Property Summary
Parish of Strood |
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In 1885 the stable and cart shed were compulsorily purchased by the South Eastern Railway Company, leaving 0a.0r.10p. and 4 square yards in the lease.
Assessed rent per acre was £262 1s. 4d. from 1862, rising to £426 6s. 9d. after surrender of the stable in 1885.
Bridge House
This commercial property contained by planimeter measurement about 0a.0r.5p. of land adjacent to the Bridge Tavern, located between the roadway and railway bridges and under one arch of the railway bridge. In 1879 it was let on a building lease from Michaelmas 1877 to the contractor John Ball, who built a tenement known as Bridge House.
Rent AnalysisFrom 1877 to 1914 the rent was unchanged at £10 (£320 per acre).
Strood High Street
73 High Street
This commercial property, containing 25 feet of frontage on the south side of the High Street in Strood, was purchased by the Bridge Wardens in 1843 and sold in 1888. The property was described in 1866 as a "messuage tenement or shop with the yard passageway and appurtenances thereunto belonging". After a succession of tenancies at will, the property was let to Messrs. Aveling & Porter Limited on a building lease in 1866 with a covenant "within the first 15 years of the said term to pull down the messuage shop and buildings and to erect and completely finish new and substantial erections and buildings thereon of the value of not less than £500". Messrs. Aveling & Porter Limited, who owned the adjacent land, incorporated the property into their new steam engine factory and offices. The 1874 survey, as plotted on the 1866 Ordnance Survey map, calculates the area as 0a.0r.10p. and 23 square yards. The book of reference to the Rochester Bridge estates (RBT: E01/02/113, p. 23) describes it as "a portion of a Brick, compo and tiled building containing on the Ground floor a Mess room and Offices and on the First floor a Carpenters Shop. A portion of Iron built and slated open Engine fitting shed". The Charity Commission Sealed Order, authorising its sale on 21 September 1888, described the premises as "containing 2,576 square feet or thereabouts", i.e., 0a.0r.9p. and 14 square yards; however, the 1874 measurement of 0a.0r.10p. and 23 square yards has been used throughout the period.
Rent AnalysisThe rent per acre rose from £95 3s. 4d. in 1843 to £237 18s. 4d. in the 1866 lease.
Strood Approach
Land adjoining Southwest Side
This small triangular piece of land opposite the Aveling & Porter factory, between the old Strood High Street on the south and the Strood Approach on the north, contained 0a.0r.24p. as measured in 1874 by Tonbridge surveyor E. Dann and recorded in the Book of Reference to the Rochester Bridge Estates plotted on the 1866 Ordnance Survey map:
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Let to Aveling & Porter Limited from 1863 until 1914, this commercial property formed part of their factory yard.
Rent AnalysisFrom 1863 to 1914 the assessed rent per acre was £307 10s. 8d.
Strood Approach Arches and Adjoining Land
This commercial property, comprising a yard under the arches of the roadway bridge and part of the railway bridge, contained 0a.0r.30. and 21 square yards as measured in the 1874 survey and recorded in the Book of Reference to the Rochester Bridge Estates plotted on the 1866 Ordnance Survey map:
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The area under the roadway arches was let on various tenancies-at-will until 1872, when Messrs. Aveling & Porter Limited leased the entire area for a storage yard for their steam engine works. Although it was adjacent to the yard on the southwest side of the Strood approach described above, it was accounted for separately in the records. In 1877, the 0a.0r.5p. occupied by Bridge House were removed from this holding, and in 1907 one of the roadway arches, containing 0a.0r.2p. and 25 square yards, was taken into hand, leaving a total of 0a.0r.19p. and 22 square yards in the lease in 1914.
Rent AnalysisWhen let to various tenants between 1867 and 1871, the land under the arches averaged £183 15s. 9d. per acre. From 1872 until 1914 the yard and arches leased to Messrs. Aveling & Porter Limited averaged £102 1s. 1d per acre.
Strood Approach Urinal
The urinal on the Strood Approach, leased to The Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of Rochester, contained 0a.0r.0p. and 3 square yards, as measured in the 1874 survey and recorded in the book of reference to the Rochester Bridge estates plotted on the 1866 Ordnance Survey map.
Rent AnalysisFrom its construction in 1866 until its removal during the reconstruction of the bridge in 1911, the premises yielded an acknowledgement rent of 5s. per annum, making an assessed rent per acre of £403 4s. 6d.
Strood Approach Cab Stand
This small strip of land, measuring 6 feet by 60 feet and containing 0a.0r.1p. and 10 square yards on the northwest side of the Strood Approach, was leased by the City of Rochester from 1879 to 1914 for use as a cab stand at an acknowledgement rent of 2s. 6d. (£15 2s. 8d. per acre). In 1890 the strip was extended another 45 feet in length to contain 0a.0r.2p. and 10 square yards at the same rent of 2s. 6d. (£8 12s. 11d. per acre).