9 Radwell Road Milton Ernest

9 Radwell Road February 2011

9 Radwell Road still looks like a commercial premises and it did, indeed, used to be a shop. The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 stated that every piece of land and building in the country had to be assessed to determine its rateable value. Like most of the county, Milton Ernest was assessed in 1927 and the valuer visiting the property [DV1/C1/50] found it was The Village Stores, owned by Mrs. haycock and tenanted by Christopher Haycock at a rent of £16 per annum (“family rent but looks right”).

The shop itself measured 13 feet square. Other accommodation included a parlour, a kitchen and a scullery, with four bedrooms upstairs. Outside stood a barn, a stable, a fuel store and an earth closet. The valuer noted: “Water from well shared with 51" [i.e. Number 11 Radwell Road]. He also commented: “Detached quite nice … stands on road, only two shops in village”. Kelly's Directory for Bedfordshire was published every few years until 1940. Christopher Haycock appears as a grocer in the directories of 1924, 1928, 1931, 1936 and 1940.