Purton
Purton maps (2 available)
Map of Wiltshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Purton books (15 available)
- 2 photos on Purton appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Purton
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Purton and Wiltshire
Purton memories
Read and share memories of Purton and Wiltshire inspired by Frith photos
holidays
my grandparents used to live in church walk in purton , my father and his brothers and sisters grew up there and every summer we used to go to stay there for our holidays.
they had feather beds and gas lighting and we used to go to bed with a candle.
the milkman used to come and fill up the pewter milk jug each morning.
we all got up early in the morning and went looking for mushrooms over the fields then go home and cook up a good breakfast. There was a well in the garden and we used to get water to wash our hair and it came out really shiny and healthy.Our grandfather used to take us on ...read more here
Contributed by Susan Scott
Wiltshire memories
holidays
my grandparents used to live in church walk in purton , my father and his brothers and sisters grew up there and every summer we used to go to stay there for our holidays.
they had feather beds and gas lighting and we used to go to bed with a candle.
the milkman used to come and fill up the pewter milk jug each morning.
we all got up early in the morning and went looking for mushrooms over the fields then go home and cook up a good breakfast. There was a well in the garden and we used to get water to wash our hair and it came out really shiny and healthy.Our grandfather used to take us on ...read more here
A memory of Purton contributed by Susan Scott
Family Tree
I am researching my fam tree. I have found out some of my ancestors came from Swindon. Due to a long story my Grandmothers biological Grandfather worked on the G.W.R AS A Labourer his name was Edwin New. He married Mary Jane Stroud in 1873 then went on to have my Grandmother Real mother Alice Elizabeth New. Alice was born on the 10th March 1884 at Lower stratton.
I wondered if any one out there knows of these name above. My grandmother was born in a mother and baby hospital in Hackney for unmarried mother on the 24th July 1906. I found the details out with the help of the Salvation Army her real mothers name was given ...read more here
A memory of Swindon contributed by Karen Surtees
Mother.
My mother worked in the cafeteria at lunch time, collecting the money from the students. She seemed to know everybody in the college and when she passed away at the young age of 48, it seemed that the whole of Swindon mourned with us. Swindon is a place that I hold dear to my heart. Every picture that I have looked at today brings back wounderful memories of a town that I still call home even though I live overseas.
A memory of Swindon contributed by patricia beach
Extracts From Purton & Wiltshire books
Purton was a small settlement to the west of Swindon. With the
arrival of the railway age in Swindon it started to grow, and many
of the buildings you can see in this photograph are clearly Victorian.
The village had a large brick works, and its products helped to build
Swindon and many other towns and villages.
An extract from from"Wiltshire Pocket Album".
Purton was a small settlement to the west of Swindon. With the
arrival of the railway age in Swindon it started to grow, and many
of the buildings you can see in this photograph are clearly Victorian.
The village had a large brick works, and its products helped to build
Swindon and many other towns and villages.
An extract from from"Wiltshire Pocket Album".
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".