6 Orchard Lane in June 2008

6 Orchard Lane was listed by the former Department of Environment as Grade II (of special interest), they considered it to be early 18th century. Like most of the older properties in Harrold the building is built of coursed limestone rubble. The description in the listing was: "Now has a corrugated asbestos roof with stone gable coping" - no more, fortunately, the asbestos having been replaced by tiles. Again, like the older properties not on the High Street, the house stands gable end on to the road.

In 1927 property in Harrold was valued under the Rating Valuation Act of 1925; every piece of land and building in the country had to be valued to determine the rates to be paid upon it. The valuer visiting 6 Orchard Lane [DV1/C70/9] noted that Miss Hulatt was the owner and Austin Chambers the occupier. It was then described as brick and tile, stone and thatch.

The cottage comprised a living room, kitchen and scullery downstairs with three bedrooms in the attic roof. Outside was a washhouse and workshop combined, also a barn and an earth closet. There was no garden; water came from a pump. The valuer remarked: "very low roof to part".