Swindon in the Past Lane

I've photographed the Murray John Tower from Radnor Street Cemetery in all seasons but today I enjoyed a view of the cemetery from the 9th floor of that very same building. The building, also confusingly known as the Brunel Tower, was opened in 1976 and named after Swindon's visionary Town Clerk David Murray John. It was Murray John who engineered Swindon's post war development, recognising that the town could not continue to be reliant upon the railway industry alone. It was Murray John who saw Swindon become an overspill town under the Town Development Act of 1952. Murray John is also credited with saving Lydiard House and Park although it was Cllr Francis Akers who first bought the property for the people of Swindon to protect it from possible private development. David Murray John served Swindon as Town Clerk for more than 35 years. He died on his 66th birthday May 24, 1974. The tree lined cemetery on the skyline. Zoom in to catch a glimpse of the corner of...

The Swindon Advertiser published this enthusiastic report about the future of the newly acquired Lydiard House and Park on August 6, 1943. In the middle of a war, Councillors were far sighted enough to see the potential of the House and Park, and with the help of Councillor F.E. Akers (after whom Akers Way is named) managed to purchase the property. If only the present day SBC could see past the £450,000 subsidy and how by keeping the property in council hands it could earn them an income instead of leasing it out to private companies to reap the benefits. Visit 'the list' for a few income generating ideas. Lydiard Park Secured for Swindon People? Future of a Grand Old English Home It is reported that the beautiful and historic Lydiard Park, with its mansion, gardens, woodlands and lake, which for long years was the home of the Bolingbrokes, has been acquired by Swindon Corporation. As reported last week, the estate was purchased by Councillo...

When Thomas Goddard of Upham acquired the manor of Swindon in 1563 he made his first home at Westlecott Manor House. However, it was The Lawn mansion house that was to become best associated with the family. Situated next to the 13th century Holy Rood Church and set in parkland overlooking open fields, The Lawn was built on the site of a former medieval manor house and known as Swindon House until the early 19th century. The north range of the house contained architectural features similar to those at the Vilett house in Cricklade Street, dating it to around 1729. Throughout the 19th century additions were made including south and east wings and later in the century an arcaded loggia overlooking a sunken garden to the west of the house. Across the generations the house and manor of Swindon made an erratic descent through the Goddard family. In 1732 bachelor Richard left it to his unmarried brother Pleydell. When Pleydell died ten years later the next heir was Ambrose ...

Nestled up against the Goddard family's secluded parkland, the Hermitage was an apt name for Charles Anthony Wheeler's house. Along with neighbouring Redville the entrepreneurial Wheeler built both properties in the early 1840s. Documents indicate that Bank Manager William Brewer Wearing lived there in 1859 and for the next thirty years the Victorian tenants came and went as revealed in census returns throughout the 19th century. By the 1890s the Kinneir family owned the property, but it was with the death of J. L. Calderwood in February 1960 that the house passed out of private ownership and into the public sector. Among documents held at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham is a schedule drawn up by Swindon Corporation on August 30, 1960 concerning The Hermitage and three cottages in Dammas Lane. A stone and brick building with slated roof, The Hermitage contained five bedrooms and four attic rooms with extensive cellar space in the basement. Rooms...