9 Blackbird Street Potton

9 Blackbird Street March 2007

9 Blackbird Street is a distinctive looking house which was, until 1914, a public house, the Three Blackbirds, after which the street took its name. The property has two storeys and attics. The Bedfordshire Historic Environment Record [HER] contains information on the county’s historic buildings and landscapes and summaries of each entry can now be found online as part of the Heritage Gateway website. The entry for 9 Blackbird Street [HER 2215] notes that the property has 17th or 18th century features. Beneath the exterior plaster is a timber frame, with some brick facing. The roof is tiled. The property is not listed. The 1876 countywide licensing register stated that the Three Blackbirds had been licensed for over a hundred years

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 the former public house [DV1/C25/92] found it owned and occupied by James Abbott.

After noting that the property was formerly a public house he listed a living room, a parlour, a kitchen and a hall on the ground floor with three bedrooms above. Curiously he did not note the attics. There was also a “former billiard room as lumber”, presumably this was one of the outbuildings. Also outside were a brick and tiled stable and blacksmith’s shop and a brick and tiled hovel.