18 Blackbird Street Potton

18 Blackbird Street March 2007

Today 18 Blackbird Street is an unremarkable private house. Between 1846 and 1881, however, it was a beerhouse known as the Barley Mow. The property acquired its present appearance after rebuilding due to severe damage inflicted by Potton's second Great Fire in 1878. The newapaper reported that it had been "partially destroyed by falling down, also by water and fire".

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. Potton, like much of the county, was rated in 1927. The valuer visiting the former beerhouse [DV1/C11/65] found it owned by the executors of George Kitchener.

The tenant was Clara Munk whose rent was £10 per annum. Her accommodation comprised a living room, a parlour and a scullery with two bedrooms and a box room upstairs.