17 Bedford Street Woburn

17 Bedford Street May 2012

17 Bedford Street was listed by the former Ministry of Works in October 1952. It is an impressive Georgian building, resembling a cut-down version of Number 12. The property dates from the early 18th century and may well have been built after a previous property on the site was destroyed in Woburn’s great fire of June 1724. It is built in red brick with an ashlar plinth, quoins and band at first floor level. The mansard roof is covered with 20th century tiles.

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. Woburn, like much of the county was valued in 1927 and the valuer visiting 17 Bedford Street [DV1/C137/96] found that it, like most of Woburn, was owned by the Duke of Bedford’s London and Devon Estates Company.

The tenant was A. J. Gardner whose rent was “in wages” and so he obviously worked for the duke. His accommodation comprised a reception room, a living room, a store room, a bathroom and W. C., a parlour, a kitchen and scullery, a cellar, three bedrooms and three attics. A barn stood outside.