Swindon in the Past Lane

A church has stood in the Lawn, the site of the former Goddard family home, since the 12th century. All that remains standing today is the chancel and three pairs of piers which once flanked the nave. By the 1850s the coming of the railways had seen the population of Swindon increase. The ancient parish church was no longer fit for purpose. In a poor state of repair and inadequate to accommodate the rapidly growing congregation the decision was reached to close it and commission Sir George Gilbert Scott to design a new one. Upon completion of Christ Church in 1851, Holy Rood was partially demolished. But for cemetery enthusiasts like myself even worse was to come. Sometime in the second half of the 20th century it was decided to remove the gravestones, presumably to facilitate the mowing of the churchyard. The headstones were carefully arranged around the perimeter wall, which probably seemed a good idea at the time. Unfortunately, over the years ivy has grown up and over the sto...

When Ambrose Goddard married Sarah Williams it involved a lot of legal man hours and a very large document. The Marriage Settlement dated 12 August 1776 reads like a tour of eighteenth century Swindon with some very familiar place names, even now more than 240 years later. Ambrose Goddard released in trust to his kinsman Ambrose Awdry and Charles Penruddocke, Wiltshire neighbour and political colleague, the manors of Over Swindon and Nether Swindon and parcels of land called Walcot, Tismead and Oakus grounds. Also included were messuages (house and land) in Wanborough and Stanton, Westlecott Farm in Wroughton and the tolls of markets and fairs in Swindon. Sarah's father, the Rev. Thomas Williams was no slouch in the property stakes either and in an accompanying document released properties in Carmarthenshire in trust to Owen Brigslock. Ambrose and Sarah married at St James's, Westminster on August 17, 1776. Sarah was 26 years old and Ambrose 45. The couple had three son...

How many people coming across the name Goddard Vilett would assume this is probably a man? Well I did at first and very nearly overlooked yet another important woman in Swindon's history. I found a marriage entry dated 1710 in the Holy Rood parish registers when William Horne married Mrs Goddard Vilett, and I wondered if William was marrying a widow still using her deceased husband’s name, but no, that wasn’t the case.  The South Marston parish registers record that 'Mr Thomas Vilett & Mrs Elleanor Goddard were married December 11th, 1681.'   Their daughter Goddard Vilett was baptised at the same church on June 24, 1683, but obviously grew up in Swindon where her Vilett family lived. Eleanor's branch of the Goddard family settled in South Marston and the parish records include the baptism of James Goddard's eight children between 1657 and 1673 with Eleanor (Ellen) baptised in 1661. Sadly, Thomas and Eleanor's marriage was a short one as she died ...

You know you’ve got a bad case of this family history research malarkey when you spend hours trying to trace someone who died more than 280 years ago and who isn’t even a member of your family. I have recently set myself the task of researching all the women from the Goddard family called Priscilla (l know, it seemed a good idea at the time!) I began with Priscilla D’Oyley who brought the name into the family. Next, I traced her daughter Priscilla Sedgwick. All reasonably straightforward and very interesting. Then I came across a will written by Priscilla Vilett and proved in 1834. This will be nice and easy, I thought, coming across a whole bunch of names I recognised. ‘Priscilla daughter of Thos Vilett Esq & Mary [formerly Goddard] was baptised on March 18, 1754’ at Holy Rood Church, Swindon, according to the parish registers. Priscilla was one of quite a small family for the time and when her father made his will, he mentions just three children - a son Thomas...

There are so many beautiful and historic places in Swindon, but if we don't protect and care for them what example are we setting to those who do not understand their value. Today Andy Binks of the Swindon Society and I took best selling novelist Nicola Cornick on a tour of the chancel (all that remains of Holy Rood Church) and the Lawn. Many years ago the gravestones were moved and propped up against the perimeter wall, now the inscriptions on most of them are illegible. History lost. The church building is seldom open, just once a year during the Old Town Festival. Perhaps it is no wonder that graffiti is beginning to make an unwelcome reappearance and empty cans litter the churchyard. If you would like to see the chancel open more frequently with talks and walks around the ancient churchyard, please let us know. You can leave a message here on this blog or visit the Swindon in the Past Lane facebook page. And why not join members of the Swindon Society at their month...

Headstones are not the indestructible objects previous generations might have thought they would be. Lettering comes off and even inscriptions set in stone weather and degrade, in some cases the whole front of a headstone shears off in one sheet. We've all seen small church cemeteries where the gravestones have been moved and set around the churchyard wall or used as paving around the church. In 'The Story of Purton: a collection of notes and hearsay' published in 1919, Ethel Richardson recalls an old song still remembered in the neighbourhood around the turn of the century, but probably much older in origin, and an explanation for the disappearance of at least one village gravestone. The Village Baker Job Jenkins was a baker and A very honest elf, By selling crust and crumbs he made A tidy crust himself, But Job he lived in better days When bills were freely paid, And bakers were thought honest then So bread was never weighed. While walking through the old...

Sadly Swindon has a poor record for preserving its heritage. So many fine buildings have been lost over the years with the Mechanics' Institute and the Corn Exchange just about hanging on in there. And it would seem that it was ever thus. A church had stood on the site in the Lawn since 1154 and was dedicated to St Mary until the mid 16th century. It was partially restored in 1736 but by the mid 19th century was fast becoming too small for the town's growing population. Christ Church, the new parish church in Old Town, was consecrated in 1851, leaving the old church of Holy Rood abandoned. The Vestry, the seat of local government back in the day, met in March 1853 and after thanking the re-elected Churchwardens Robert Reynolds and Richard Read for their work during the previous year, it was announced that the old parish church would be demolished asap. Did they discuss an alternative use for the building? Did they consider preserving more than 700 years of history? Does...