The History of North Swindon

Priory Vale belongs to the parish of Blunsdon St Andrew. Within this parish resides Blunsdon: a village dating back to the Iron Age, where our earliest ancestors fortified and built a settlement. Blunsdon is mentioned in the Domesday Book as 'Bluntesdone', at which time the settlement had a population of only two or three adult males.

In recent years, archaeologists discovered a Roman travellers' resting place on the site of the present-day Cold Harbour pub. The A419 main road through Blunsdon also follows the course of a Roman road known as Ermine Street that linked the historic towns of Cirencester and Silchester.

What's more, the recent Roman find at Abbey Meads is believed to be a religious and ceremonial site.

Blunsdon Abbey was a prominent landmark in the area and inspired the title of the Abbey Meads development. The name 'Priory Vale' also follows this monastic theme. Local tradition claims Blunsdon Abbey was originally an outpost of Godstow Nunnery near Oxford with the land granted to the Brydges family during the reign of Henry VIII.

Construction of the North Wilts Canal began in 1814 and it opened on 2nd April 1819, forming a vital link between the Wilts & Berks Canal and the Thames & Severn Canal. It left the Wilts & Berks Canal in the centre of Swindon (where Debenhams now stands) and dropped sixty feet via twelve locks to join the Thames & Severn Canal at Latton Basin.

In 1860, a wealthy sportsman, Clayton de Windt, built a house in the area in the "latest Neo-Gothic style" to designs by E.Mantell of London. The builder was Thomas Barrett of Swindon, who created an imposing residence with forty bedrooms, grand interiors, entrance hall, billiards room and lavish furnishings. Clayton de Windt was killed in a riding accident in 1863, and sadly, in April 1904, fire destroyed the house and its contents.

Today, the Priory Vale area of Blunsdon St Andrew occupies farmland and fields dating back to the 1700s. The villages within Priory Vale ‡¡Redhouse and Haydon End ‡¡are named after these historical fields, while the village title of 'Oakhurst' was taken from the name of the home at Haydon End Farm.

For the early history of the 'Northern Expansion' of Swindon, please click the tab below...

In 2002, during the construction of Priory Vale, David Thompson, of Crest strategic Projects and director of the North Swindon Development Company told us the story of the start of the Northern Expansion...

I first became involved with the North Swindon Development (now known as Abbey Meads) in November 1988. The first land deal was back in 1982 when Crest acquired Abbey Farm from the Hitchin family. A second area of land was tied up by way of an option in 1993 with the Francis family. It then took a further ten years before planning permission was obtained in 1992.

The former Francis land, just off Lady Lane was the first area to be developed. The family farmhouse, which is now the Manor Farm public house, was the scene of many a discussion with Godfrey Francis ‡¡usually sitting in his kitchen drinking cups of tea.

Work commenced in 1993 and the first area was built by Barratt & Britannia Homes with access from Lady Lane. I seem to remember that 1993‡¡4 was the wettest autumn/winter for years and, as a result, we made very slow progress on the roads and provision of sewers ‡¡both of which, most of the time were more like rivers, the water coming straight down Lady Lane and into the development area.

In October 2000 work started on what we now know as "Priory Vale", a development which when completed in circa 2010-12 will accommodate nearly 18,000 people living in 6,000 new houses, set in over 650 acres. But before any houses could be occupied on Priory Vale, it was essential that the Northern Orbital Road was completed between Mouldon Hill and Lady Lane at a cost of some £15m ‡¡the total cost of the N.O.R. will be in the region of £30m by the time all the off site works have been undertaken.

The planning cost of Priory Vale has substantially increased over the years and the cost of developing such a scheme is beyond the capability of one developer, plus of course not all the land was in one ownership. As a result, the North Swindon Development Company was formed acting as an enabler in respect of all the works. The NSDC is owned and run jointly by George Wimpey, Westbury, Bloor, Bryant, Crest Nicholson and Walmart.

I am fairly certain that people visiting Priory Vale will see a considerable improvement over Abbey Meads - only time will tell.