SWINDON’S RAILWAY VILLAGE
Railway historian Tim Dunn on Swindon’s pioneering model town
Britain’s stations, engine sheds, viaducts, tunnels and signal boxes are testament to the skilful work of railway civil engineers and architects over a period of almost 200 years. But there are plenty of other intriguing examples of the railways’ influence on our historic built environment.
Whilst we were researching for our TV series, The Architecture The Railways Built, there were some obvious buildings and structures we wanted to feature – those close to the permanent way particularly. But it soon became clear that there were other stories to tell; ones that might not get the coverage that the grander, usual suspects might. One story that shone bright, and was worth telling in even greater detail in this magazine than on TV, is that of the GWR’s Railway Village at Swindon.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
The Railway Village – Swindon New Town – is a true railway town; it is of and for the railway. Towns such as this were a new idea in the 1840s, based loosely on the burgeoning ideals of philanthropists’ model villages, built to accommodate the staff of the works that had effectively sprung up here.
But if Swindon Works was the reason for the village, why did the works spring up here in the first place?
Until this point, the mechanical engineering functions had generally been outsourced to independent suppliers. But as technology sped up and the vehicles got bigger, not only could local small engineering outfits not keep up with the volume, they couldn’t cope with the sheer scale of the equipment required, so the railways began to take much of that work in-house and, in doing so, the concept of a major railway works was born. Thus the need for works owned by the GWR emerged.
There are various suggestions as to why Swindon was chosen by Brunel and Gooch for the site of the GWR’s works over others. One likely factor is the proximity of the canal – giving access to Somerset’s coalfields – but probably of more importance was its convenient distance almost halfway along the London to Bristol line, its point at the junction of the Cheltenham line, and the fact that early locomotive types were often changed over here. So, a natural place for concentrating locomotive stabling, overhaul and more.
Indeed, Gooch recorded in his 1840 diary that: “I was called to report upon the best situation to build these works and, on full consideration, I reported in favour of Swindon, it being the junction with the Cheltenham branch and also a convenient division of the Great Western Line for the engine working. Mr Brunel and I went to look at the ground, then only green fields, and he agreed with me as to its being the best place.”
It is interesting to note that, as the GWR grew, it continued to centralise its workshops here. Early carriage works at Paddington were superseded by Swindon, as were the various works of most companies that were consumed in the 1923 Grouping. Almost everything in the GWR’s empire from Cornwall to Wales seemed to eventually pass through Swindon’s buildings at some stage or other; even the narrow gauge locomotives of the Vale of Rheidol and Corris railways.
HOME, SWEET HOME
But to operate a railway works, you need workers – lots of them, and fast. And those workers need somewhere
to sleep at night, between their toiling on locomotives, carriages and wagons. Cities aren’t so much of a problem – there’s likely already to be a semi-skilled workforce and capacity within the housing stock. But at Swindon, at the time Gooch and Brunel decided to site the works there, there was almost nothing and nowhere for its staff.
Elaine Arthurs, Collections & Exhibitions Officer at STEAM, the Museum of the Great Western Railway, notes how Brunel needed to attract skilled workers to sleepy agricultural Swindon: “In the 1840s, it would have been an attractive option for workers from the industrial north. The village provided its residents with care from cradle to grave, and everything in between.”
For this place to succeed, workers needed to live in decent conditions, and want to stay there, so buildings and institutions were developed to meet the social and educational needs of its workers, including healthcare facilities and even a company-built church.
Much of the village was built by J.D. & C. Rigby of Holywell Street, Westminster; they were a fairly obvious choice for the job, as they’d been the main contractors for the buildings of the Swindon railway works in 1841/2. Indeed, the GWR entered into an agreement with them in 1841 to build both Swindon station and the 300 cottages thought to be needed in the planned railway workers’ village.
Katie Knowles, volunteer manager of the Swindon Village Museum, explained how the financial arrangement worked, once Brunel had designed the overall street layout and first block: “The GWR paid for the land and the works buildings, but the station and cottages were to be built at Rigby’s own expense.
“The October 1841 contract stipulates that Rigbys was to spend no more than £35,000 on the 300 cottages – so around £116 a cottage. They would be reimbursed by leasing the cottages to the GWR for an annual rent on a 99-year lease.
“The GWR planned to pay Rigbys using rents of the employees who would occupy the cottages, so there was little cost to the GWR.”
It turned out to be an extremely lucrative agreement. For, cannily, written into it was a clause that stipulated
that the GWR must stop every train at the station for a refreshment stop of at least ten minutes.
At the time, this felt apt; trains, being slower and having no corridor connections, were compelled to stop for such purposes by legislation, but once trains had sped up and the railway-wide legislation was abolished, the Swindon lease agreement continued and profits still flowed freely for the leaseholders of Swindon refreshment rooms as many passengers briefly disembarked. It was not until 1895 that the GWR purchased the unexpired part of the lease for a princely sum of £100,000, enabling the turnover of the refreshment rooms to be released to the company, and for express trains to start passing at speed.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing. According to Knowles, the agreement was that the 300 cottages would be completed by Christmas Day 1842, in time for the proposed opening of the GWR works the next year.
“But Rigbys struggled to meet the target and, by the end of 1843, had only built approximately 130 cottages. The target of 300 cottages was not met until 1855, and the remainder were constructed by a number of other firms too.”
