When brick and tile manufacturer Thomas Turner wanted to advertise his wares he certainly thought of an eye-catching method. In 1889 he built two properties known as the 'catalogue houses.' The two cottages along with Jessamine Cottage, were 19th century show homes, built to display every brick and tile, every finial and moulding, made in Turner's works. The properties were constructed at the front of his manufacturing site in Drove Road, one of around nine brick works operating in boomtown Swindon in the late 19th century. Topped off with terracotta acorns, crests and rosettes and even a pottery portrait, said to be that of Daniel Lynch, master potter at the Stratton works, they are unique examples of Turner's expertise. Turner's own home, Grove House, a substantial Victorian villa stood slightly removed from his worker's houses, perhaps better known today as the Miller & Carter Steakhouse, Drove Road. Thomas was the son of another potter a...