Hodson

Looking West This view looks down Commercial Road towards the old market site. The street at this time was largely occupied by small businesses such as (on the right) Harold the jeweller’s, with next door Hiscock’s the builder and decorator’s. On the opposite corner of the Morley Street junction was Taymac the builders’ merchants (now the site of the West Bromwich Building Society).
An extract from from"Swindon Living Memories".

This public house at Stratton St Margaret owes its existence to the Wilts and Berks Canal which ran nearby. The original inn stood on the opposite side of the road, on the south- western corner of what is now the busy Oxford road into Swindon. The original building was demolished, and a new one built in 1937-38 on its present site. One of its most famous landlords since then has been Johnnie Stiles, whose band had brought prestige to the town when winning the All British Dance Band Championships in both 1948 and 1949. Standing on the A419 Swindon by-pass and A420 Oxford Road interchange, the pub was subsequently extended and modernized in 1982.
An extract from from"Swindon Living Memories".

The Town Hall, standing in the middle of the High Street, was given by Lawrence Hyde, first Earl of Rochester, in 1700. Restored in 1889, it was presented to the town by Lady Meux in 1906. Until the restoration in 1889, under the open staircase there was a lock-up or blind house. At one time the building was used as a court house; it has subsequently been used as a branch of the County Library and as a museum. In recent years it was restored with the help of English Heritage, initially in an overall grey finish, but it has since been restored to its traditional timber-framed look.
An extract from from"Swindon Living Memories".

Looking West We are looking across the lake to the houses in Durham Street, with the Presbyterian church roof in the centre of the picture, and the Holy Rood Roman Catholic church on the right. The vegetation on the far bank has now grown to fill the open spaces shown here, giving the whole site an impression of being far removed from the centre of a busy and thriving town.
An extract from from"Swindon Living Memories".

Looking East from Wood Street An inn has stood on this site for 400 years. It was known as the Crown until about 1810, when it was renamed in honour of the Goddard family, the lords of the manor of High Swindon. The Magistrates’ Court for Swindon was held here until the Old Town Hall was built in the Market Square in 1852. In April 1914, Francis Priscilla Hunter, aged 23, a between-maid here, was shot dead by her jealous lover, Walter James White. He was executed for the murder at Winchester in June 1914.
An extract from from"Swindon Living Memories".