4 Roxton Road Great Barford

Miss Berry's Cottage in 1918 [X65/102]

4 Roxton Road stands adjacent to 6-10 Roxton Road. Like that property, Number 4 is thatched, but it is not listed as it is nowhere near so old. The Bedfordshire Historic Environment Record [HER] contains information on the county’s historic buildings and landscapes and summaries of each entry can now be found online as part of the Heritage Gateway website. The entry for 4 Roxton Road [HER 2307 and there called 6 Roxton Road] reads: “Early 19th century. Colour washed roughcast, thatched. Single storey. Five flush sliding casements with glazing bars”.

In 1918 a number of properties and pieces of land in Great Barford and Roxton were put up for sale by auction. The particulars [X65/102] note that 4 Roxton Road, simply called Miss Berry’s Cottage, was lot 3. It was described thus:

A PICTURESQUE
THATCHED COTTAGE

Situate on the Main Road, close to GREAT BRAFORD, and containing Two bedrooms, Sitting Room and Kitchen and Pantry. 

Wood and Tiled Outbuildings and Coal-house. Well Water. Capital GARDEN with main road frontage.

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. Most of Bedfordshire was valued in 1927 and the valuer visiting the property found it owned by a Miss Seward and occupied by John Francken Hedley who paid the high rent of £65 per annum for the furnished property – the valuer commenting “Scandalous”.

Accommodation comprised two bedrooms, a living room with a grate, a study, a kitchen with a range and a copper to heat water and a single bedroom above. A garage (a converted barn) lay outside. Water was obtained from a pump and the property stood in just over a third of an acre. The valuer commented: “Looks better than is”.

4 Roxton Road March 2010