2 and 4 High Street Toddington

2 and 4 High Street March 2016

Although now combined into a single property 2 and 4 High Street originally formed two separate premises. The three-storey building was listed by the former Department of the Environment in 1980 as Grade II, of special interest. Built in the mid-19th century of yellow brick with a Welsh slate, at the time of the listing the properties already had modern shop fronts.

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. When the valuation was carried out for Toddington in 1927 number 2 was owned by Mrs Hunt and occupied by Barclay's Bank Limited. The bank premises measured 17 feet by 12 feet. The house was occupied by a caretaker and included two rooms on the ground floor, and two rooms and a landing on both the first and second floors. The valuer noted that the corner site was "just the place for a bank" [DV1/C85/46]. At that time number 4 was a house, owned by Miss Horley and occupied by Charles Buckingham at a rent of £8 per annum which the valuer considered absurdly low for what was a "very good place". The house consisted of a living room and kitchen on the ground floor, and two bedrooms on each of the two upper floors; outside were a barn and an earth closet [DV1/C85/45].

Barclays Bank in 1973 [X693/4]