14 High Street in 1960 [Z53/97/14]

14 High Street was listed by the former Department of Environment in August 1983 as Grade II, of special interest. The department dated the property to the 18th century. The cottage is built of colour washed roughcast, has a thatched roof, one storey and attics.

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. Roxton, like most of Bedfordshire, was assessed in 1927 and the valuer visiting 14 High Street [DV1/H13/26] found that it formed a leased-off part of College Farm, was owned by A. Kendall and Miss F. Kendall and tenanted by market gardener Thomas Jefferies who paid rent of £80 for 24½ acres.

The valuer commented: “Poor House and Buildings”. The house comprised a parlour, a living room, a kitchen and a bakehouse with two bedrooms above, one a lean-to. There was also a passage way with a copper for heating water. The valuer further commented: “Old property, lot of waste space”.

The homestead comprised: a pigsty used as a straw store in two parts; a two stall stable; a chaff house; a hen house; a four stall cow house; a two bay implement shed; a tool house with a copper and a cart shed of two bays. In a twenty acre field stood an implement shed. Most of the buildings were weather-boarded and tiled or weather-boarded and corrugated iron.