Did you know that pubs are closing at the rate of 12 a week? WBR has surveyed many pubs that have closed: The Tollgate Inn and The Barley Mow in Salisbury alone. Its not that we modern Brits have gone off drinking: the smoking ban and cheap booze sold by supermarkets have sounded the death knell. And so it has been for the Rodbourne Arms in Swindon, our latest job.

The Rodbourne Arms

It is interesting to find that when Swindon’s suburbs were growing there was a need perceived for a drinking place in Haydon Wick on the north side of Swindon. Although no reference has been found to the planning application which must have preceded the building of the pub, it would appear to have been built around 1903, since, on 11^th February 1904, the Justice Minutes’ Book recorded the application of Andrew James Lydford for an alehouse license for the Rodbourne Arms Hotel. He met considerable opposition from the formidable Temperance Movement, in the guise of The Swindon & District Temperance Council, the Free United Church, the British Women’s Temperance Association, and the G.W.R. Temperance Union.

Giving evidence on Lyford’s behalf, the hotel’s architect, Charles Pilcher, was of the opinion that it would be a very good house for the public. A survey of the district showed that the nearest public house was at Moredon, three-quarters of a mile away. There were 170 houses near the premises, 138 being quite close, in all housing 700 people. 17 new houses had been built nearby, and building was continuing. The Dolphin was one and a quarter miles distant, and there were two beer shops, 1,800 and 2,300 yards off; thus there was ‘a real need for this house’.

Despite protestations, however, the Chairman of the Justices declared the case for a licence had not been made and that he did not feel justified in granting a licence ‘under existing conditions’. The pub was finally licensed 2 years later after repeated applications.

In 1934 the pub was sold to Ushers Brewery. The valuer’s notebook gives a snapshot of the rooms in the hotel at that time; they consisted of ‘The Bar; Private Bar; Public Bar; Smoke Room; Club Room; Office; Kitchen; Scullery; 5 Bedrooms; Staircase; Landing Staircase, and Passage.’ The hotel was lit by gas, with reference made to gas brackets, shades and gas pendants. The windows had blinds rather than curtains, some of them spring-roller blinds. There was a wooden ramp to the front door, and the seating arrangements consisted largely of bentwood stools, lath-back chairs and deal forms, with some fitted seating; the fitted seating in the public bar extended for 28 feet round the room. Deal tables and circular, marble-topped drinking tables on ornamental iron stands are mentioned. The public bar had a tortoise stove & guard, and there was a plentiful supply of iron spittoons. You might do a double-take at the last items mentioned. Yes, tobacco-chewing and tuberculosis made them necessary until the great flu epidemic of 1918-19 which killed at least 20 million people around the world. There was perceived to be a risk of infection from public spittoons such as those in bars, so they were gradually phased out. It is always interesting to find something so necessary to daily life not so long ago being so utterly alien today.

Despite another refurbishment in 1989 the Rodbourne Arms suffered from a dwindling clientele. A disgruntled local was reported in the Swindon Advertiser as saying ‘It’s been rubbish for quite a number of years’. When we recorded it this month that was all that was left inside – rubbish, and the remains of a once much-needed facility.

Margaret Parrott & Dorothy Treasure

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