Penhill - a Diamond Estate

In 2012 Penhill celebrated it's own Diamond Jubilee along with the Queen. In 1952 Swindon was designated an overspill town and this aerial view shows the estate still under construction. The estate was built on the American Radburn lines in superblocks with houses grouped in small cul de sacs around areas of park or open space.

Several features are missing from this 1950s photograph; the Royal British Legion Club in Downton Road has yet to make an appearance along with the block of high rise housing in Seagry Court, built in the 1960s. Building stops at Latton Close at the extreme left of the photograph with the broad sweep of Leigh Road in the foreground.

A hundred years ago Francis Hoddinott was the farmer at Penhill Farm, part of a small settlement just outside the Swindon borough boundary in Stratton St Margaret. In 1951 Swindon Corporation acquired the farm with around 250 acres of building land and by 1965 there were 2,000 houses. The 2001 census revealed a Penhill population of over 6,000.

Despite some bad press in the past, Penhill today enjoys a thriving community spirit much of it emanating from the John Moulton Hall.

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Swindon in the Past Lane

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