Summerfield, 28 High Street
This page was contributed by Pamela Hider
Summerfield in the foreground, 1930 [Z1306/25/3/1]
The development of the village of Carlton began principally in the High Street which was nearest to both church and manor house and where most of the oldest houses are to be found today.
One such house, known today as Summerfield, is described by the Historic Environment Record for Bedfordshire as follows:
C18 house. Coursed limestone rubble. Thatched roof. 3-bay plan. Gable end chimney stacks and one ridge stack to N. side of central bay. Two storeys. E. elevation: first floor three 3-light leaded casement windows. Ground floor three similar windows but central one of 2-lights. To S. of this window is doorway with pent-roofed bracketed doorhood.
The earliest resident we know is John Betts who lived here for a while in the 19th century. His son, Charles lived further along the High Street at The Yews in the 20th century. Their descendants still live in the village today.
In 1927, property in Carlton was valued under the Rating and Valuation Act 1925 (DV1/C218). Every piece of land and building in the country had to be valued to determine the rates to be paid upon it. Summerfield was described as follows:
"Owner and occupier - A.M.J. Edmonds.
Stone & thatch, detached, 2 St (?), kitchen, upstairs 3 bedrooms. Large Barn & Tool Shed stone & thatched. + Enclosed verandah of glass + tiled roof quite suitable for sitting in when warm enough. Quite pleasant. Very pleasant but right on main road". Another hand has written "Creeper pretty, lettable".
It was A.M.Edmonds who had the veranda installed in 1909 (RDBP1/60). 'Arthur John Morel Edmonds' appears in Kelly's Directory (1914) as a Private Resident; and he was also Chairman of Carlton Parish Council and was able to make large donations to local good causes. A man of means (originally from Bristol), he also owned the 8 old cottages in the High Street, Moorfield Cottage in The Moor and a cottage just off The Moor occupied by an aunt of his. He died in 1940 and he and his wife (from Odell) are buried in the graveyard of Harrold United Reform Church of which they had been members since 1903 (Z1521/1/10/4).
Summerfield September 2021