Chapel of St John the Evangelist

It’s an extraordinary fact that for more than 600 years the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist in the Tower of London was used to hold important documents. It has to be conceded that there was probably no safer place in London for them.

The 11th century chapel situated on the first floor of the White Tower was built for William, the conquering Norman king. However, by the 13^th century the chapel was used less frequently until it became a repository for documents of national importance.

The chapel was restored in the 1860s and once again became a place of worship, used initially by non-conformist and Catholic members of the Tower’s community. It is now used by all members with regular monthly services.

Today the beautiful chapel is on the sight seeing tour and it is sometimes difficult to find the peace and quiet in which to appreciate the building. But visitors are suitably awed and generally more subdued when they come across the breathtaking Romanesque architecture with soaring columns and vaulted roof.

From May to November 2025 the Tower of London is yet again the setting for a national war memorial.

More than 30,000 ceramic poppies, made by the artist Paul Cummins, are displayed cascading from the Tower. Cummins and designer Tom Piper were the same team responsible for the Blood Sweat Lands and Seas of Red installation at the Tower in 2014 to commemorate the centenary of the beginning of WWI.

The new installation to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII symbolises ‘a wound at the heart of the Tower’ which itself was hit by a bomb during the London Blitz on October 5, 1940, killing two people.

The installation opened on May 6 and will remain open until November 11. Visit https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/tower-remembers-2025/#gs.lrc6ji for further details.

The Airspeed Oxford propeller unveiled

The rain clouds parted and the sun made a plucky appearance during our guided walk yesterday when we were delighted to welcome Air Commodore Tony Keeling OBE, Commandant Royal Air Force Air Cadets, to Radnor Street Cemetery.

Following the closure of the RAFA Club in Belle Vue Road the propeller mounted on the front of the building faced an uncertain future. Then a group of concerned Swindonians, among them Carole and David Bent, Neil Robinson, Toby Robson and Graham Carter, stepped in to rescue it.

At Sunday’s event Air Commodore Keeling cut the ribbon and led the assembled visitors into the chapel to view the propeller, now mounted above the door. Cemetery volunteer Kevin, a member of the Eyes On Hands On team, gave an informative talk about the history of the Airspeed Oxford to a packed chapel, as you can see from Andy’s photographs. Then, accompanied by fellow officers and air cadets, Air Commodore Keeling joined us on our walk.

Guest speaker, Paul Gentleman, gave an account of the career of Wing Commander John Starr who is remembered on his brother’s (Squadron Leader Harold Starr) grave. Paul and his wife Caroline along with Noel Beauchamp have been researching the life and times of the two Starr brothers for several years. Paul, Caroline and Noel, in association with Green Rook and Swindon Heritage, organised the Swindon Remembers event to commemorate the Battle of Britain 75^th anniversary held in the cemetery in 2015.

Our visitors at Sunday’s event donated generously to the memorial plaque for Mark Sutton. This will be unveiled at the Remembrance Day Service, an event Mark established many years ago.

Here are some photos of the day captured by Andy and myself.

Charles Smart – Killed in Black-Out

In July 1939, as war became imminent, the Lord Privy Seal’s Office issued a number of Public Information Leaflets. Leaflet No. 2 contained information on ‘Your Gas Mask – How to keep it and How to Use It’ as well as instructions concerning ‘Masking Your Windows’ with the following advice:

In war, one of our great protections against the dangers of air attack after nightfall would be the “black out.” On the outbreak of hostilities all external lights and street lighting would be totally extinguished so as to give hostile aircraft no indication as to their whereabouts. But this will not be fully effective unless you do your part, and see to it that no lighting in the house where you live is visible from the outside. The motto for safety will be “Keep it dark!”

The ‘black out’ was yet another feature of wartime that impacted on everyday life. In the winter of 1940 these difficult conditions and icy winter roads resulted in a road traffic accident and the death of Charles Smart.

Image published courtesy of Local Studies, Swindon Central Library.

Killed in Black-Out

Inquest on Swindon Man

Against the wishes of his niece who thought the roads too treacherous for him, Mr Charles Smart, aged 68, a retired GWR employee, of 44, Curtis Street, Swindon, went out on Tuesday of last week to the Central Club. On his way home he was in the act of crossing the road when he was knocked down by a Corporation ‘bus receiving injuries from which he died in the GWR Medical Fund Hospital on Saturday night.

