Swindon in the Past Lane

The Locomotive might sound an obvious name for a pub in Swindon, but there have been surprisingly few.  With just one exception, even those pubs built alongside the company houses appear to have declined a railway associated name. The railway village pubs were all built in what was originally called High Street, a large grassed area enclosed by railings and later renamed Emlyn Square.  The Cricketers, the first fully licensed public house in New Swindon, opened in 1847 and took its name from its location near the GWR Cricket Field.  The Bakers Arms, on the corner of Bathampton Street, was originally owned by the GWR and served as both a beerhouse and a bakers.  The London Stout House, another GWR property, opened in about 1851 on the corner of Reading Street.  The name was later changed to the Glue Pot when it became the favourite watering hole of woodworkers employed in the carriage bodymaking and finishing shops.  The Engineers Arms, a relativ...

When the Sir Daniel Arms opened its doors in June 2007 it wasn't for the first time. A public house of the same name had stood in Fleet Street for around 140 years, which is somewhat surprising given a clause in the original deeds. Old Swindon brewer John Harding Sheppard made sure he protected his business interests when he sold land called 'Upper Ground or Fosters Upper Ground' in 1848. George Selby, a tea dealer from Eastcott, bought a piece of the land on 'the Highway called Fleet Way,' agreeing as part of the sale that he would not 'carry on or permit or suffer to be carried on ...the Trade or business of a Brewer, Publican, Beer House Keeper or Dealer in or retailer of beer or other Malt Liquor Wines or Spirits or any offensive Trade or calling whatsoever.' By 1851 George had opened a grocer's shop on the site but the property soon changed hands. In 1858 new owner William Henry Warner drew up a seven year lease with Charles Lea, a New Sw...