Battle Names – How Swindon babies of the First World War were named in commemoration
With a new series of the BBC genealogy programme Who Do You Think You Are currently on TV we were reminded of a previous...
Boxer George Strange
George Strange was born in 1843 at Prioryfield, in one of a group of tiny stone cottages isolated at the end of a long track...
St John of Bletso Table Carpet
This month’s Living History piece is about table carpets and in particular the St John of Bletso table carpet that is now...
The First Lady of Lydiard
Throughout the long history of Lydiard Park, there has been a whole succession of fascinating women who have been born or...
Elliot Woolford
March 1930 Entries In a meticulously kept diary, Elliot Woolford provides the reader with a no-nonsense view of farming...
The Fearless Aeronauts
Lydiard House and Park feature in the local and national newspapers many times over the decades and today we bring you an...
Love at Lydiard
Local historian Frances Bevan in her Good Gentlewoman blog once sagely observed that the St John men did not make good...
Thomas Becket Wall Painting
2020 marks an important anniversary for the extraordinary figure of Thomas Becket. On 29th December it will be 850 years...
The Silent Companions
I well remember the first time I visited Lydiard House. I walked into the Dining Room – and jumped a mile when I saw the...
Lydiard House Ghost Stories
Frances Bevan writes: What better subject for a Halloween post than tales of ghostly happenings in Lydiard House. Like...