62 to 66 Village Road Bromham

62 Village Road peers around modern housing May 2012

62 to 66 Village Road is today mostly hidden by modern housing. The structure was listed by English Heritage in August 1987 as Grade II, of special interest. It dates from the 17th or 18th centuries and is built of colourwashed coursed limestone rubble with a thatched roof. The property comprises one storey and attics. There are modern rear extensions.

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 cottages [DV1/C3/116-119] found the following information. Each cottager fetched water from a well on The Green:

Number 66 was owned by F. Prior and was called Yew Cot. It was in the occupation of G. W. Cousins who had paid rent of £13 per annum since 1924 for a living room, a kitchen, a pantry, a workshop (“boot repairs done”) and two bedrooms. A barn and an earth closet stood outside. The valuer commented: “Very poor old place in Front, been added to at rear”. Another, presumably later, hand wrote: “New thatched”. Number 64 was also owned by F. Prior and leased by W. Stafferton whose rent was £9/6/- per annum from 1924. His accommodation comprised a living room, a parlour, and sitting room downstairs “as cooking in barn at side!!”. Three bedrooms “2 of which are small” lay upstairs. Number 62 was owned and occupied by Miss A. Metcalfe and was called Park View. She had a parlour, a kitchen, two bedrooms and a larder. The valuer noted: “Is a bungalow”. A brick and slated apple store stood outside. The valuer noted: “Nice little place” and “good garden”. She also owned a quarter of an acre of grass field.

Miss Metcalfe was not the only one with a nice garden. The valuer commented: “Beautiful garden made by Tenants who have been here 40 years” i.e. G. W. Cousins and W. Stafferton. This garden included an old hen house, a pigsty used as a wood store and a wood and corrugated iron summer house.