A verdict of “Accidental death” was returned by the jury at Tuesday’s inquest, conducted by the Wilts Coroner (Mr Harold Dale), and the driver of the ‘bus William John Snell was exonerated.

Mr Smart’s niece, Mrs Dorothy Kate Critchley, with whom he lived, said her uncle enjoyed good health, hearing and eyesight.

Dr Alister McLean said the cause of death was shock following injury to the brain due to a blow on the head.

Reasonable Speed

Walter Fred J. Ockwell, 10, Milton Road, Swindon said that last Tuesday night about 10 o’clock, he was in Curtis Street and just before reaching Whitehead Street he saw a form in the middle of the road. The form was not moving. When about 30 feet away he shouted to the object. A ‘bus came along but the object did not appear to move until the ‘bus was almost on top of it. As the ‘bus swerved to the right the object moved to the left. The ‘bus was almost in the middle of the road, and was being driven at quite a reasonable speed.

When he reached the spot, the driver and passengers were getting out of the ‘bus. The object proved to be a man lying a little to the centre of the road. It appeared as if the ‘bus had pushed the man forward. Witness said that as the man stood in the road he faced the direction from which the bus came.

Private James Lewis Warburton said he saw Smart leave the pavement and walk towards the centre of the road, where he stood still. He thought Smart was going to stop the bus, and he did not see him slip.

Driver’s Swerve

The bus driver, William John Snell, described it as a very dark night, with bad road conditions. When he first saw the figure in the road it was very close to the bus and well into the road. He immediately applied his brakes and swerved to the offside, but, owing to the condition of the road, the bus slipped along a little further, and the nearside headlamp struck the man, who was wearing dark clothing.

Questioned by his solicitor (Mr S.G.G. Humphreys), Snell said that had Smart remained where he was when he first saw him, the swerve would have avoided him.

The Coroner suggested that it might be that Smart found the road so slippery that he was afraid to move.

Sympathy was extended to the relatives by the Coroner, and by Mr Humphreys on behalf of the Corporation and the driver of the bus.

North Wilts Herald, Friday, 9 February, 1940.

Image published courtesy of the Dixon Attwell Collection, Local Studies, Swindon Central Library

Charles Smart 69 years of 44 Curtis Street died at the GW Hospital and was buried in a public grave, plot C149 on February 8, 1940.

Kenneth Scott-Browne

Kenneth Scott-Browne was a member of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers 7th Battalion. In November 1943 the 7th Battalion was converted into an Airborne Battalion and began training for the planned Normandy landings. During an exercise code named DREME a Stirling towing a Horsa glider carrying No 3 Platoon hit a tree and crashed. Scott-Browne was one of 34 military personnel killed that day in April 1944. His death was registered in Droxford, Hampshire and his body returned to his home at 85 Medgbury Road, Swindon for burial in Radnor Street Cemetery.

VE Day was a time for rejoicing but not for everyone. While the war in Europe had ended the one in Japan would continue for another three months. And what about the families who would never meet again their loved ones.

The Kenneth Scott-Browne’s wartime marriage to Elsie Herbert was a short one. The wedding took place in Swindon in the spring of 1941 and just four years later Elsie was a widow with a toddler, a son named Kenneth Frederick after his two grandfathers. By May 8, 1945 Elsie had remarried. She was still only 25 and had a three year old son to support when she married Leslie Jack Burnett. In 1954 she married for a third time.

Kenneth was buried on April 11, 1944 in Elsie’s Herbert family plot. Elsie outlived both her sons and died at the Kingsmead Nursing Home in Prospect Place, Swindon in May 2005, aged 84. She was buried in plot C4251 with her young, first husband Kenneth.

Nellie May Page – killed in WWII air raid

The cities of London and Bristol were heavily bombed during the Second World War yet Swindon, somewhere in between, went relatively unscathed. Despite its dominance within the railway industry it appears that Swindon was not on the Luftwaffe radar. There is a theory that Hitler was preserving the railway network for when he invaded Britain.

