Swan House - 25 Radwell Road Milton Ernest

25 Radwell Road - Swan House February 2011

Swan House is named after the old inn which used to stand immediately to the west. Swan House was listed by English Heritage in August 1987 as Grade II, of special interest. It dates from the 18th century and is built of red brick which has been coated with roughcast and colourwashed white on the road facing elevations. It comprises two storeys and attics beneath an old clay tiled roof.

The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 stated that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. Milton Ernest, like most of the county, was largely assessed in 1927. The valuer visiting house [DV1/C1/75] found that it was owned by W. Raine and occupied by A. C. Smart whose rent of twelve shillings per week had been fixed in 1923.

The property comprised two reception rooms, an entrance passage, a kitchen and a scullery on the ground floor, with a lean-to washhouse and earth closet. There were three bedrooms on the first floor with two attics above. Outside was a fuel barn, a loose box and a small lean-to coal house which, the valuer commented, was “old square type”. Water came from pumps in the kitchen and scullery (“good”). The valuer commented: “Not an attractive property … right on road”.