Easter Sunday Walk

Swindon is an interesting town – no, honestly it is. From medieval market town to Victorian industrial hub, Swindon had members of the aristocracy living at Lydiard House and innovative engineers in New Swindon. We are surrounded by heritage at every turn.

In West Swindon you might think the ancient agricultural heritage had been lost beneath the 1980s housing development, but even here there is plenty of evidence remaining.

Wick Farmhouse and the neighbouring properties overlook the field which gives the housing estate its name – the Prinnels. In 1841, following the Tithe Commutation Act 1836, records reveal that Jonas Clarke farmed 150 acres of land at Wick, but the history of the farm goes back much further than that. Owned by Alfred of Marlborough when the Domesday survey was compiled in 1086 the farm passed to the Ewyas family down through the Tregoze, Grandison and Beauchamp families to the St. Johns who owned it for more than 500 years.

The Victorian Wick Lane now forms part of the footpath across the Shaw Ridge Linear Park. In the warm sunshine on Easter Sunday I sat on a bench overlooking a field once called Upper Wick and took photographs of the blackthorn in full flower.

As I said, Swindon is an interesting town – no, honestly it is!

Wick Lane

Former farmland at Wick Farm

Blackthorn blossom

Wick Farmhouse

The Prinnels

Jonas Clarke

Aerial views of Wick Farm before the 1980s western development of Swindon.

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