On the night of October 20, 1940 a lone bomber dropped three bombs (two high-explosive and an incendiary bomb) on the town, causing significant damage on Rosebery and Graham Streets in Broad Town. There were 10 confirmed fatalities, including Nellie May Page who lived at 35 Graham Street but was visiting friends in Rosebery Street that fateful night.

Workers’ Houses Wrecked

People Killed by Bombs in South of England Town

Having regard to the damage to working class houses caused by two heavy high explosive bombs that dropped on a town in the South on Sunday night, the casualties were comparatively few.

In one street six adjoining houses collapsed when a heavy bomb crashed through the roof of one. The second bomb dropped in the middle of a road in an adjoining street, leaving another huge crater and almost completely demolishing three houses.

The explosion threw the uppermost part of about a dozen houses out of the perpendicular. Pieces of masonry, rafter timber and other debris were rained down over a wide radius, holing roofs in many places and doing extensive damage.

Despite this damage fatal casualties were few. One of the persons killed was Mrs. Nellie May Page aged 47, who was visiting friends at the time. Her daughter, Miss Sylvia Joan Page, who was with her, was taken to hospital suffering from severe head injuries and shock.

Fractured Gas Main

An oil bomb which struck the rear of one house, partially wrecked the scullery and living room. A fire was started here, but it was dealt with very effectively by the fire-fighting services, and extinguished before it could get a hold. Gas from a fractured gas main also caught alight, but here again the brigade quickly had the situation in hand.

The situation provided a severe test for the various ARP services and police, but they all acquitted themselves remarkably well. Demolition and rescue squads, as well as first-aid parties and medical men, were at hand extricating residents trapped deep down in the wreckage and attending to the injured.

In Good Spirit

Gallant work was done by wardens and ambulance men, and they recount how two young girls were liberated, almost unscathed, from beneath a completely wrecked house. Falling beams had apparently prevented them from being crushed to death, and the rescuers were surprised to find that they were not only unhurt but in good spirit. One asked for a drink and when offered a flask of water observed, with a smile, “Is that the best you can do?”

Generally, the inhabitants displayed great fortitude and calmness, and seemed to be more concerned about the welfare of their neighbours than of their own interests.

Rapid headway was made in clearing away the debris. There were plenty of volunteers for the work of salving furniture and other belongs, and, in the same way, those whose homes were not so severely damaged found plenty of helpers to assist in covering up broken windows and doorways.

Extracts for the North Wilts Herald Friday 25 October 1940.

Wartime publishing restrictions prevented newspapers from identifying the town and street names.

Nellie was born on June 4, 1893, the youngest of five children. Her father William James Hopkins worked in the Carriage and Wagon Works. When Nellie was baptised at St. Saviours on July 16, 1893 William and his wife Emma and their children were living at 78 William Street.

Nellie married at St. Marks on September 25, 1915 during the First World War when her husband Francis Vernon Page was serving in the RAMC.

Nellie was buried in grave plot E7491 with her husband Francis who died in December 1935.

Jane Elizabeth Hobbs – killed in WWII air raid

A lone raider on a bombing mission came dangerously close to the Great Western Railway factory during the night of Thursday December 19, 1940. But instead of hitting the Works the high explosive bomb fell on Beatrice Street, Gorse Hill.

There were several casualties and some miraculous rescues, but sadly Jane Elizabeth Hobbs died the following day in the Victoria Hospital.

Jane Elizabeth Miles was the daughter of a railway man; she married another railway man like so many women of her generation did. William John Hobbs had begun his working life as a cattleman on a farm in Calne but by the time of his marriage to Jane in 1907 he was working as a machineman in the GWR.

The couple lived their entire married life in Gorse Hill where they raised three children. William died in 1933 at 167 Beatrice Street; the house that was later destroyed by a bomb on the night of Thursday December 19, 1940.

Five houses were demolished and others damaged, but there were few casualties when a lone raider dropped bombs on a town in the South of England last Thursday night.

In one street where three houses were wrecked, the rescuers, who were on the scene within two or three minutes, were astonished to hear cries for aid.

