Swindon in the Past Lane

'There is very little architecture in Swindon and a great deal of building,' John Betjeman famously wrote in 1950. 'But Swindon is more interesting than many towns which are more beautiful,' he also observed. The adoption of the 1952 Town Development Act saw Swindon enter a new era - new industry, new housing and a new town centre. In 'A Swindon Retrospect 1855-1930 local author Frederick Large remembers when green fields separated Old and New Swindon with Regent Street a mere farm track leading down to the canal.  Regent Circus 'was part of the farm, with a large cowyard and stalls for the housing of cattle where the Town Hall now stands,' Large writes. The first few cottages along this track were built in the 1850s and by 1865 the enterprising householders were trading from their front rooms in the newly named Regent Street.  Once a busy traffic through road, Regent Street was pedestrianised in 1965. The imposing Baptist Tabernacle was built ...

If your family worshipped at either the Baptist Tabernacle or the Cambria Place Chapel you stand a good chance of finding them in one of the church's Year Books. Those for 1895-1938 are held at Swindon Central Library and contain a fascinating amount of information. With just 24 members, the Swindon Baptist community had their beginnings in Prospect Place under the ministry of Rev. Richard Breeze, but by 1849 the congregation had moved into a new chapel in Fleet Street. In little over 35 years this also proved too small for the growing Baptist following and Swindon architect W H Read was commissioned to design a new chapel. Built to classical proportions, the Tabernacle certainly made a statement and soon became a focal point of Regent Circus, originally destined to be named Trafalgar Square. More than 1,000 people attended a tea party at the official opening and twenty years later membership stood at 780. Each Year Book contains a list of church members, among th...