Rose Cottage - 58 High Street Great Barford

Rose Cottage 58 High Street in 1960 [Z53/5/7]

Rose Cottage, 58 High Street, was listed by the former Department of Environment in August 1983 as Grade II, of special interest. The department dated the property to the 17th century. Like most of the old properties in Great Barford it is built of colour washed roughcast over a timber frame. It has a thatched roof and the classic two room plan of a small cottage, with one storey and attics in the roof. A lean-to addition stands to the rear.

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 Rose Cottage found it owned and occupied by John Waight. He had bought it in 1920 for £350.

The cottage comprised a living room with a range, a parlour with a grate and a kitchen with a copper for heating water, showing that the cottage had already been extended by one room. Three bedrooms lay in the attics. Water came from a well and a barn and privy stood outside. The valuer commented: “Very Nice” and “Bedfordshire [presumably meaning a classic Bedfordshire type of cottage], in Good Repair”.

John Waight also rented some adjoining farm buildings. These comprised a wood and thatched range of a small store barn, two loose boxes used for hens, two stables used for hens and a chaff place used for straw. There was also a wood and corrugated iron trap shelter “used for faggots etc.” and a trap house “used Tools etc.”.

Rose Cottage 58 High Street March 2010