Swindon in the Past Lane

In which I search for William Hall, who named his Swindon home Longford Villa after his Irish birthplace, and ended up in Jefferies Land. The inscription on an intricately carved Celtic cross in a prominent place in the Christ Church burial ground provided enough information to start my research. Examples of free standing Celtic crosses have been discovered in Ireland dating back to the 7th century, so it came as no surprise that this memorial was for an Irishman. William Hall was born on September 8, 1815. I found the first reference to him living in Swindon in the online UK Railway Employment Records 1833-1956 when he entered the employment of the Great Western Railway on January 1, 1846 as a clerk. By 1881 he has climbed the professional and social ladder. He describes himself as 'Accountant Loco Dept of GWRailway' and he now lives in an impressive property along The Sands (Bath Road) which he names Longford Villa after his birthplace. But as regular readers of thi...

Far be it from me to question the great Richard Jefferies – but I wonder where he got his story from. In 1896 the posthumously published Jefferies Land included a short history of Lydiard Tregoze and the Lydiard Park estate. ‘Lydiard and the neighbourhood are remarkably well wooded. Oak is abundant though it is observed that the trees never reach that enormous size which astonishes one in other localities. There is a curious legend about these oak trees. Ages ago a member of the Bolingbroke family rendered some important service to an English monarch. In return he received a grant of the lands of Lydiard until he should have taken three crops off them, after which they were to revert to the Crown. The wily nobleman had the lands sown with acorns and hazel nuts, which shot up into oaks and hazel woods, and the Bolingbrokes have not cleared their first crop yet. Such is the story.’ Jefferies Land - A History of Swindon and its Environs By the late Richard Jefferies Publ...

Quite frankly I think it's time to name names. People might not thank me for it, but I think Swindon in the Past Lane readers deserve to know who you are. So what has sparked this outburst? Funnily enough it was having a jolly nice time at the official opening of the new Arkell's hotel at The Sun Inn, Coate overlooking historic Jefferies land. It was a super event with a posh ploughman's lunch and scrummy scones.The Swindon Heritage team were among the invited guests along with members of the press, civic dignitaries and the people who designed, built and colour co-ordinated the beautiful rooms. And quite naturally the conversation turned to all things heritage - well it would with us there! We started talking about shared acquaintances and the valuable research work being undertaken by volunteers and I decided there and then to name on this blog just a few of the people I know who work so hard to promote Swindon's wonderful heritage. So, let's hear it ...

It was railway engineer Daniel Gooch who identified Swindon as the most suitable site for the much debated principal engine establishment in a letter to Brunel dated September 13, 1840. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Chief Engineer at the Great Western Railway, and Gooch worked on the design for a substantial engineering works for the maintenance and repair of locomotives. The land, approximately a mile to the north of the small market town of Swindon, was somewhat unprepossessing. 'The poorest in the neighbourhood; low lying, shallow soil on top of an endless depth of stiff clay, worthless for arable purposes, of small value for pasture, covered with furze, rushes and rowen,' according to local writer and naturalist Richard Jefferies. Once the workplace of boilermakers, brass finishers and toolmakers today 'V', 'O' and 'E' Shops are Grade II listed buildings and a modern day monument to merchandise.  The historic buildings built during the 1870s reign...