THE LYDIARDS
A Tale of Two Parishes
Lydiard Tregoze and Lydiard Millicent, Wiltshire - a local history written by Frances Bevan
This book is written for people researching their family history in the two Lydiard parishes. It includes a parish history of both Lydiard Tregoze and Lydiard Millicent and a history of four of the West Swindon farms, Wick, Brook, Lower Shaw and Upper Shaw, and the families who worked them.
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Future editions will include Windmill Leaze, Marsh, Toothill, Mannington and Flaxlands Farms and the continuing story of the Plummer, Kinchin, Ellison, Strange and Ody families.
BROOK HOUSE FARM
Extracts
Brook House Farm stands on the corner of Middleleaze Drive and Tewkesbury Way, just inside the Swindon borough boundary. With views across Lydiard Country Park and its back to the sprawling town of Swindon, Brook House Farm straddles the divide between town and country. Owned by the Hungry Horse chain of pubs and restaurants it stands on the edge of a large 1980s housing development. A focal point for the local community, it is a pub where you can pop in for a pint and a game of pool and enjoy big-screen coverage of all the major sporting events or simply take the family out for a quiet meal.
Throughout its history Brook Farm, as it was called until the beginning of the 20th century, has perched on the boundary of two parishes, Lydiard Tregoze and Lydiard Millicent. The farm takes its name from the brook that runs through the former estate of Lord Bolingbroke and meanders across the fields to the small settlement at Shaw in Lydiard Millicent. A farmhouse on the present site dates back to at least the 18th century, its earliest appearance on maps being the 1773 Andrews and Dury map of Wiltshire where it is named simply ‘The Brook’.
The pasture land belonging to Brook Farm is also indicated on the Lydiard Estate Map of 1773.
The Plummer’s originated in nearby Purton and was a large family of yeoman farmers. Thomas, one of 12 children born to Thomas Plummer and his wife Elizabeth, was baptised at St. Mary’s, the parish church at Purton, on 18th February 1799.
The earliest reference to Thomas as tenant at Brook Farm is in the rate books for the parish of Lydiard Tregoze dated 20th April 1836. The (poor) rate was fixed at 6d in the pound and Thomas paid £2 6s 8¾d on the land he occupied in Lydiard Tregoze. Over in Lydiard Millicent the Overseers’ Account dated 25th March 1832 lists Thomas Plummer as being eligible to serve as an overseer of the poor and the rate book for 1838 shows he paid £9 13s 3d poor rate on house and land at Brook Farm.
However, Thomas may have been farming at Brook a few years prior to this as parish registers for St. Mary’s Church, Lydiard Tregoze, record his marriage on 19th April 1831 to Joan Dore. Joan was the daughter of William Dore, tenant farmer at Wick Farm and Thomas’s closest neighbour.
Supplementary material includes photographs of Wick Farm, Lower Shaw Farm and Brook House Farm. View census returns; trade directory entries; civil registration certificates and much more in this growing archive of two North Wiltshire parishes.
Price: £5.99 plus postage and packing.
UK First Class £1.80
USA/Canada/Australia/NZ Air Mail £4.25
1910 REVENUE RECORDS |CLAIM TO FAME! |TRADE DIRECTORIES |LOCAL PARISH RECORDS |1871 CENSUS RETURNS |BEVAN FAMILY AT OVERTON |EMAIL ME
This book is written for people researching their family history in the two Lydiard parishes. It includes a parish history of both Lydiard Tregoze and Lydiard Millicent and a history of four of the West Swindon farms, Wick, Brook, Lower Shaw and Upper Shaw, and the families who worked them.
>
Future editions will include Windmill Leaze, Marsh, Toothill, Mannington and Flaxlands Farms and the continuing story of the Plummer, Kinchin, Ellison, Strange and Ody families.
Brook House Farm stands on the corner of Middleleaze Drive and Tewkesbury Way, just inside the Swindon borough boundary. With views across Lydiard Country Park and its back to the sprawling town of Swindon, Brook House Farm straddles the divide between town and country. Owned by the Hungry Horse chain of pubs and restaurants it stands on the edge of a large 1980s housing development. A focal point for the local community, it is a pub where you can pop in for a pint and a game of pool and enjoy big-screen coverage of all the major sporting events or simply take the family out for a quiet meal.
Throughout its history Brook Farm, as it was called until the beginning of the 20th century, has perched on the boundary of two parishes, Lydiard Tregoze and Lydiard Millicent. The farm takes its name from the brook that runs through the former estate of Lord Bolingbroke and meanders across the fields to the small settlement at Shaw in Lydiard Millicent. A farmhouse on the present site dates back to at least the 18th century, its earliest appearance on maps being the 1773 Andrews and Dury map of Wiltshire where it is named simply ‘The Brook’.
The pasture land belonging to Brook Farm is also indicated on the Lydiard Estate Map of 1773.
The Plummer’s originated in nearby Purton and was a large family of yeoman farmers. Thomas, one of 12 children born to Thomas Plummer and his wife Elizabeth, was baptised at St. Mary’s, the parish church at Purton, on 18th February 1799.
The earliest reference to Thomas as tenant at Brook Farm is in the rate books for the parish of Lydiard Tregoze dated 20th April 1836. The (poor) rate was fixed at 6d in the pound and Thomas paid £2 6s 8¾d on the land he occupied in Lydiard Tregoze. Over in Lydiard Millicent the Overseers’ Account dated 25th March 1832 lists Thomas Plummer as being eligible to serve as an overseer of the poor and the rate book for 1838 shows he paid £9 13s 3d poor rate on house and land at Brook Farm.
However, Thomas may have been farming at Brook a few years prior to this as parish registers for St. Mary’s Church, Lydiard Tregoze, record his marriage on 19th April 1831 to Joan Dore. Joan was the daughter of William Dore, tenant farmer at Wick Farm and Thomas’s closest neighbour.
Price: £5.99 plus postage and packing.
UK First Class £1.80
USA/Canada/Australia/NZ Air Mail £4.25
1910 REVENUE RECORDS |CLAIM TO FAME! |TRADE DIRECTORIES |LOCAL PARISH RECORDS |1871 CENSUS RETURNS |BEVAN FAMILY AT OVERTON |EMAIL ME