IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Charlotte Mews, SWINDON, SN1 3FJ

Buildings in Charlotte Mews. The far house is Redlands, dating form the mid 19th Century and grade II listed - see https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1023466?section=official-list-entry.

Redlands is a mid 19th century house now used as a hostel. Listed, grade II with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1023466 Old Town, on its hill above the 'new' railway town, is the cultural heart of Swindon. The old and the new combined into a single town in 1900.

Presumably built as a carriage drive to a private estate, it is now an attractive entrance to a public park.

The avenue leading from High Street to The Lawn, an urban greenspace open to the public, owned by Swindon Council. The trees are replacements for trees damaged in the storms of 1989. The Lawn was part of the Goddard family estate and they lived in a circa 1770 manor houses known as Swindon House and later known as The Lawn. The last of the family left Swindon in 1931 and the manor house was empty until used by the military in World War II. The manor house and 47 acres of land were purchased by Swindon Corporation in 1947. Damaged and derelict the house was demolished in 1952. The grounds were opened as parkland and remain so.

An attractive mid 19th century warehouse overlooking The Square in Old Town Swindon. Once the premises of Toomers agricultural merchants. To the left is some horrible early sixties building which should never have been allowed in this part of the town.

I thought this looked like a closed church, but it was another pair of public buildings. A more detailed history is given at Image Listed grade II (list entry 1023523) but in a poor state now.

A corner of The Square [aka Market Square] in the Old Town district of Swindon. An Austin A40 van conversion and a Ford Popular are amongst the vehicles standing in front of the premises of RW Johns, Son and Co.

The original town hall is the building to the right of the clock tower, and was completed in 1852. It stands on the south side of the old market square and was designed to be a market house, but was used for many meetings, especially those concerning the government of the town (until 1891) which had previously been conducted just down the road in the Goddard Arms Hotel. The Corn Exchange with the 80 foot clock tower above it was added in 1866. The building has since served as a roller skating rink, cinema, dance hall and bingo hall, but then stood empty and deteriorating for some years and was considerably damaged by fire on 18th May 2003.

The fine Square House is mid 18th century and is now used for commercial purposes. Listed, grade II, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1283233 Old Town, on its hill above the 'new' railway town, is the cultural heart of Swindon. The old and the new combined into a single town in 1900.

This old avenue off the High Street created in the nineteenth century and had some magnificent trees lining its path. However, a storm in 1989 brought many down. After some fund-raising it was replanted with American Pin Oaks in 1992.