Swindon in the Past Lane

Charles II celebrated his restoration to the throne by engaging in a bit of home improvements on the Tudor built St James's Palace, London and a makeover in the surrounding parkland with a new canal some 2,560 ft long and 125 ft wide. In 1664 the Russian Ambassador to Charles gave the king a pair of pelicans to grace the new canal and 400 years later the tradition of pelicans in the park continues. But not to be outdone Sir Walter St John also made a contribution to the monarch's new park from his country home at Lydiard with a gift of some Muscovy ducks. Although Sir Walter had fought on the Parliamentary side in the Civil War and had been considered somewhat backward in kissing the hand of the recently restored king, you could say Sir Walter was almost 'family.' When Charles returned to England from exile he was accompanied by his favourite (well she was then) mistress Barbara Palmer, later to be created Countess Castlemaine. Barbara was Walter's great...

Today we will see him move out of 10 Downing Street ... while she moves in ... but someone much closer to home had a very close connection with this most famous of London residences. Unfortunately there are no depictions of Sir Walter St John walking through this very same door, but there is some paperwork to prove that he probably did. So what is the connection between the St John family, Lydiard House and 10 Downing Street? Edward Lee 1st Earl of Lichfield was the grandson of Anne St John, the daughter of Sir John St John 1st Baronet and his wife Anne Leighton who owned Lydiard House and Park in the 17th century. Charlotte Fitzroy, Edward's wife, was the illegitimate daughter of Charles II and Barbara, Countess of Castlemaine, the granddaughter of Barbara St John, Sir John's sister. This brother and sister are represented on the St John polyptych in St Mary's Church. Young Edward Lee was created Earl of Lichfield, Viscount Quarrendon and Baron Spelsbu...

I will be conducting a portrait tour of the Ladies of Lydiard at Lydiard House on Saturday, January 23, at 2.30pm. as part of the Behind Closed Doors programme of events. All the events are free but you do need to book. Phone Charlotte Thwaites on 01793 465277 or email CThwaites@swindon.gov.uk. We might even take a passing glance at John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester. John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, died on July 26, 1680, aged 33 years old.  It had been, how can I put it, an eventful life. The son of Anne St John and her second husband Royalist hero Henry, Viscount Wilmot, John was a bit of an embarrassment to his mother. It wasn't just the lewd poems or the bawdy plays, his dismissal from court or the drinking and whoring that upset her.  It wasn't even the attempted abduction of his future, fabulously rich heiress, wife to be Elizabeth Malet that made her raise her eyebrows.  Well actually it was, but what really upset her was that he...

At my recent talk 'Who Would Live in a House Like This?' I could only hint at the lifestyle choices of John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester. Watch the movie trailer for The Libertine, starring Johnny Depp - allow for some literary licence, although maybe not ... .

I wrote this blog post two years ago! November 2015 and Swindon Borough Council continue to ensure us that there are no plans to sell off Lydiard House and Park but to lease it out to partners, drawing on the so say success of the recent handover of our leisure centres.  But I feel there are other options we could try first before the local authority makes such a drastic move.  Come along to my talk this evening 'Who Would Live in a House Like This? at Swindon Central Library, November 5, 7.15. Perhaps the St John family could save Lydiard House more than 70 years after they packed up and moved out. September 15, 2013. This week I intended writing an affectionate, whimsical piece – about my little granddaughter and all things Lower Shaw Farm related, about the Mela and the wonderful Dorothy Clarke and how the amazing Bhangra drummers quite alarmingly changed the rhythm to which my heart beat - no seriously. And I was going to write about samos...

Staff and volunteers have decked the hall with boughs of holly and Lydiard House is all dressed up for a Victorian Christmas. But how did an earlier branch of the family celebrate the festive season? Custodians of the 17th century Lydiard House were Sir Walter St John and his wife Lady Johanna. In 1652 the austere Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, abolished Christmas all together and for eight years the people of Britain had little celebrate. However, with the restoration of the merry making monarch Charles II in 1660 it was party time again and records show that plans for Christmas at Lydiard House in 1661 were well underway by October. "I doe intend gd wiling to be at Cristmas at Lidiard," wrote Lady Johanna St John from the couple's London home in Battersea to Thomas Hardyman her steward at Lydiard. Ahead of the festivities Lady Johanna instructs Hardyman to brew 40 gallons of ale "so that it may be a month old before we begin it." However the ...