Sunnyside Cottage - 5 High Street Thurleigh

Sunnyside in 1960 [ref: Z53/122/3]

5 High Street, or Sunnyside Cottage, adjoins The Jackal Public House. The cottage was listed by English Heritage in August 1983 as Grade II, of special interest. In fact it was once a pair of cottages and dates from the 18th century. The structure is of clay, or timber, walls overlaid with colour washed roughcast with some colour washed brick. Each cottage originally had two rooms and comprised one storey and attics beneath a thatched roof. There is an extension to the east end of the rear made of brick and pantiled. The listing notes: Listed for group value”.

It may be the cottage referred to in deed to the Jackal. In 1735 this cottage was conveyed by William Earl to John Savidge or Savage, blacksmith [ref: WL1000/1/Thur1/6]. It was the occupied by Widow Franklyn. By 1747, when Savage mortgaged the cottage it was in the occupations of John Harlow and John Savage the younger [ref: WL1000/1/Thur1/8]. When SDavage made his will in 1742 he referred to the "little house standing in my yard" [ref: WL1000/1/Thur1/9]. This house was sold to William Gale in 1762 [ref: WL1000/1/Thur1/11].

By 1817 the property has become the Trefoil Public House (now the Jackal) and a nearby cottage occupied by Roger Goss [ref: WL1000/1/Thur1/12]. Both were sold to Robert Jefferies in 1832 [WL1000/1/Thur1/18] by which time the cottage was described as adjoining the Jackal and occupied by Edward Griggs [ref: WL1000/1/Thur/18]. In 1869 Jackal and cottage were sold to Bedford brewers Lewis Page Jarvis and Robert Page Jarvis [ref: WL1000/1/Thur1/20].

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 today’s Sunnyside Cottage found that it was still two separate dwellings at that date [ref: DV1/C73/22-23]. Both were owned by a Mrs Russell who occupied the easternmost half herself, the other half being in the occupation of T Hinyan whose rent was £3 per annum. Both cottages comprised a living room and a room so small it is described as a passage downstairs with two bedrooms in the attics. In 1988 planning permission was sought to extend the cottage [ref: BorBTP/88/1918].

5 High Street - Sunnyside Cottage, January 2015