Swindon in the Past Lane

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again … Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Actually, it was the rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute Trust once based at No 1, Milton Road, Swindon, where Mark Sutton, Graham Carter and I first produced the blue print for the Swindon Heritage magazine in 2011. In my dream I was attending a shambolic meeting that roamed across the spacious office accommodation. There I met some of the key characters of this story, although not all of them. Paul Gregory, or was it Noel Beauchamp, it could have been either, Julie Carter and a hot dog vendor (so vivid was the illusion that when I awoke, I had the taste of onions in my mouth). Then there was an on-going, ambulatory talk about saving the Mechanics’ Institute reminiscent of the famous ‘Save the Clock Tower’ scene in the 80s film Back to the Future. This account is rather rambling, isn’t it, but isn’t that the nature of a dream – making perfect sense when you are in it and none at all when you wake up? ...

Did you know that our neck of the woods was once just that - part of a wood, a very big wood? And not just any old wood but a Royal forest no less - Braydon Forest. The origins of Braydon Forest date back to the 9th century and a belt of woodland stretching from the Thame Valley to the Vale of Blackmore and known to the Saxons as Sealwudu. The Saxon lords were pretty easy going, it would appear, and then along came the Normans with their system of forest law, courts and officialdom. Braydon became a royal forest by 1135 and in the 13th century it contained an area of some 46 square miles. The forest bounds included not only woodland but fields of arable, meadow and pasture and even villages such as those of Lydiard Tregoze, Lydiard Millicent and Purton. In 1256, during the reign of Henry III the king gave Robert Tregoze 3 bucks and 8 does from Braydon to restock his park at Lydiard Tregoze and in 1270 John Tregoze obtained a royal licence to 'inclose and impark' his woo...

  You won’t find this little book promoted all over social media, which is perhaps a shame. But that wasn’t why it was written. I know we all say our opus magnum has been a labour of love, but for Marcia Church her book was just that. Marcia lived on Eastcott Hill and in the 1990s she befriended an elderly neighbour, Leonard Page. Leonard was born on July 30, 1904 the only child of Charles and Alice Page. The family lived at 4 Eastcott Hill at the time of Leonard’s birth, moving to number 17 by the time of the 1911 census. Leonard had a wealth of memories about a bygone Swindon and Marcia decided to write them down as she felt sure they would be of interest to someone. Well, they most definitely are and following her death earlier this year her typed manuscript found its way to Andy Binks, Chairman of the Swindon Society . Swindon – A Peep at the Past has been published exactly as Marcia typed it – complete with spelling mistakes, typos and wonky printing. It was a labour of ...

So, what or where are you most looking forward to revisiting as lockdown eases.  I can't wait for the record offices and especially Local Studies in Swindon Central Library to re-open. I have documents and books I am desperate to get my hands on for research purposes. Talking about research and books, the Library Shop in Swindon Central Library is offering a deal on my two books, Struggle and Suffrage in Swindon and the recently published Ladies of Lydiard available at £25 for the two. The story of Swindon is that of a town of two halves. Transformed by the coming of the railways the women were on the front line of change, shaping the new industrial town and transforming the old market one. The story of Swindon's women includes artists and actresses, political activists and social reformers, as well as the ordinary women who worked in the factories, raised their children and made a difference. Struggle and Suffrage in Swindon tells the story of these women. From Mary Slade who ...

It's never too early to introduce your grandchildren to history - even if they really, really don't want to know! When my daughter said she’d never walked along the canal, I immediately went into local historian mode. What a lovely idea for an educational day out. We made a picnic lunch and armed with cameras we headed off with grandchildren in tow. Our walk took the route that begins behind the Esso Service Station at the bottom of Kingshill and extends into the Wichelstowe housing development. Begun in 1795 and under construction for 15 years, the Wilts & Berks canal opened in 1810. Stretching 52 miles from Semington Junction on the Kennet and Avon to the Thames at Abingdon, the canal was used chiefly for the transportation of coal from the Somerset mines. Its most profitable period was during the construction of the Great Western Railway and the Swindon works when it was used to convey materials. Sadly, the collapse of the Stanley Aqueduct over the River Marden in 1901...

  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 fo...

Things have been rather quiet of late in the Past Lane but I’ve been pretty busy behind the scenes. First there was Grave Matters, a survey of the churchyard at St. Mary’s, Lydiard Park and the small cemetery at Hook. As part of a team of volunteers I have been working on photographing and collating the inscriptions on the headstones and writing histories of some of the people buried there. The work of the Grave Matters group will contribute to the Project Archives enterprise – for more details visit the Friends of Lydiard Park website. Next came the discovery of the fascinating Woolford diaries. Elliot Woolford farmed at Hook Farm from 1899 until his death in 1941. Throughout that time, he kept a diary, begun in 1892 when as a young man he started his farming career at Bagbury Farm with his brothers Rowland and Charles. The diaries provide a view of everyday life in the rural parish of Lydiard Tregoze during a time of great social change. As might be expected Elliot takes great...

I have just received the most extraordinarily thoughtful present. For many years I have been researching and writing about Swindon Suffragette Edith New, who ranks as one of the most influential suffragettes along with the Pankhurst family and the Kenney sisters. She scored a number of Suffragette firsts - the first to chain herself to railings as a form of protest, the first to break a window (at 10 Downing Street, no less) and the first Suffragette to go on hunger strike in a Scottish prison. My research into the life and times of Edith New has involved giving talks and tours of the places associated with her here in Swindon and I was part of the Swindon Heritage team who installed a blue plaque on the house where she was born in North Street Swindon. Edith was born on March 17, 1877, the youngest surviving child of Frederic James New and his second wife Isabella. Frederic died before Edith's first birthday, struck by a train while walking along the railway line t...

Are you watching A House Through Time  written and presented by historian David Olusoga? Have you been inspired to research the history of your own house? My home in West Swindon was built in the 1980s and while the surrounding area has plenty of fascinating history, the house itself has none. However, the house where I grew up in London has a long history. Built in the 1850s when a property in Brixton was a most desirable residence, 5 St John's Road was the long time residence of the Nicholson family who lived alongside some salubrious neighbours. In 1861 Thomas Quarm lived in a detached property called Rose Villa on the corner where St John's Road met Wiltshire Road. Thomas Quarm was born in Plymouth in about 1815 and had quite a chequered career. But by 1851 he had educated and reinvented himself and was employed as Clerk of Works on that most prestigious of new builds - the Palace of Westminster. On October 16, 1858 the illustrated News of the World reported at grea...