215 Common Road Kensworth

Takeley Cottage - 215 Common Road January 2013

215 Common Road is an attractive property and older than it looks. It has a number of modern additions but the roof line undulates in a way that suggests it is well over a century old. 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. Kensworth, like most of the county, was largely assessed in 1927 and the valuer visiting today’s 215 Common Road found that it was divided into two [DV1/C114/12-13].

The property was owned by Walter Dixon, the owner of Green End Farm, the eastern half was vacant but comprised a living room and scullery with two bedrooms above. A brick and slate barn and earth closet stood outside. The valuer commented: “Very poor”. The western half of the building was also vacant and contained the same number of rooms, however, the valuer noted: “The living room is used as a motor cycle repair shop”, it was also in “very poor condition”.