Swindon - Part 1

 

The visit to Swindon arose from my earlier trip to Trowbridge. A glimpse of the clock outside the station as my train passed through led to thoughts of never having visited the town. So here we are, back in Wiltshire (although these days Swindon is a separate unitary authority so not technically in the shire county).

 In Part 1 we will look at the central area of the modern town, saving the Old Town and the outer reaches to Part 2.

We start Part 1 with the Town Hall.

The Town Hall is on Regent Circus at the southern end of the New Town – that is the new town that developed from the 1850’s with the coming of the railway. Swindon was built on the railway, with the huge works (mostly gone) that once dominated the town.

 

The Town Hall was built in 1890. Its clock tower is 90 feet tall, which in a case of “my clock tower is bigger than yours”  is deliberately greater than the 80 foot tower on the town hall in the Old Town.

 

The building is now the home of Swindon Dance, a charity whose strapline is “Enriching lives through dance”, which sounds like a worthy thing to do.

Turning north we head up through the main shopping area.

The Flannels store is on Regent Street. If my research is correct, this 1999 building is on the site of two incarnations of McIlroy's department store, both of which had a clock. McIlroy's, which was part of a chain of 22 shops, closed in 1998. In its heyday it was the go to shop, and its performance space included appearances by both the Beatles (in 1962) and the Rolling Stones (1963).

The current clock doen't match the splendour of those on the earlier buildings, but it is nice that the feature has been retained.

We then divert through the Brunel Centre.

The Brunel Centre is the central shopping centre. The main indoor part has a round arched metal and glass roof which I assume is meant to be a homage to the great train sheds of the Victorian era, but sadly it is a pale imitation of the ingenious engineering marvels of Isambard Kingdom Brunel himself.

However, I like the clock in its simplicity.

Heading out of the Brunel Centre we come across the Rolleston Arms on Commercial Road.

The hotel and pub. known locally as the Rolly, was opened in 1891. At the time of my visit it was covered in scaffolding, and an article on the Swindon Advertiser's website suggested that it had closed on 5 June 2026.

The clock itself is by Potts, and dates from 1904. It carries the name Cottell Brothers of Swindon, who were a local watchmaker, jeweller and clock retailer around the corner in Regent Street. So is this a Potts clock supplied by Cottell Brothers or one that was made by them?

The Mechanic’s Institute in Emlyn Square is a Grade II* listed building, but is currently in a sad state of dereliction.

 

It dates from 1854, with various extensions up to 1930.

 

Come on Swindon, get your act together and restore this building. It sits opposite the tunnel which leads under the railway to STEAM, the designer outlet stores, English Heritage offices (oh the irony that the headquarters of the main national heritage organisation are only a few hundred metres away), so is on a key route for visitors and locals.

I spotted (just) this clock when I first arrived in Swindon as I walked to the town centre from the railway station. This currently empty building is on the corner of High Street and Fleet Street.

 

Its position is such that you can’t see the whole face from anywhere on the ground, and probably not from the upper floor of any of the nearby buildings too. It is a modern clock, so there is not the excuse that more recent development has blocked the view. Perhaps it was some sop to the planners when it was shown on the architectural drawings.

 On now to the railway station, with this sculptural timepiece on the precinct outside.

Known as the Jubilee clock, although apparently originally called the Millenium clock.

 

The clock was designed by artist Edwin Wright, and has a weird alien eye sort of vibe to it.

 

It was originally located at the junction of The Parade and Canal Walk, but was moved to its new location by the railway station in 2012.

 

Apparently it could originally play tunes and make announcements, although a talking eye sounds somewhat scary.

Moving east, there are three clocks in a small area off County Road.

Our first is on the Tesco supermarket building. This is nothing special, but it is nice that the effort has been taken to provide clock faces on all four sides.

Next up is the pavilion on the cricket club which moved to this location in 1895.

And finally we come to Swindon Town's ground which dates from 1896. In 1951 it became the first league club to have floodlights installed, and in 1963 it acquired a Rolex clock supplied by Deacon's (who we will come to in Part 2 of this survey). 

Unfortunately the clock can only be glimpsed from outside of the ground, so I have this very poor photograph.

Out final stop in Swindon Part 1 is Drove Primary School.

I spotted the Verdigris-coloured clock tower from a distance when en route to another clock, but couldn’t work out where it was. An evening sortie, with the temperature still at 31C at 7 pm in the bonkers heatwave, was successful in tracking it down.

This is a very long-fronted school building, which was opened in 1940.

 

The school’s website shows that it has different values for each month of the year. The value for July is “independence”, which is somewhat ironic as it is part of the White Horse Federation of 30 schools.

Next up will be Swindon Part 2.