No 24 Fleet Street is one of the buildings I mention in the New Swindon/town centre trail that I wrote in my Born Again Swindonian guidebook. The whole point of that trail – indeed the book – is to urge and encourage the reader to find the interest, the story – yes even the beauty – in the less obvious. It exhorts one to look up because so often that’s where you’ll find the aforementioned.
Churchward House, now housing offices, originally served as the Great Western Railway’s drawing office. It’s named for George Jackson Churchward CBE ( 1857-1933). Churchward served as the GWR’s mechanical engineer from 1902-1922.
With Swindon in 50 Buildings, I had to keep to a firm brief set by the publisher, Amberley. I had to stay central – nothing from the wider borough. And the buildings I wrote about had to be still standing – they couldn’t be ex-buildings. So in this series of Swindon in 50 More Buildings I’m redressing some of that. Ergo, though I haven’t yet, I will include at least a couple of buildings from the wider borough and, if only one, an ex-building. Namely, ,Old Town’s Corn Exchange aka the Locarno.
I’ve had to neglect Swindon in 50 more buildings to make room for other projects. But a visit to STEAM and therefore a walk right past Heelis, prompted me to do a post about it.
Having covered the GWR workers’ tunnel and the GWR barracks in the railway village conservation area in this series, time now to look at Park House.
Grade II listed, Park House Swindon, sits on Church Place overlooking the GWR park, in the railway village.
Having covered a good chunk of Swindon’s fabulous GWR Railway Village in my Swindon in 50 Buildings book, I’m making up for the omission of this building there – here. If you’re with me.
I very nearly put the nunnery on Milton Road in Swindon in 50 Buildings but didn’t. So, despite the fact that’s not too much to tell, I have to include it in this Swindon in 50 More Buildings series, because it’s unique in Swindon. There is no other nunnery – or ex-nunnery – in the town. Unless someone can tell me otherwise.
W G Little Milliner and Draper
Born in Chippenham to a Scots family, William Graham Little arrived in Swindon in 1874.
For this post in the Swindon in 50 More Buildings series I’m keeping with the Stratton area. The previous post covered Upper Stratton Baptist Church – and in this one Stratton Methodist Church. So one way and another I’ve got Methodism north of the railway well-covered!
With this Swindon in 50 More Buildings series my quest to include different areas of town continues, as it did in my Swindon in 50 Buildings book. What I can also do with this series, that I couldn’t with the book, is look at some buildings in the wider borough. But for now, with this post, I’m in Upper Stratton with the Upper Stratton Baptist Church.
I’d had no particular thought about including the WH Smith offices in this series. But then, as is so often the way, I saw something on Twitter that piqued my interest and persuaded me that I should. What I saw was this article from the 20th century society about getting the building – what’s left of it – listed.
Now known as Anderson’s hostel, Anderson’s alms houses in Old Town – on Cricklade Street to be precise – were built thanks to a bequest by one Alexander Anderson in 1865. He made his bequest of £1, 636 for the benefit of the poor.
