31 Church Road Willington

31 Church Road about 1950 [X535/1]

31 Church Road was listed by the former Department of Environment in May 1984 as Grade II, of special interest. The department dated the property to the 17th century. The cottage is timber framed with colour washed brick infill and a half-hipped
thatched roof and comprises one-storey and attics. To the left-hand side is a 20th century colour washed single storeyed lean-to additon extending beyond the left gable end. Another 20th century addition, of one storey and with a  tiled  roof stands at the west gable end.

The cottage may have been built by a Lord of the Manor. Until 1731 the manor was owned by the Gostwick family, then the Dukes of Marlborough until 1779 when the manor was purchased by the Duke of Bedford. Alternatively the manorial estate may have bought the cottage at a later date.

In November 1903 then Lords of the Manor, George and James Keeble, put the Willington Manor Estate properties in the village up for sale by auction. The sale particulars [X403/3] included both 31 and 33 Church Road in the same lot – Lot 37 which reads as follows:

Three Stud and Thatched Cottages

East of Lot 36 [39 Church Road], Numbers 22, 23 and 24 with boarden tiled Hovels and Gardens, being part of Number 38 on the Ordnance Survey Plan and containing

2 roods 10 poles
OR THEREABOUTS

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. Willington, like much of the county, was assessed in 1927 and the valuer visiting 31 Church Road, then 24 The Village, found it owned by Mark Young, who had bought some of the former Willington Manor Estate in 1903.

The tenant was W. G. Bonness who paid thirteen shillings per month in rent. Accommodation comprised a living room, a kitchen and scullery and two bedrooms in the roof. A weather-boarded and tiled barn stood outside. The valuer commented: “Poor place”.

In May 1948 Mark Young’s executors sold his properties in Willington at auction. The sale particulars [PK1/4/178] still included 31 and 33 Church Road in the same lot – Lot 24, which was described thus.

THREE COTTAGES
Built of Brick, Plaster and Thatch
Being 22, 23 and 24, CHURCH ROAD, WILLINGTON

In the occupation of  Messrs. S. Norman and R. Theobald and Miss L. Smith

Numbers 22 and 23 each contain 2 Living Rooms, 2 Bedrooms, Barn and Earth Closet

Water is obtained from a Well in the garden

Number 24 contains 2 Living Rooms, Scullery, 2 Bedrooms, 2 Brick and Pantile Barns and Earth Closet.

Water is obtained from a Well in the Garden

The whole producing a
Rental of £21:10:0 per annum
(the Landlord paying the Rates on Number 22. the tenants in Numbers 23 and 24)

The particulars are annotated to show that the lot realised £210, reserve having been £100. The purchaser was L. V. Davison.

31 Church Road April 2010