48 Lynch Hill Kensworth

48 Lynch Hill January 2013

48 Lynch Hill is an unusual looking building. Two bays are built in flint with brick dressings, the remaining bay, perhaps a later addition, is solely in brick. The roof is composed of modern clay tiles. 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 much of the county, was mostly assessed in 1927. The valuer visiting 48 Lynch Hill found it owned by the trustees of Benjamin Bennett, deceased, of Dunstable and occupied by R. Tanner [DV1/C110/116].

Accommodation comprised two reception rooms and a kitchen with three bedrooms and an attic above. Outside stood: two weather-boarded and corrugated iron sheds; a weather-boarded and corrugated iron coal shed and a weather-boarded and corrugated iron single stalled stable. The property stood in just under a quarter of an acre. The valuer commented: “Tenant is not at home during day, can’t find out Rent”.

In 1943 the Kensworth Estate was put up for sale by auction. The sale particulars [BML10/38/11] refer to the building as Tanners Cottage, which was then in the occupation of W. T. Tanner, whose rent was £25 per annum, and formed part of a smallholding of 2.878 acres. The house comprised three bedrooms, an attic, two living rooms, a scullery and cellar “together with Flower and Kitchen Gardens”. Outbuildings comprised a barn, a stable for two horses, a loose box and hovel, a hen house and a pail closet.