Tales of Lydiard Archive

Lydiard House Ghost Stories
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 27th October 2024

As the nights draw in and people gather close to their hearths, what better subject for a Lydiard tale than reports of...

Lydiard Ladies and Their Loyal Dogs
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 25th September 2024

Dogs are a familiar sight in portraits and there are a couple featured in the collection at Lydiard Park. In one of Lady...

Lord of the Butterflies
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 29th July 2024

In 1940 following the death of his mother, Vernon St.John 6th Viscount Bolingbroke had little option but to leave the...

From Lydiard to Mapledurham and the Tower of London | A tale of two families
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 27th June 2024

In the peaceful countryside, facing each other across the River Thames, once lay two estates. On the north bank in...

A Lost Child Remembered – Elinor Lee 1635-1640
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 25th June 2024

Trawling the Baptism Register for Lydiard Tregoze, local historian Frances Bevan recently discovered a surprising piece of...

Fred's Horses
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 30th May 2024

"There was a meeting of two days at Newmarket this time of year, to see the sweetest little horse run that ever was; his...

Running Through History
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 28th April 2024

Whether you are a dedicated park runner, or enjoy a regular dog walk or family cycle, you’ll be familiar with the open...

“Here is a good old mansion house…”
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 28th March 2024

By the mid 19th century the Palladian mansion house at Lydiard Tregoze was a little the worse for wear. Generations of St...

The Forest of Braydon and Lydiard Park’s Veteran Trees
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 28th February 2024

Map of Lydiard circa 1700 The great Forest of Braydon originally extended across North Wiltshire, covering much of the...

Why did the St.John family choose Bolingbroke?
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 15th January 2024

When many people think of the name Henry Bolingbroke, the first character that comes to mind is John of Gaunt’s son Henry,...

Tracing the final resting place for Lydiard Park POWs
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 29th September 2023

Looking at Lydiard Park's beautiful grounds and playing fields in 2023 it is hard to imagine they were once occupied by a...

The Elliot Woolford diaries - 1900
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 21st September 2023

The turning of the year and the beginning of a new century appear to have made little impact on the establishment at Hook...

Satire and the St.John Family
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 28th August 2023

The Lydiard Archives contain a number of satirical cartoons referring to members of the St John family. Satire uses humour,...

Lydiard’s Austrian Rose
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 2nd August 2023

Lady Johanna St John, wife of Sir Walter and one of the 17th century chatelaines of Lydiard Park, was famous for her...

Elliot Woolford’s Wedding.
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 31st May 2023

In 1911 Elliot Woolford of Hook Farm attended the wedding of his future sister-in-law. He writes in his diary dated January...

The Case of the Coronation Hand-me-downs.
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 27th April 2023

The portrait collection at Lydiard House contains two pairs of portraits that have intriguing similarities. The first pair...

Victorian Taxes
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 23rd March 2023

On April 24th 1889, Viscount Bolingbroke of Lydiard Park was issued with this licence to keep a carriage. The carriage had...

Francis King of West Blagrove Farm
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 1st March 2023

In this month’s Living History article, Frances Bevan traces the story and complicated personal life of Francis King...

Woolford Diary – January 1923
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 25th January 2023

On January 1, 1923 it was work as usual for Elliot Woolford with a trip to Swindon market and a delivery of 13 gallons...

A Carol for Christmas
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 30th November 2022

One of the earliest of all sung carols is known as the Anglo-Norman carol and was recorded in a manuscript from the 13th...

Murder at the Globe Tavern
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 31st October 2022

On the History of Parliament website you can read a blog piece on the unedifying history of MPs involved in brawls and...

Lost Gardens
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 31st August 2022

Aerial photographs of Lydiard’s lawns during the summer 2022 drought have caused quite a stir as they reveal for the first...

The Green Man in the Dining Room
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 26th July 2022

The next time you visit Lydiard House, look out for the Green Man in the dining room! The dining room is an elegant...

Historic Wallpapers
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 30th June 2022

When Lydiard House was decorated in 1982 a piece of hand-painted wallpaper was discovered beneath the dado rail in the...

Elizabeth I's Visit to Lydiard
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 2nd June 2022

On the Lydiard Archives this month we’re celebrating the Platinum Jubilee by showcasing the visit of HM the Queen to...

Castles and Mansions Collection
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 2nd May 2022

The Lydiard Archives is currently featuring a special collection about the castles, mansions, gardens and country estates...

Vernon St John, the “Lord of the Butterflies.”
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 28th March 2022

Vernon Henry St John, 6th Viscount Bolingbroke is remembered more for his passion and knowledge of natural history than for...

Miniature Portraits in the Lydiard Archives
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 6th March 2022

March 24th marks the birthday of Lady Diana Spencer who married Frederick St’John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke, in 1757. The...

Love at Lydiard Part 2
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 31st January 2022

Local historian Frances Bevan in her Good Gentlewoman blog once sagely observed that the St John men did not make good...

The Painted Window
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 22nd December 2021

Lydiard House contains many exquisite and fascinating items, but none more so than the painted window in the dressing room....

Christmas Snippets from the Local Newspaper
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 30th November 2021

North Wiltshire Herald 24th December 1924 LYDIARD TREGOZE. WHIST DRIVE.—A very successful whist drive, promoted by Mrs....

Battle Names – How Swindon babies of the First World War were named in commemoration
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 5th November 2021

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
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 20th September 2021

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
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 28th June 2021

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
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 25th May 2021

Throughout the long history of Lydiard Park, there has been a whole succession of fascinating women who have been born or...

Elliot Woolford
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 6th May 2021

March 1930 Entries In a meticulously kept diary, Elliot Woolford provides the reader with a no-nonsense view of farming...

The Fearless Aeronauts
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 1st April 2021

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
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 29th January 2021

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
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 19th November 2020

2020 marks an important anniversary for the extraordinary figure of Thomas Becket. On 29th December it will be 850 years...

The Silent Companions
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 6th November 2020

I well remember the first time I visited Lydiard House. I walked into the Dining Room – and jumped a mile when I saw the...

The Wiltshire Loaf Cheese
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 5th October 2020

A famous product of the local area is Wiltshire Loaf Cheese, which is a semi-hard cheese, smooth and creamy on the outside...

Prince George, Princess Charlotte & the Battersea Connection
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 28th August 2020

Prince George and Princess Charlotte are expected to return to school at Thomas’s Battersea this September, a school...

Taking the Plunge
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 17th August 2020

In the news recently was the story that David and Victoria Beckham want to create a new lake on their estate in the...

A Victorian Country Wedding
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 5th May 2020

Wedding arrangements in the Victorian parish of Lydiard Tregoze were dictated by the busy agricultural calendar. At Wick...

Lady Johanna St John - A 17th Century Mother
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 1st March 2020

This month we’re celebrating Mother’s Day on 14th March with an article by Frances Bevan about Lady Johanna St....

The Ice House
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 13th January 2020

“There ice, like crystal, firm and never lost, Tempers hot July with December’s frost;” From “On St James’...

A 17th Century Lydiard Christmas
Category: Tales of Lydiard Articles Published on: 9th January 2020

The letters of Johanna St.John to her steward at Lydiard, Thomas Hardyman, give us a fascinating insight into the menu for a...