Southill Post Office 1960s [Z1130/106/6]

At the time of writing [2008] 55 High Street was the Village Post Office and store, although it was announced on 17th September 2008 that it would be one of a number of post offices in the county to close permanently. Teas are served and can be drunk in the garden in front of the shop. The building has been a post office since at least the mid 1960s, as a postcard produced then demonstrates. In the 1920s the Post Office had been at 34 High Street|.

55 High Street was listed by the former Department of Environment as Grade II, of special interest. A plaque outside notes SW 1815 - SW being Samuel Whitbread II who died in that year. The date probably indicates a reworking of an older cottage. The building is timber-framed and, like most of the village, has a colour-washed roughpcast render over the top of it.

55 High Street March 2008

In 1927 Southill was valued under the Rating Valuation Act 1925; every piece of land and building in the country was assessed to determine the rates to be paid on it. The valuer visiting 55 High Street [DV1/C124/31] noted that it was owned by the Whitbread Estate and tenanted by J.W.Merryweather. It stood in a quarter of an acre and was leased for £44/9/- per annum. Accommodation comprised two living rooms, a kitchen, scullery and dairy downstairs with three bedrooms above. The valuer commented: "1815" and "Slope up".