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Swainswick

Swainswick photos (5 available)

Old photo of Swainswick

Swainswick maps (2 available)

Old map of Swainswick

Swainswick books (5 available)

Swainswick memories

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You can also read memories of nearby places in Avon below.

Avon memories

Bathhampton Mill

Bathampton, the Weir and Mill 1907

This is the old mill on the banks of the River Avon at Bathampton. It may have been operational at this time but by 1930 it was labelled as disused.
A memory of Batheaston contributed by First Name Last Name

Bathampton Tea Gardens

Bathampton, the Weir and Hotel c1960

This is a view of the Bathampton Tea Gardens which occupied the old buildings of Bathampton Mill, and the picture is taken from Bathampton Bridge. On the O.S. Somerset sheet XIV Revision of 1930 with additions in 1938. The buildings were bought by my Uncle and Aunt, Stan and Gwen Burge, in 1933,  using money given to them by Stan's brother Alec who had a winning ticket on the Calcutta sweepstake. In spite of the annual winter flooding when the water reached almost to the first floor, they developed the premises into an attractive destination for trippers arriving by boat, bus or car. I worked there during the summer months serving ice creams, taking orders for teas, washing and clearing up. ...read more here
A memory of Batheaston contributed by First Name Last Name

Not quite the same

Bathford, Church Street c1955

On the left of this picture are three doorways marked by stone porches. I live in the third of the three away from the camera. The second remains as it is shown but the first doorway has now been blocked up. The house has been knocked through to form a double sized property with the 'second' door now the main entrance.
Church Street remains much as in the picture although the high wall on the right has been rebuilt after it collapsed one February (around 1997) due to the pressure from the soil behind it - possibly as a result of the building of a house in the high ground that is held back by the wall.

A memory of Bathford contributed by Keith Oswin

Southgate Hotel

Bath, Southgate Street 1904

My Great Great Grandparents were William and Elizabeth Pratt.
In the 1880s William and his family had lived and worked on the Longleat Estate, William was the Head Gardener at that time.
In 1891 they moved to Bath, and sadly William died there in 1892, and on his death certificate it stated that he died at 24 Southgate Street.
Further sadness followed when son Arthur Reginald also died, he was only 14.
Thanks to the Bath Post Office Directories of 1895 I was able to establish that the address was the Southgate Hotel and the Proprietor is stated as William's wife Elizabeth.
The Southgate Hotel can be seen on photo ref 52994 on the right hand side looking up Southgate Street, ...read more here
A memory of Bath contributed by Clive Pratt

Extracts From Swainswick & Avon books

Swainswick, the Church c1965

The church of St Mary the Virgin at Upper Swainswick dates from Norman times. To the right of the porch is a pretty decorated window dating from around 1300, and beyond lie the buildings of Manor Farm.
An extract from from"Somerset Living Memories".

Bath, Fernley Hotel 1935

Now renamed The Abbey Hotel, this terrace of houses became an hotel in 1879. It is part of the elder Wood’s Royal Forum, with its long, formal composition fronting North Parade. In the foreground is the then newly-laid-out area replacing the Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, now all paved and occupied by the water fountain of 1839 relocated from Bath Street.
An extract from from"Bath Photographic Memories".

Wellow, High Street c1955

Towards the edge of the village are former Rural District Council houses, now with lusher gardens, and opposite is a former Nonconformist chapel dated 1898. The tour of some villages around Bath is now finished, and you can head back northwards to the city.
An extract from from"Bath Photographic Memories".

Wellow, High Street, looking east c1955

This view looks in the opposite direction, east past the Manor House on the left with cottages and the former Ebenezer United Methodist Chapel of 1869 beside the raised and railinged pavement. On the right is St Julian’s Primary School, built in 1852 as the Wellow National School in the then usual Gothic style.
An extract from from"Bath Photographic Memories".

Wellow, Manor House and High Street c1955

Climbing out of Limpley Stoke, head west through Hinton Charterhouse with its fascinating remains of the 13th-century Carthusian priory, Hinton Priory, to the village of Wellow, four miles south of Bath. This view looks west along the High Street past the Manor House on the right, a good 17th-century house with a tall gabled three-storey chamber wing.
An extract from from"Bath Photographic Memories".