7 Church Road Wootton

7 Church Road May 2010

7 Church Road is a neat cottage, with something of the child’s representation of a house about it. It was listed by English Heritage in August 1987 as Grade II, of special interest. The original property may have been 18th century or older but it was refaced in the 19th century in red brick. It comprises two storeys beneath an old clay tiled roof.

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. Like most of the county, Wootton was largely assessed in 1927 and the valuer visiting the property [DV1/C50/68] found it owned by P. Hill and occupied by E. B. Beard whose rent, £4/8/- per quarter had been set in 1923.

The cottage comprised a living room, a front room, a kitchen and a cellar; three bedrooms lay on the first floor. Outside was a barn and an earth closet. The valuer commented: “Water from Vicarage 200 yards away” and “Good cottage in very bad repair”. Another hand has written “Very poor”.

By 1940 the owner was T. W. Ayres. He applied for planning permission for drains in that year [RDBP3/267].