A and S Stores - 85 Bury Road Shillington

A and S Stores July 2015

A & S Stores at 85 Bury Road has been a shop for some time. 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/C63/32] found it owned and occupied by Walter G Griggs who is listed in Kelly's Directory for 1924 simply as "shopkeeper".

The property contained two living rooms, a kitchen, a store room, four bedrooms and a shop measuring twelve feet square. Outside stood a wood and tiled barn and piggeries, a stable and a washhouse, all described as "rough".

Directories for Bedfordshire were not published every year but every few years from the early to mid 19th century until 1940. The next one after 1924 is 1928 when Griggs' name is no longer listed. He is listed in directories of 190, 1914 and 1920. The directory for 1906 lists John this Griggs as shopkeeper. In 1894, 1898 and 1903 Albert Griggs is listed as shopkeeper.

In the 1928 durectiory a new shopkeeper, not in that for 1924, is listed – Frank Ansell. The directory for 1931 shows him as being a greengrocer as does that for 1936 He is not listed in the directory for 1940.