91 Church Street Shillington

The Old Post Office March 2014

91 Church Street was listed in July 1975 as Grade II, of special interest. It dates from the 17th century and has a substantial timber frame with colourwashed roughcast render. Parts of the ground floor at the west end have been rebuilt in colourwashed brick. The roof is composed of clay tiles. The building comprises one storey and attics with a single storey projecting from the rear at the west end

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 property [DV1/C75/9] found that it was the post office, owned and occupied by William Ambrose Ruffell who had a living room, a kitchen and scullery, three bedrooms, which all communicated, and two further bedrooms which did not – all the bedrooms were in the roof. The shop measured 17 feet 6 inches by 18 feet 6 inches. The wood and corrugated iron post office was separate along with a garage, a washhouse, a store, two barns and two hovels in the adjoining field which comprised just over two acres. The valuer noted: "Summer house really Bungalow and very nice Garden".

Shillington Post Office was in Church Street from at least 1847 when it is listed in a directory. It may always have been in the same building or it may have changed location with the person running it. The following postmasters and mistresses are listed:

• 1847, 1853, 1854, 1862, 1864, 1877: David Simkins;
• 1885, 1890: William Arnold;
• 1894, 1898: Susanna Arnold;
• 1903, 1906, 1914, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1931, 1936: William Ambrose Ruffell;
• 1940: Mrs Clarissa Mary Ruffell.