Woodstock Cottage - 44 High Street February 2011

44 High Street, Woodstock Cottage, was listed by the former Department of Environment in July 1975 as Grade II, of special interest. The department dated the property to the 17th century.

The house has a timber-framed construction with colourwashed roughcast render and at hatched roof. Originally it had just two rooms downstairs with bed spaces in the attics. A later single-storeyed addition with a clay tile roof extends from the left-hand gable.

Unusually for houses in the village of Flitton, 44 High Street was owned by the Wrest Park Estate. In December 1916 the 9th Baron Lucas of Crudwell was killed in action with the Royal Flying Corps on the Western Front. His heir was his sister, Nan Ino who became 10th Baroness Lucas. She decided to break up and sell the estate and in 1918 she sold 44 High Street to its tenant, George Lowe, for £125 [L23/108].

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, in 1927 [DV1/C270/134] found it still owned and occupied by George Lowe. It comprised a living room and a kitchen, with two bedrooms in the attics. There was also a washhouse, presumably in the left-hand gable extension. There were also three barns outside.