During the move into our new head office at Stratford Business and Technology Park, we made an exciting historic discovery. We’re delighted to have found a selection of our old property auction record books, dating back 90 years to the 1930s! In those days, Sheldon Bosley Knight was known as Kibler Morgan & Son. We’ve been selling property in Stratford-upon-Avon for over 100 years, growing from our first office in Ely Street to a chain of six branches.

Before the days of digital, we relied on newspapers to advertise our properties and one of the books is full of hundreds of faded cuttings. The earliest is dated December 13th 1929 from the Stratford Herald, which we still advertise in to this day. In a stark contrast from today, the average price of a three bedroom, semi detached house in 1929 Stratford was £450. The yearly rent price, or “rateable value“, for many of our standard properties was just £7! Although a premium listing, including “three acres of land, thee reception rooms, eight bedrooms, a garage, stables and three convenient cottages” was sold by private treaty for £4,500 in January 1930. In the early 1930s, many older homes in rural areas still relied on an outdoor toilet and coal store, as electricity was an expensive luxury. How times have changed!

The record books are an exciting piece of our history and will now be proudly displayed at head office.