F C Dawes And Sons Garage Shillington

F. C. Dawes and Son  April 2015

F. C. Dawes and Son's garage has been in Shillington for many years. It is first mentioned in directories in 1928 but is mentioned in the 1925 Rating and Valuation Act survey for Shillington. This act specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value and was generally undertaken in 1926 or 1927.

The valuer visiting the garage [DV1/C61/127] found that F. C. Dawes was owner-occupier. His house stood in half an acre and comprised three living rooms, a kitchen, three bedrooms and a boxroom. It was, the valuer opined, "very lettable". A later hand shows that the boxroom had been converted into a bathroom with a "good drain in". Outside stood a wood and corrugated iron barn and piggery and two further barns. The valuer noted: "really garage" which had a shop measuring 16 feet 6 inches by 23 feet with a loft over. There were also two petrol pumps (a later hand noted "now three"). The owner was licensed to deal in tobacco.