Records at STEAM show practical use of resources; the earliest Railway Village houses were built using stone excavated from the building of Box Tunnel just along the line.
A DESIGN FOR LIFE
The grid was eventually completed, though. The streets were named after destinations across the GWR, reflecting the places served by the locomotives and carriages built in the works themselves, like London, Bristol and Exeter Street. There were six classes of house, with the largest ones being rented out in the 1850s at up to 12 shillings – and at a third of an average worker’s salary, those were only attainable by the more senior works foremen. Many sub-let the properties, too.
The houses in the village with the most architectural merit are those facing the railway line; to these Brunel added decorative Elizabethan and Jacobean motifs. These were visible to passing passengers and thus were designed to impress and advertise the GWR as a great employer. The ones further in didn’t need to be as ornate (nobody was going to see those until they arrived) but still, with their well-proportioned rooms, dual-facing front door porches to maximise internal space, and generous outside space, they are still model dwellings.
For the lowest-paid workers, or for single men, there was a lodging house – known as the Barracks – but it was not popular and eventually became a Methodist chapel. Many will remember this building as the home of the former GWR Museum, which it housed from 1962-2000. It later moved to the Works ‘R’ Shop to become STEAM.
But it wasn’t just housing that the GWR provided; this
It wasn’t just housing that the GWR provided; this was a true model town, after all TIM DUNN
was a true model town, after all. There were, and indeed are, shops and a pub at the centre, built in the same style. At the east end, St Mark’s Church was constructed – but, of course, the railway company being careful with funds, it ensured that two-thirds of the costs were met by public subscription. Incidentally, St Mark’s was designed by Scott and Moffatt in 1845; the former was Sir Gilbert Scott, who later designed the rather more famous Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras.
So, as the workforce grew, other developments grew too. In 1855, the gothic Mechanics’ Institute – designed by architect Edward Roberts – was built to provide leisure and learning activities for workmen and their families. In 1891, the almost castle-like edifice, with its striking octagonal towers, gained a mock-Tudor extension and a new reading room, but it has lain empty since 1986. There are hopes for its restoration, and local people remain optimistic it will find a new use.
Emlyn Square itself had a covered market and a cottage hospital, the latter now a community centre. It is here in this hospital that a remarkable template for a vital part of modern British life began: Swindon’s Medical Fund Society. It came about because of a real and present need; there being no Health & Safety to speak of, accidents and emergencies at the Works were frequent.
Before long, it was noted by Gooch that “the firm’s employees would be willing to pay a rate out of their wages towards the cost of securing the attendance of
a surgeon at all accidents.”
The company passed the wages to the medical fund society, which provided for free care at the point of use. Indeed, this was cited as one of the models for Anuerin Bevan’s early NHS.
Across the road on Milton Place is the red brick ‘Hydro’. This dispensary, swimming pool and Turkish baths was designed by J.T. Smith in 1891, and it’s still a health centre and swimming pool today, with many original features intact.
The houses were once threatened with demolition, but Swindon Borough Council bought them from BR and a thorough refurbishment was carried out in the 1960s. Today, the main Railway Village is recognised as being incredibly important and really very decent housing.
PRESERVING THE PAST
At the time of my visit to the Railway Village for the recording of The Architecture The Railways Built in late 2019, it was clear to see positive moves to preserve the built environment, provide relevant interpretation and find ways forward of conserving and protecting the area’s heritage.
One of the cottages, 34 Faringdon Road, had been turned into an excellent living museum back in 1980 and reopened after renovation in 2017.
The museum is now managed by the Mechanics’
Institution Trust, with a small but dedicated band of volunteers, including regulars Pam and Mike who work hard on using census data and local resources to provide an immersive experience of railway worker life in the 1850s.
Keeping costs down was always the aim of those living there – not only is wood painted a familiar GWR chocolate and cream, but the green looks suspiciously like that used on locomotives from the works! Seating fabric in the front room also seems to bear a remarkable resemblance to that seen on GWR carriage seats…
STEAM Museum also holds much for those interested in learning more about life in the village. Elaine Arthurs explained to me that the museum has an early set of drawings and plans of cottages from the village’s eastern section, dating from 1846, and “in addition, STEAM holds drawings and plans of both the Medical Fund HQ building (dating from 1891) and the Mechanics’ Institute (dating from 1878).”
STEAM also holds posters advertising plays and musical performances taking place at the Mechanics’ Institute – a lovely record of the culture experienced and created by railway employees over the generations.
A PLAN FOR THE FUTURE
In June 2019, the Swindon Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) was launched, which is an ambitious five-year partnership plan aimed at revitalising this part of the town, and unlocking its economic potential. Historic England and Swindon Borough Council have pledged £7.6 million towards the HAZ’s ambitions to restore and repair neglected public buildings and bring them back into use, and improve public spaces and connections between the Railway Village and the town centre. There’s also a decent budget to promote and celebrate the area’s special qualities, with the aim of instilling once again a sense of local pride.
So, despite the current pandemic and likely economic issues that we will face as a result, there is much optimism about the ongoing conservation of this little model town in the 21st Century.
The village is very much worth a wander round for an hour or so to look at the architectural details, perhaps armed with a book from STEAM just across the tracks, through the old Works entrance and tunnel.
As ever, there is so much more to railway history than the objects that exist within the boundary fences.