When Thomas Goddard of Upham acquired the manor of Swindon in 1563 he made his first home at Westlecott Manor House. However, it was The Lawn mansion house that was to become best associated with the family.
Situated next to the 13th century Holy Rood Church and set in parkland overlooking open fields, The Lawn was built on the site of a former medieval manor house and known as Swindon House until the early 19th century.
The north range of the house contained architectural features similar to those at the Vilett house in Cricklade Street, dating it to around 1729. Throughout the 19th century additions were made including south and east wings and later in the century an arcaded loggia overlooking a sunken garden to the west of the house.
Across the generations the house and manor of Swindon made an erratic descent through the Goddard family. In 1732 bachelor Richard left it to his unmarried brother Pleydell. When Pleydell died ten years later the next heir was Ambrose Goddard who descended from another branch of the family.
By the 1860s the future of the forty roomed family home was looking secure. Ambrose Lethbridge Goddard, MP for Cricklade and Major in the Royal Wilts Yeomanry was in residence with his wife Charlotte and their five children.
It would be the couple's second son Fitzroy Pleydell Goddard who inherited the estate, but with no children to pass it on to following his death in 1927, the house stood empty after his widow moved out in 1931.
Requisitioned by the army during the Second World War, during which time the house suffered some considerable damage, Swindon Corporation eventually bought the mansion house and 52 acres in 1946. The original asking price was £18,000 but Town Clerk David Murray John secured it for £2,000 less.
Development of The Lawn was discussed in a memo from the Borough Surveyor to the Town Clerk dated December 7, 1948. Although plans for a nine hole golf course were quashed the Borough Surveyor writes - "I am of the opinion the only suitable use for the land would be that of an open space on which the Public could wander at will or enjoy picnics."
Sadly the condition of the house continued to deteriorate and an inspection of the property made by the Borough Architect in September 1950 predicted that "collapse of large portions of the walls and parapets being likely to occur at any time without warning."
Six months later he was called out again following the theft of lead from the roof. "I have to report that the building is become a derelict and dangerous structure, for already a large part of the first floor has collapsed and masonry and brick work is breaking away and falling from the upper part of the structure," he wrote.
Oak roof timbers, oak panelled doors, frames and linings, lead ridging, rainwater leads and down pipes, Cotswold stone roof tiles, wrought iron balustrading and several large mirrors were among the items identified as being salvageable at the time of the demolition.
The Conservatory block and outbuildings were exempt from the 1952 demolition but all that remains of the mansion house today are some garden features, stone steps and the gazebo.
The Italinate gardens
Major Fitzroy Pleydell Goddard - the last Goddard Swindon Lord of the Manor
A 1960s view of the entrance to the Lawn
The entrance today
The gazebo
Old images of The Lawn and Major Fitzroy Pleydell Goddard are courtesy of the Swindon Local Collection - visit www.flickr.com/photos/swindonlocal/
Join us for a guided walk at Holy Rood Church in the Lawn on Sunday, July 28. Meet at the church for 2 pm.
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Fitzroy Pleydell Goddard
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