Chawston House

stables at Chawston House in 1961 [Z53/97/6]

Chawston House should not be confused with Chawston Manor|. Both lay on the north side of Colesden Road, the former to the east, the latter to the west of the road to Staploe. The latter still exists, whilst the latter has been demolished. Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service has details [CRT130ROX6] taken from a sale catalogue relating to the Chawston House Estate in 1851. The estate comprised the house, a farm homestead and 44 acres of arable and pasture in Great Barford. The house is described as "substantially built brick and tiled residence of neat elevation, known as "Chawson House" being a most comfortable dwelling for a small family" comprising "a spacious and lofty hall", dining room (24' 3" by 20' and 13' high), drawing room (24' 3" by 15' by 13' high), kitchen, back kitchen, larder, store rooms, cellar, 6 good bedrooms, dressing rooms and 2 attics with 3 staircases it was "in nice order, being neatly painted and papered, with convenient closets throughout"; there was also a small greenhouse, paved yard ("in which is a pump and well of excellent water"), knife and coal places, 3 stalled stable, coach house, cart shed, loose box and wood barn most of which had lofts over; a kitchen garden "well planted with fruit trees"; 3 entrances with gravel walks and lawns, "tastefully laid out with shrubs and evergreens, together with a paddock of prime pasture land" the whole thing came to about 7 acres and had been in the occupation of C.J.Metcalfe, late Lord of the Manor.

Chawston House was valued in 1927 under the Rating Valuation Act 1925 when owner and occupier was Frederick Shirley Newell. The house stood in 1.194 acres and comprised a hall (7 x 20ft), dining room (24 by 18¾ft), kitchen (14 by 13½ft), scullery ("poor"), pantry, wc, larder, and drawing room (24 by 14ft) downstairs; upstairs were a bathroom and partitioned wc and a double bedroom leading through the bathroom (14 by 17½ft), a morning room (14ft square), a store place, a double bedroom (15 by 22½ft) over the drawing room, a single bedroom over the hall (12 by 15½ft) and a double bedroom over the dining room (24 by 18¾ft) with two maid's rooms on a slope above. Outside were a washhouse, two store places, a wood store, coach house or garage, three stall stable (of which one stall was used) and garden as well as eleven pigsties, a cow house for nine beasts and a cow house used as a hen house. Petrol, gas and water supply were "good" and drainage "perfect" but the valuer considered the house badly planned, it was also very close to the road and "not a taking property".

The house was still in existence in 1961 as the photograph shows but must have been demolished quite soon afterwards as it does not appear on Ordnance Survey maps of the 1970s.

Chawston House used to lie imemdiately behind the tree