTTAGES
situate in the Parish and Village of Bromham
Each has a Good Garden attached with Shed and E. C., the whole covering an area of
.392 of an Acre
No. 1 [the easternmost] contains Two Rooms upstairs, and Living Room, Kitchen and Pantry down, and is let to Mr. S. Curtis on a quarterly tenancy, at a rental of £3 8s. 6d. per annum.
No. 2 contains similar accommodation to No. 1, with the addition of another Small Room downstairs, and is Let to Mr. W. Inskip, on a quarterly tenancy, at a rental of £2 3s. 0d. per annum.
No. 3 contains similar accommodation to No. 1, and is Let to Mr. W. Chambers, on a quarterly tenancy, at a rental of £4 5s. 0d. per annum; making a total for this Lot of
£9 16s. 6d. per annum
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 the properties [DV1/C3/70-72] found they were still in three separate occupations. They were now all owned by William Chambers, the tenant of Number 3 above.
Curtis now paid £4/19/- per annum. A later hand has written “now has bathroom”, presumably installed some time after the valuation which took place in 1927. The valuer commented: “Have been done up” (hence the rent rise) and “old place”.
In the middle was a home now in the occupation of William H. Gee. This had also “been done up”. The valuer described Chambers' own accommodation as “very poor”, but noted that it was also “very large” as he had that western extension.