Regulars at the Southbrook Inn may be unaware that their favourite watering hole was once a dairy farm. In 1986 the 18 th century building received a Grade II listing but a farm has stood on this site for much longer. When the property came up for sale in 1763 Thomas Goddard, Lord of the Manor of Swindon, was ready to sign on the dotted line, having informed his attorney, Mr Thomas Athawes, that he was ‘very well satisfied with the Title of Southbrook Farm.’ The Abstract of Title over which Thomas Goddard had cast his discerning eye dated from 1669 and is available for consultation at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham. This document provides a detailed history of the property and its various owners and occupiers across nearly 100 years. The property in Rodbourne Cheney was included in the marriage settlement of local couple Thomas Richmond alias Webb and Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Sir William Thomson in 1690. By 1763 the p...