Bede Cottages, Orby Road, Addlethorpe, Lincolnshire
These two cottages were built in the late 1600s. In 1710, a charity was founded by Samuel Mottram, for the cottages to be used for 2 widows or widowers of the Parish. Those that lived there also had the use of half an acre of adjoining land and 2 chaldrons of coal. A chaldron is an ancient weight used for coal. It was not standard across England as a Newcastle chaldron was 53 cwt (hundredweight) and a London one around 26cwt. In modern terms 2 chaldrons could have been anywhere between 1300kg - 2650kg of coal.
