105 High Street Meppershall

105 High Street March 2015

At the time of writing [2015], 105 the High Street is operating as a bakery, and the archives reveal that the building which stands there has a history of such use.

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 visitor to the property in 1925 described it as a House, Shop, Bakehouse, Building and premises. Owned by W. Brown, the occupier was an F W Roberts. The house itself had a parlour, living room and kitchen, with three bedrooms and a box room upstairs. The bake house had a flour store above and was fitted with a six loaf capacity oven. The valuer mentioned that the adjoining shop was 'very little used'. There were corn stores outside, and the water which came from a well fitted with a 'hydro hoist and engine'.

The directories reveal that Meppershall had a baker by the name of Roberts since at least 1853, and although it is not certain whether 105 was built for this purpose, it seems likely that it was used as a bake house for a number of years by the time it was valued in 1925.