4 Ickwell Road April 2009

In 1910 a thorough rating valuation was carried out across England as part of David Lloyd-George’s pioneering 1909 budget. The survey was so thorough it was known colloquially as the Domesday Survey. The results show that all the older buildings in Northill were owned by John Edmund Audley Harvey, who, though he lived in London, was Lord of the Manor of Northill as well as Lord of the Manor of Ickwell and owner of Ickwell Bury. These buildings may have been built by a former Lord of the Manor or bought by the Manor at a later stage – detailed research of the Harvey [HY] archive would be needed to try to establish this in each case, unless the current owners still have the deeds to the properties concerned and so can research the history for themselves. The tenant in 1910 was Frederick Norman.

4 Ickwell Road was listed by the former Department of Environment in March 1985 as Grade II, of special interest. The department dated the property to the 19th century “possibly encasing an earlier building”. The structure is built of colour washed roughcast render, probably over a light timber frame and has a thatched roof over one storey and attics, with rounded ends to the west and east. There are 20th century additions to the north, one of two storeys, the other single-storeyed, as well as a 20th century porch.

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. Northill was assessed in 1927 and the valuer visiting the property [DV1/C44/117] found it owned and occupied by village carpenter Harry Garner and so clearly the estate had sold the property since 1910 either by auction or by private treaty.

The “very good” cottage stood in just over an acre and accommodation comprised a living room, kitchen and scullery with two bedrooms above. Another hand annotated the entry by adding a paint shop measuring 30 feet by 15 feet and commenting: “Very pretty”. A small loggia stood outside along with a wood and corrugated iron workshop measuring 18 feet by 11 feet, a paint shed, a wood and corrugated iron store shed and poultry house with a concrete floor measuring 41 feet 6 inches by 11 feet 6 inches, a washhouse, a coal house and an earth closet. Mains water was laid on