41 Horslow Street Potton

41 Horslow Street February 2013

41 Horslow Street is quite an impressive property and stand facing a footpath which is all that is left of Meeting Lane, a street of slums extending as far east as Church Causeway, cleared in the 20th century. The house was listed by English Heritage in November 1986 as Grade II, of special interest. It dates from the 18th century “apparently reworking an earlier structure”. It is built of red brick and the front and right hand side with the left hand side being timber-framed with render of it. The roofs comprise clay tiles.

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 assessed in 1927.

The valuer visiting the “old” property found it owned by the Misses Fuller and occupied by Thomas Cheetum [DV1/C10/35]. No rent is recorded. The house comprised a living room, a parlour and a kitchen with a cellar beneath and three bedrooms above. There were also two attics on the second floor. Outside stood a brick and tile barn and a brick and slate lean-to.

Directories for Bedfordshire were not published every year but every few years from the early to mid 19th century until 1940. Thomas Cheetham, market gardener, is listed in Kelly’s Directory in 1906, 1910, 1914, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1931, 1936 and 1940.

41 Horslow Street from the south February 2013