Clipstone Cottage

Clipstone Cottage June 2013

Clipstone Cottage was listed by the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works in February 1967 as Grade II, of special interest. It is a remarkably old building, dating from the 15th or 16th century. It is timber framed with later red brick nogging, that is, infill between the timbers and comprised one storey and attics beneath a thatched roof which, at the time of listing, was covered in corrugated iron, but is so no longer. The building stands gable end on to the road on a brick plinth.

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 Cottage on 22nd October 1926 found that it was owned by the Smallholdings Committee of Bedfordshire County Council and occupied by A. King who paid rent of £9 per annum for the cottage and just under an acre of land. Living accommodation comprised a kitchen and a living room downstairs with two bedrooms above. Two weather-boarded and tiled coal barns stood outside. Water came from Manor Farm.

It is hardly surprising, given the great age of the cottage that it has been the subject of some study. In Volume 11 of Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, published in 1976, Nat Alcock and P. J. Woodward wrote a survey of cruck framed buildings in Bedfordshire, including Clipstone Cottage.