59 High Street Eaton Bray

59 High Street July 2012

59 High Street is an attractive old cottage, rendered and with a slate roof. It used to stand next door to the Bedford Arms, today replaced by a modern building.

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 59 High Street [DV1/C202/10] found it was a business.

The property was owned and occupied by George Puddefoot. Directories for the county were not published every year, but every few years. George Puddefoot is first listed as a shopkeeper in Kelly’s Directory for 1920 and is also listed in those for 1924, 1928 and 1931.

The house comprised a living room, a small general shop and a kitchen, with two bedrooms above. Outside stood a brick and slate store shed (“big”) and a weather-boarded and corrugated iron store shed. The valuer commented: “Double front”.