5 Saint John's Road August 2009

This attractive cottage at the northern end of Saint John's Road, near the junction with Bedford Road, 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. It is timber-framed with a colourwashed roughcast render and has a thatched roof. It had the usual basic cottage design of two rooms on the ground floor with bedroom in the attics. The house bears a plaque "C. C. T. 1813" presumably referring to repairs carried out in that year.

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 5 Saint John's Road [DV1/C208/90] noted that it was owned and occupied by a G. Buckle. The cottage still comprised a two room plan, parlour and living room, downstairs with two bedrooms above. A washhouse stood outside along with a timber and corrugated iron potato store, a timber and tile storage barn and a timber and tile woodhouse. The valuer commented: "Old But Fair. Good Garden". Water, like many of the older properties in the village at the time, came from a tap outside.