6 to 12 Dunstable Road January 2010

The 19th century village of Studham was largely a cluster of surviving properties in Dunstable Road. The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every piece of land and building in the country was to be assessed to determine the rates to be paid on it. Studham was assessed at the end of 1926 and the valuer visiting 6 to 12 Dunstable Road [DV1/C21/14-17] discovered the brick and slate was owned by William Gladman. The individual properties were as follows:

• 12: occupied by William Matthews at a rent of 2/6 per week ("fixed during war"). The property comprised a kitchen and scullery downstairs with two bedrooms above. A weather-boarded and corrugated iron barn and brick earth closet stood outside.
• 10: occupied by Fred Hart at a rent of 1/9 per week. The property comprised a kitchen and scullery downstairs with two bedrooms above. A weather-boarded and corrugated iron barn and brick earth closet stood outside.
• 8: occupied by Thomas Lomas at a rent of two shillings per week. The property comprised a kitchen and scullery downstairs with two bedrooms above partly "over passage". A brick, corrugated iron and weather-boarded barn and coal shed stood outside. The valuer commented that it was not worth a higher rent than Number 10.
• 6: occupied by F. Austin at a rent of 11/6 per month: the valuer commented: "Very good, Rent absurd". It had a reception room and kitchen downstairs with three small bedrooms above. Outside stood a weather-boarded and corrugated iron barn and a brick earth closet. The valuer commented: "Water from village well" which, presumably, also applied to the rest of the terrace.