16 Church Road Steppingley

16 Church Road was listed by English Heritage in November 1993 as Grade II, of special interest. It is thought to date from the 18th century and has a timber-framed structure, which has been exposed at the west gable end, otherwise it is rendered. It has two storeys with attics and a thatched roof. It was built with two rooms downstairs, with a hearth in each.

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 visiting valuer [DV1/C81/33] discovered that the cottage was owned, like most of the village, by the Duke of Bedford’s London and Devon Estates Company and occupied by Arthur Hale at a rent of 1/11 per week.

The cottage had been “recently done up” and contained a living room and a kitchen on the ground floor with two bedrooms above. An earth closet stood outside. The valuer commented “very small and only thatched”. The entry for the cottage in the Historic Environment Record from the late 20th century notes that it was then the village post office.