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Finsbury Park Farm Colmworth

Finsbury Park Farm seen from Channels End Road December 2009
Finsbury Park Farm seen from Channels End Road December 2009

Finsbury Park Farmhouse was listed by English Heritage in August 1983 as Grade II, of special interest. The building dates from the 17th century. It is constructed of colourwashed roughcast over a timber frame. It has a thatched roof. The house has three rooms downstairs and is a single storey with attics

Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service does not have much information of Finsbury Park Farm, unlike some of the other agricultural holdings in the parish. 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. Colmworth, like most of Bedfordshire, was assessed in 1927. The valuer visiting Finsbury Park Farm [DV1/H22/30] noted that it was owned by Henry Nixon and leased by Arthur Nixon, who had paid £22 per annum rent since 1890. This small farm comprised 32 acres. Nixon has also leased Channels End Farm at various dates.

The farmhouse, of mud, plaster, roughcast and thatch (with a tiled lean-to), comprised a living room, parlour and kitchen downstairs (the original three room plan, in other words) with three bedrooms above in the attics. A cess pool closet stood outside and water came from a well.

The homestead comprised: a meal house; two pig boxes; a hovel; a further pig box; two calf boxes; a stable for two horses and a chaff house. To the right of this group stood another hovel. All the buildings were constructed of wood and tile. A pond stood nearby.