You never know what you’re going to fnd when you clear out a house that’s been lived in for a long time. A young Justin Burzynski moved into Lock Cottage off Bridge Street in the 1970s with the rest of his family and although he moved away in later years, there his parents stayed until his mother sadly passed away earlier this year.

So, after a while, it was of course time to roll up the sleeves and go through everything, which included a mysterious box of documents under the bed, all relating to the title deeds of the property. And in among them was an auctioneer’s prospectus, from exactly 100 years ago in 1924, detailing seven properties in Barrow which were up for sale on South Street and Bridge Street from Grace Cottage at one end down to Piet’s Cottage at the other.

How strange to think that the seven properties, all of which are still standing, all went under the hammer at exactly the same time on a summer’s evening in 1924. Turning the page, we come to Lot 1, which is Lock Cottage itself.

The annual rent of a bit less than £21, would work out in today’s money at about £89 a month! Living as we do, at a time of horrendous property prices, it does have the look of a bargain and Mr Holland looks like he was onto a good thing. The upshot of the auction was that Lock Cottage was acquired by the Freer family, who were owners for nearly all the time until the early 1970s, when Justin’s family bought it.

And what of the house today? It’s clearly visible on the right as you walk down the canal from the Navigation Inn towards the lock and still looks in remarkably good condition considering that it was built in either the late 1700s or early 1800s. Will it once again go under the auctioneer’s hammer? Not a bit of it. Justin and Vanessa are hoping to sell their house in South Leicestershire to move to the cottage and make more happy memories together with their family.

Guy Silk

If you are interested to read more about this part of Barrow, take a look at Malcolm Dark’s book: The Navigation Pub and the Canal to Barrow Deep Lock, Barrow upon Soar.