Swindon in the Past Lane

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...

Some of the lakeside trees at Lydiard Park are believed to be about 250 years old, dating from the mid 18th century redevelopment of the parkland. In 1743 John, 2nd Viscount St John, remodelled the medieval mansion house with his wealthy wife's inheritance. He swept away the old formal gardens and introduced the new, 'natural' looking landscape popularised by leading English landscape artist Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. In recent years the vagaries of the British weather have taken their toll on the trees at Lydiard Park and when this majestic tree (pictured above) close to the house was brought down in heavy winds several years ago, I was told the sad story of a grieving mother who planted two trees for the sons she lost fighting in the Civil Wars. I wondered why I had never heard this poignant story before ... The mother in question was Anne Leighton, Lady St John, the wife of Sir John St John, 1st Baronet. But there were a few inconsistencies in the ...