86 and 88 High Town Road Luton

86 and 88 High Town Road June 2011

For much of its life 86 and 88 High Town Road has been a draper or a tailor's shop. At the time of writing [2011], however, it is a fast food outlet.

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 86 and 88 High Town Road [DV1/R59/34] found them owned and occupied by draper Ernest A. Smith. He had previously rented the premises from someone else. The valuer noted: “Smith used to pay £55 p. a. for this on lease” and “2 shops made into one with living accommodation over both”.

The two shops measured, respectively, 16 feet 6 inches by 29 feet and 9 feet by 12 feet. In the basement were a kitchen and a scullery. The ground floor comprised a dining room and the shops and the first floor comprised three bedrooms and a box room.

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.

• 1890: Thomas Cheesman, draper;
• 1894: Thomas Cheesman, draper;
• 1898: Thomas Cheesman, draper;
• 1903: Jenkins & Bassant, drapers;
• 1906: 86 – Miss Cissy Bodell, dressmaker; 86 and 88 – Jenkins & Bassant, drapers;
• 1910: 86 – Miss Cissy Bodell, dressmaker; 86 and 88 – Jenkins & Bassant, drapers;
• 1914: Ernest A. Smith, draper;
• 1920: Ernest A. Smith, draper;
• 1924: Ernest A. Smith, draper;
• 1928: Ernest A. Smith, draper;
• 1931: Ernest A. Smith, draper;
• 1936: Ernest A. Smith, draper;
• 1939: Ernest A. Smith;
• 1940: Ernest A. Smith, draper;
• 1950: Ernest Smith;
• 1960: Décor Homes, wallpaper, paint and decorators’ merchants;
• 1965: vacant;
• 1968: Moda M. & B. Style, exclusive tailoring;
• 1972: M. and B. Moda Style, tailors;
• 1974: M. and B. Moda Style, tailors;
• 1975: vacant;
• 2011: 86 – Southern Fried Chicken and Pizza Point, takeaway; 88 – Diakins Restaurant and Bar.