58 Park Road August 2009

The house numbered 58 Park Road today [2009] used to be two cottages. The property was listed by the former Department of Environment in March 1985 as Grade II, of special interest. The department dated the property to about 1700, with later additions. It is constructed of  timber framing wit ha colourwashed roughcast exterior and a clay tile roof. The front of the house is the original dwelling, with a two room plan and bedrooms in the attics. The rear portion is of two full storeys. 

The Rating and Valuation Act of 1925 specified that every piece of land and building in the country should be assessed to determine the rates to be paid on it. Blunham was assessed in 1927 and the valuer visiting the cottage discovered that it was two dwellings. The building was owned by T. S. Mardlin, who also occupied the portion nearest Park Road which consisted of a parlour and scullery downstairs with two bedrooms and a boxroom above. Outside stood a barn, three kennels and a boiling house - one of the kennels had been converted into a washhouse and another into a poultry house. The valuer commented: "Stands back. Old Keeper's House, hence Kennels. Pretty old Place. Slope up. Double fronted. GoodGarden". Water, he noted, came from an outside tap. The house and grounds comprised a quarter of an acre.

The rear part of the building was occupied by Mrs. Butcher at a rent of 2/6 per week. She inhabited a parlour and living room downstairs with two bedrooms above. A barn stood outside and she, also, got her water from an outside tap.