41, 43 & 47 High Street Carlton

This page was contributed by Pamela Hider

41, 43 High St. and 47 High Street 1974  [courtesy of HER] 

Located at the end of Carlton High Street, by the memorial Green, on the other side of the street from Stayesmore Manor House, Carlton Green cottages appear in our records as five dwellings which became four, then six, then three. One of them bears the date 1715.  

Early Records 

The earliest Electoral Registers  naming Carlton Green are from 1844-1856 when the owner was William Pinkerd of Turvey. Pinkerds owned property in Carlton from 1832 but it was not specified. 

The very earliest Censuses  referred only to Carlton Street (former name of High Street); or to High Street.  Not until 1871 does the differentiation of  'The Green' appear, and by 1911  'Carlton Green'. Two family names endured at Carlton Green during these decades - Riseley and Stock. 

Stone bearing date 1715, 47 High Street

Rating and Valuation Act 1925 

This  Act specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine  its rateable value. The cottages, all owned by William Fairey of Stayesmore Manor (and colloquially referred to as Fairey Cottages), were  stone & thatched and described in order (from the High Street end) in the rating book (DV1/C218) as follows:      

• The '1st of 5'  consisted of a Living Room & Kitchen and upstairs 2 bedrooms. Also a barn. Remark: 'Poor'. It was tenanted by A.(sic) Flute, 'Rent free (Old Servant)'.
• The next cottage, 'Terrace', fitted the same description (without the remark) with the addition of an earth closet and was tenanted by J.E.Rogers, also 'Rent free (Old servant)'.  [Perhaps they had been servants at Stayesmore Manor House just footsteps away across the street].
• The third cottage, 'Terrace', consisted of a Kitchen and upstairs 2 bedrooms 'No one in'. It was tenanted by S.Smith.
• The fourth cottage 'Terrace' had a Living Room and upstairs a bedroom and boxroom. Also a barn. Remark: 'Poor'. It was tenanted by J.Stock.
• The 'Last of 5' consisted of a Living Room & Kitchen and upstairs 2 bedrooms. Also a barn and earth closet. Remark: 'V.Poor'. It was tenanted by D.Hall. D.Hall was David Hall, grandson of George Hall, former Baptist Minister of Carlton. David, who in 1895 had enlisted in the Bedfordshire Regiment, had spent 12 years serving in British India. In 1914, he re-enlisted and rose in rank to Company Sergeant Major. He spent two periods in France, had been a despatch rider and was awarded a pair of silver spurs which he donated to the former army museum at Kempston Barracks

1929-1950 

Valuation List Additions (DV1/X35) from 1929 indicate some demolition and two additions which took place around Carlton Green. These are illustrated In the valuation map which accompanies the Rating of the 1920s (above). Valuation maps were annotated over time, with additions being made up to the 1940s in the case of Carlton. Electoral Registers of 1937 show that the cottages on the Green were  numbered for the first time and there were now six of them (nos. 1-6 The Green). The 'Last of 5' rated as 'V. Poor' in the 1920s valuation had been demolished and two new semi-detached cottages (nos. 1&2) were erected at a right angle (bordering the Causeway) to the now four cottages. These six addresses endured in subsequent Electoral Registers, until in April 1950, by order of the Executors of W. Fairey (owner of the cottages) deceased, a sales catalogue (PK2/2/919) for various properties including '6 cottages at 1-6 The Green, Carlton' was published. This referred to: 

"A block of 4 slate roofed cottages and a pair of brick and slate semi-detached double fronted cottages known as 1 to 6 (inclusive) THE GREEN CARLTON. 

Accommodation:- 

Nos. 1 and 2 The Green each contain Front Room, Living Room, Kitchen, Pantry, Three Bedrooms. Garage, Barn and Earth Closet. Electricity installed.

Nos. 3, 5 and 6 The Green each contain Two Living Rooms, Two Bedrooms. Barn and Earth Closet. Electricity installed.

No. 4 The Green contains Living Room, Two Bedrooms. Barn and Earth Closet. Electricity installed. 

Let to good tenants".

The document contains a list of names of the 6 tenants.  

Carlton Green's six cottages become four, then three

By 1965, one occupier ('old servant'), who had been in occupation at the time of the valuation in the 1920s, was no longer recorded in the Electoral Registers (she died in 1967 aged 89 years).  

1966 marked another name change of address.  Nos 6, 5, 4 & 3 Carlton Green were to become, respectively, 41, 43, 45, 47 High St. and nos. 2 and 1 Carlton Green became Nos.104 & 106, respectively, The Causeway. The cottage (no.45) which had become vacant on the death of the ‘old servant’ was split up. Some rooms went to no.43 and some to no.47 so that the row now comprised 3 cottages and no.45 no longer exists. Since 1966 they have appeared in the Electoral Registers with their new addresses, nos.41, 43 & 47 High Street.They were occupied by the three remaining occupiers (formerly of nos. 3, 5 and 6 The Green) who were still there at least 20 years later. 

The Historic Environment for Bedfordshire in 1974 described the cottages as follows: 

Nos. 41 & 43 - C18 & C19. Ground floor of coursed rubble, first floor red brick. Slate roof. 2 storey, 4 modern casements, timber lintels to ground floor.  

No. 47 - Dated 1718. Coursed rubble. 2 storey. Slate roof. 4 casement windows with glazing bars. RH one storey lean-to. 

The row of cottages came up for sale in 2020 and were described as "A terrace of two end of terrace cottages, each with two bedrooms, and a three bedroom mid terrace cottage".

 41, 43, High St. 2018                                     47, High St. 2018