4a Leighton Street Woburn

4a Leighton Street March 2012

4a Leighton Street was listed, like its neighbour 4 Leighton Street, by English Heritage in March 1987 as Grade II, of special interest. The house dates from the 18th century “possibly reworking an earlier structure”. It is built of red brick with a 20th century tile roof and comprises two storeys. The property was included among Woburn’s listed buildings “for its group value”.

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 4a Leighton Street [DV1/C126/141] found that it, like most of Woburn, was owned by the Duke of Bedford’s London and Devon Estates Company.

The building housed the Woburn Institution and Reading Rooms. A nominal rent of a shilling a year was charged. The institution’s library had been housed in the Town Hall until 1884 and now occupied a room measuring 18 feet by 16 feet. There was also a billiards room measuring 18 feet square.