Colesden Lodge Farm March 2010

The Bedfordshire Historic Environment Record [HER] lists every historic building and landscape feature in the county. A summary of the entries is now available on the Heritage Gateway website. Colesden Lodge Farmhouse is a 19th century brick construction [HER 12465]. The two storey farmhouse has a slate roof and two hipped slate roofed bay windows to the ground floor.

The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every piece of land and building in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. Colesden was assessed in 1927 and the valuer visiting Grange Farm [DV1/H13/18] noted that the farm was large at 600 acres as it was a combination of two farms - Grange and Hill farms, the latter now called Colesden Lodge Farm. The two farms were owned and occupied by Mark Frost.

The valuer noted that Hill Farmhouse [DV1/H13/21] "looks like" a front room, living room, kitchen and scullery downstairs with four bedrooms above. He noted that there were two cottages. The occupant of one of these was housekeeper Bert Gillett who had a parlour with a grate, kitchen with a range and dairy with four bedrooms above. The other cottage was empty and had a living room with a range, parlour with a grate, cellar with a sink, store room and three bedrooms above. The valuer commented: "grates to all rooms". Water came from a pump outside.

The homestead, chiefly constructed of brick and tile, comprised the following:

• A washhouse;
• A hen house;
• A two bay hovel;
• A five bay hovel;
• A three bay hovel used as loose boxes;
• A yard;
• Three three bay hovels;
• A barn with asphalt floor;
• A four bay cart hovel and implement shed;
• A loose box;
• A chaffhouse;
• A nine stall stable;
• Two standings;
• A granary;
• A trap house;
• An implement shed.