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25 High Town Road Luton

25 High Town Road June 2011
25 High Town Road June 2011

It is confusing but 25 High Town Road stands next door to 19 High Town Road, somehow numbers 21 and 23 appear to have been missed out. They may have been the numbers of the rear parts of both 19 and 25, previously in different ownership. For most of its early history the shop accommodated a fruiterer's or greengrocer's business. It was a branch of Barclay's Bank for at least forty years then, more recently, a hairdresser's and now [2011] a shop selling hair and beauty products.

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 25 High Town Road [DV1/R59/11] found that it was then in the same ownership as Number 19 – tailor Harold Cook. Part of his domestic premises extended to the first floor of Number 25. The ground floor comprised a lockup shop and kitchen rented by Gilbert and Company, an accountancy firm with additional premises at 3a Stuart Street. Rent was £70 per annum for two shop areas measuring, respectively, 12 feet 9 inches by 15 feet and 12 feet 9 inches by 14 feet. The kitchen measured 8 feet by 16 feet.

Directories for Bedfordshire were published every few years from 1839, for example, the beginning of the 20th century has directories for 1903, 1906, 1910 and 1914. Countywide directories ceased to be published during the Second World War, the last for Bedfordshire being in 1940. Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service has directories just for Luton for 1939, 1950, 1960, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1974 and 1975. The first street numbers in High Town Road begin to appear in directories in 1885 but it looks as if there was some renumbering of properties on the odd side of the road between 1890 and 1894.

  • 1894: Jason Cook, fruiterer;
  • 1898: Jason Cook, fuiterer;
  • 1903: John Moxon, greengrocer;
  • 1906: John Moxon, greengrocer; Mrs. Harriet Welch, greengrocer;
  • 1910: John Moxon, greengrocer;
  • 1914: Zebulun Timms, greengrocer;
  • 1920: Zebulun Timms, greengrocer;
  • 1924: Zebulun Timms, greengrocer;
  • 1928: Barclays Bank Limited;
  • 1931: Barclays Bank Limited;
  • 1936: Barclays Bank Limited;
  • 1939: Barclays Bank Limited;
  • 1940: Barclays Bank Limited;
  • 1950: Barclays Bank Limited;
  • 1960: Barclays Bank Limited;
  • 1965: Barclays Bank Limited;
  • 1968: Barclays Bank Limited;
  • 1972: Tony’s, hairdressers;
  • 1974: Tony’s, hairdressers;
  • 1975: Tony’s, hairdressers;
  • 2011: Kimrichplus, hair and beauty products.