The Cottage Riseley Road Keysoe

The Cottage from the east October 2016

The cottage was listed by the former Department of Environment in August 1983 as Grade II, of special interest. The listing dates the structure to the 18th century; it is timber-framed covered with pebbledash, though the south-west gable end is red brick. The roof is thatched. The cottage comprises two storeys and there are one storey lean-to extensions to the rear and north east gable end

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. The valuer visiting the cottage [DV1/C211/146] found that it was owned by Mrs Maddison and tenanted by W Maddison whose rent was £4 per annum. The property contained a living room, a kitchen and two bedrooms. A small wood and tiled barn stood outside. The valuer commented: “Quite high”.

The same owner and occupier also had a small adjoining patch of land, rented for three guineas per year, on which stood a wood, brick and tiled root house, loose box, pigsty, three more loose boxes and a weather-boarded and thatched barn. They also both had a grass field of 2.755 acres.

The Cottage from the west October 2016