Gaining a way through the debris from the back of the house they saw three or four heads protruding from beneath the collapsed stairway. These were the occupants of the house, who had rushed under the staircase as the building collapsed upon them and were thrown flat on the floor. They were all pulled out suffering from slight injuries.

Mrs Jane Hobbs, a widow, was the most seriously injured, and she died in hospital on Friday evening. Her 24-year-old daughter Jane, who was also seriously injured is still in hospital.

A Mr. Crook, who was on a visit from another part of the town, was also taken to hospital.

In another nearby street a bomb dropped in the middle of a small backyard at the rear of two houses. All the outbuildings were demolished and the walls at the back of the houses were fractured. Here again there were lucky escapes. Five or six occupants in the kitchen included a married couple who had twice previously been bombed in London.

Scores of houses in the neighbourhood were hit by flying masonry, and in this way, as well as through blast, many windows were broken.

Praise for ARP Squads.

Everyone was loud in praise of the magnificent way in which the wardens, the rescue and demolition squads. First-aid workers and firemen discharged their duties.

One resident observed: “They were here and hard at work almost before we could get out. Not a second was wasted, and I can tell you this fact was a great relief to us all.”

Extracts from North Wilts Herald, Friday, 27 December, 1940.

Gorse Hill

Jane was buried on December 26 in grave plot C3831 which she shares with her husband William and her parents Henry John and Fanny Miles.

Battle of Britain commemorations 2015

Ten years ago Radnor Street Cemetery volunteers in partnership with the Swindon Heritage Magazine commemorated another significant war time event – the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

The Duke, in his role as Air Marshall, Royal Air Force came to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and one of ‘The Few’, Swindon born fighter pilot Harold Morley Starr. The week long Swindon Remembers commemorative festival concluded with a flypast by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the Duke’s visit on Battle of Britain Day.

Harold Morley Starr was born in Swindon on September 8, 1914, the fourth of Ellen and Morley Starr’s five children. He grew up in the Central Temperance Hotel in Regent Street where his mother was the proprietor and his father worked as a shop fitter. Harold attended Clarence Street School, Swindon completing his education at Cotham Grammar School following the family’s move to Bristol.

While still at school Harold became a member of the Officers’ Training Corps and at the age of just 19 won an RAF scholarship and joined the air force as an acting pilot officer.

On August 31, 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain, Harold’s Hurricane L1830 was shot down over Eastry near Sandwich during an interception patrol. The young fighter pilot successfully baled out at 15,000 feet but as he floated down three Messerschmitts circled him and opened fire.

Harold’s body was returned to Swindon where he was buried in a family grave in Radnor Street Cemetery. His funeral took place on September 6, two days before what would have been his 26th birthday.

Two blue plaques commemorate Harold and his brother Wing Commander Norman John Starr DFC & Bar. Visit the website for more details.

The Duke of Gloucester was then escorted to Swindon station where he unveiled a commemorative plaque to Sqn Ldr Starr on a First Great Western Class 43 locomotive.

Stanley William Ashton – pilot officer

Pilot officer Stanley Ashton married Josephine Loveday in December 1939. Josephine was the daughter of Frederick and Adeline Loveday. Frederick served as an Air Mechanic 1^st Class during the Great War. He died in the King George Military Hospital in Stamford Street, South London. He was 29 years old and left a widow and two small daughters.

Stanley William Ashton, who was born on 22nd August 1911, served an apprenticeship as an electrician. He joined the RAF and gained his Pilots wings in Nov 1938. In 1939 he was serving with 59 squadron in France where they were using Blenheim MIV aircraft. As the Germans pushed through France in 1940 the squadron was withdrawn to England and based at RAF Odiham Hampshire. They continued to fly missions over France, mainly reconnaissance operations.

On Tuesday 4th June 1940 Pilot officer Ashton and his crew were flying R3697. They took off from RAF Eastchurch in Kent – There are 2twotheories as to what they were doing. One is that they were on a transit flight to head back to their base in Hampshire. The other is that they were on an operational mission.

Neither have been confirmed but as the aircraft banked during take off one of the wings clipped the ground and the plane crashed killing all on board. Among those killed were Observer Sgt William John Wilson and Wireless operator/Air gunner Sgt Roland Wilson (unrelated). Stanley Ashton had been married just six months.

