No 14                                  Kingsley House

This dwelling was built at the end of the 17th century during the reign of William and Mary.  Originally it formed at least two tied cottages belonging to Shotesham Park Estate.  Little more is known of its history except that in the early party of the 19th century it housed a butchers shop at one end and a grocers shop, run by Mr Johnson, at the other.  Pigs were raised and slaughtered in a small barn at the back of the cottage.  Mrs Watson’s laundry stood close by to the south, but was sadly demolished in the 1960s.

Mr Arthur Eayres from Northampton bought the property, along with several others, from the Estate in 1926.  His family lived there for four generations and his grandson and great-grandson still live in the village today.  The original cottages were turned into one and in the 1950s an extension was added to the South end of the house so that two generations could be accommodated.