46 High Street Eaton Bray

46 and 48 High Street about 1920 [Z1306/39]

At the beginning of the 20th century five houses in a row in Eaton Bray – 40 to 48 High Street were all businesses. 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. Eaton Bray, like most of the county, was assessed in 1927.

The valuer visiting 46 High Street [DV1/C235/77] found that it was owned and occupied by the village postmaster Jeffrey Brinklow. The post office itself measured 11 feet 6 inches by 11 feet. The rest of the house comprised a living room, a kitchen and three bedrooms. Outside stood a brick and slate coal shed and a w. c. The valuer noted: “Flour loft of page 76 [48 High Street] comes over these”. He also noted: “Small piece of porch not worth separate assessment” and “Post Office, little stationary (Telegraph)”.

Directories for Bedfordshire were not published every year, but every few years. Jeffrey Brinklow is listed as postmaster in Kelly’s Directory for 1906, 1910, 1914, 1920 and 1924. John Brinklow was listed in 1903. Previous post offices had been run by William Gurney (1864, 1869, 1871, 1877, 1885 and 1890) and Mrs. George Varney (1894 and 1898). The house was marked as the post office as late as an Ordnance Survey map of 1958 but around 1960 the Post Office moved to 96 High Street.

46 and 48 High Street July 2012