6 and 8 Chapel Street Potton
4 to 8 Chapel Street August 2013
6 and 8 Chapel Street were both listed by English Heritage in November 1986 as Grade II, of special interest. They date from the 18th century but were reworked in the 19th century. They are built of colourwashed roughcast over a timber frame and have clay tiled roofs. They each comprise one storey with attics. Number 8 was previously the Woolpack, a beerhouse which was open from the mid 19th century until 1909.
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 valued in 1927. The valuer visiting the properties [DV1/C11/60-62] found that they were both owned by a man named Harry Duffin. The last landlord of the Woolpack had been Walter Duffin. Kelly's Directory for Bedfordshire was published every few years and those for 1910, 1914, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1931 and 1936 list Walter Duffin as a market gardener in Chapel Street, the directory for 1936 specifically giving the address as 8 Chapel Street.
Harry was Walter's son. Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service has some papers of the Duffin family dating from about 1924 to 1929. Walter Duffin was Walter William Duffin and had been born in Potton on 27th February 1860, son of George, a garden labourer, and Fanny nee Roberts [Z758/1]. His sons were Harry and Archibald.
Number 6 was occupied by Charles Hutchinson at a rent of five shillings per week. His accommodation comprised a living room, a kitchen and a scullery with two bedrooms above. A later hand has written: "New roof".
Number 8 was occupied by Duffin himself and comprised a living room, a parlour, a sitting room, a scullery and a washhouse on the ground floor. Upstairs were three bedrooms. The valuer noted: "Attics over scullery for harness". A later hand has also noted a new roof here too. At the rear were a wood and corrugated iron open hovel, a wood and corrugated iron lean-to hovel and a wood and tiled barn and stable with a loft over.