22 and 23 Market Square Potton

22 to 24 Market Square August 2013

22 to 24 Market Square were listed by the former Ministry of Public Buildings and Works in October 1966 as Grade II, of special interest. The block of three properties dates, if the date stone on the front is to be believed, from 1697. Construction is of red brick beneath a clay tiled roof and the block comprises two storeys with attics.

Plaque on 22 to 24 Market Square August 2013

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. The valuer visiting 22 to 24 Market Square found that they were all owned by William Bond Smith, who owned a number of other properties on the square.

Numbers 22 and 23 were then occupied as one property by Bond Smith himself [DV1/C12/105]. He was, Kelly's Directory for 1928 tells us, a grocer. His shop measured 18 feet by 21 feet with a back area measuring 22 feet by 13 feet. Also on the ground floor were a parlour measuring 15 feet by 11 feet 6 inches, a living room measuring 15 feet by 12 feet, a kitchen, a scullery and a lean-to glass house. The first floor comprised a bathroom and a W. C. and four bedrooms measuring, respectively, 12 feet 6 inches by 12 feet, 15 feet 6 inches by 16 feet 6 inches, 15 feet by 14 feet 6 inches and 13 feet by 12 feet. Maids' bedrooms occupied the attics.

Behind the property was a small cement fronted and tiled warehouse. There were also a brick and slated two storey warehouse with a cellar which was "fair" and had a tiled floor, a brick, wood and corrugated iron coal house and a brick, wood and tiled garage and two stall stable, the latter being used for storage. The valuer commented: "Built 1697. Bad at back and upstairs".

Bond-Smith flyer [X704/92/9] to see a larger version please click on the image

Bond Smith Brothers, grocers, are first listed in Kelly's Directory for 1894 being listed in the next several editions: 1903; 1906; 1910; 1914; 1920 and 1924. William Bond-Smith ls listed in 1928 and 1931 and the final two Kelly's for the county, 1936 and 1940, list Joseph Burton and Sons, grocers.

Burtons Stores flyer [X704/92/12/1]