Josephine eventually remarried in 1955 and died in 1982 but is buried elsewhere. Although the cemetery was closed by then the burial registers indicate that there was room for one adult left in this plot.

Stanley William Ashton is buried here in plot C3524 with Frederick and Adeline Loveday.

Cross of Sacrifice

The sheer number of bodies left lying on the battlefields of the Great War is today beyond belief and by 1915 the situation was already becoming reprehensible. Burials were frequently made without any planning or organisation with graves marked by a simple wooden cross, sometimes with the name scratched on in pencil.

Major General Fabian Ware, who commanded a mobile ambulance unit during the First World War, quickly recognised that this could not continue. Ware believed that the war dead should all be treated alike with no distinction between wealth and status. The headstones should all be uniform, displaying name, rank and regimental badge with an inscription chosen by the family.

It was Reginald Blomfield who designed the memorial, the Cross of Sacrifice, which is now familiar worldwide. The design was delegated to a team of architects and when disagreements occurred among the team Blomfield had the final say. Blomfield’s design became so popular it was adopted everywhere from battlefield cemeteries to churchyards where there were more than 40 war graves.

Messrs B. Turvey and Sons, of Bath, have been successful in securing contracts for headstones at the British Military Hospital, at Ovillers, France, and also at Swindon. They have also been commissioned to supply the War memorials at Swindon (Radnor Street Cemetery), and at Arnos Vale (RC) Cemetery Bristol. The former will take the form of a Cross of Sacrifice, with a bronze sword* on the face of it, and the latter will be a Screen Wall, with moulded panels bearing the names of the soldiers who were interred in the cemetery.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette Saturday 22 August 1925

*the sword is now a resin replacement

Join us tomorrow, Sunday November 10, 2024 for a Service of Remembrance. Meet at the Cross of Sacrifice for 2 pm.

Rear Admiral Sir Arthur Hall – an extraordinary Swindon story

Sir Arthur Edward Hall KBE CB is not buried in Radnor Street Cemetery but his extraordinary Swindon Story deserves to be told.

Arthur Edward Hall was born on February 1, 1885, the son of Charles Hall, a boilermaker in the GWR Works, and his wife Emma. He grew up at 6 Andover Street, one of the streets that branched off the canal. A humble beginning for a man who went on to have a quite amazing career, as can be followed here in the obituary that appeared in The Times.

Adm. Sir Arthur Hall

Education in the Royal Navy

Instructor Rear-Admiral Sir Arthur Hall, K.B.E., C.B., who died at his home in London on Saturday at the age of 74, was a former Director of the Education Department of the Admiralty. He was the first naval officer to hold that post and the first to have the rank of instructor rear-admiral.

Arthur Edward Hall was born on February 1, 1885, the son of Charles Edward Hall. He was educated at Swindon College and the Royal College of Science, London. He taught for six years in the physics department of the Imperial College of Science before entering the Navy as an instructor in 1915. He served in the Inflexible during that war, was present at the Battle of Jutland, and was successively Fleet Education Officer to the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets, before he was appointed Deputy Inspector of Naval Schools in 1932. Four years later he was promoted to the new post of Director of the Admiralty Education Department where he served until his retirement in 1945. He was then for five years Director of Studies and Dean of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

Hall’s services to naval education were of the first importance. Yet he was active in many other fields as well. His connexion with the English Association was of long standing and he was chairman from 1951. He was a governor of Imperial College and chairman of the Royal School for Naval and Marine Officers’ Daughters from 1943. He was a member of the Hankey Committee on Further Education and Training (1943-45) and of the council of the Society for Nautical Research (1947-51). Among other organizations to which he gave his time were the Institute of Naval Architects and the Navy Records Society, of both of which he was treasurer, and the RN Scholarship Fund and the RN Benevolent Society.

He married in 1920 Constance Martha Gibbens, by whom he had a son and a daughter.

The Times, Monday November 23, 1959.

You may like to read the following family stories:-

Rev George Hunter – Primitive Methodist Minister

Rev George Hunter and his daughter Edith

Charles Edward Hall – 75 Morris Street