Sir John Betjeman – Radnor Street Cemetery

A large number of people attended our last Radnor Street Cemetery walk as you can see from the photograph below. However, perhaps surprisingly, far fewer attended the walks we organised at St Marks several years ago.

Among those buried in the churchyard by the railway track are Engineer William Frederick Gooch the younger brother of Sir Daniel Gooch, employed as Manager at the Swindon GWR Works at the time of the 1861 census.

A hugely influential man in the early history of the Works and the Railway Village was Works Manager Minard C. Rea. who died in 1857. His memorial is published below.

And, probably most famously, is the memorial to Joseph Armstrong, Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent at the Great Western Railway 1864-1877.

The churchyard was closed to new burials in 1881 – after a mere 36 years it was already full. The new Swindon Cemetery on Kingshill, better known today as Radnor Street Cemetery, opened on August 6 that same year.

Poet Laureate John Betjeman was a big fan of St. Mark’s.

‘The parishioners of St Philip and St Jacob in Bristol entreated the Great Western to build a church for their workers; directors stumped up money, subscriptions were raised, land was presented and by 1845, St Mark’s church was built.

There it stands today close beside the line on the Bristol side of the station. A stone building, all spikes and prickles outside, designed by Gilbert Scott who was then a young man and who lived to build hundreds of rather dull copy-book churches all over Britain, and to build St Pancras Hotel, the Foreign Office in London and to restore many cathedrals.

One cannot call it a convenient site. Whistles and passing trains disturb the services, engine smoke blackens the leaves and tombstones, and eats into the carved stonework of the steeple. But it is a strong church and though it is not much to look at, it is for me the most loved church in England. For not carved stones nor screen and beautiful altars, nor lofty arcades nor gilded canopies, but the priests who minister and the people who worship make a church strong. If ever I feel England is Pagan, and that the poor old Church of England is tottering to its grave, I revisit St Mark’s, Swindon. That corrects the impression at once. A simple and definite faith is taught; St Mark’s and its daughter churches are crowded. Swindon, so ugly to look at to the eyes of the architectural student, glows golden as the New Jerusalem to eyes that look beyond the brick and stone…

Extracts published from First and Last Loves a collection of essays on architecture published in 1952.

With so many interesting stories to tell we were a little surprised that these walks did not prove more popular. Perhaps it is because Radnor Street Cemetery has an extra special place in the hearts and memories of 21st century Swindonians.

Photograph from our most recent guided cemetery walk at Radnor Street Cemetery

In the 1960s Swindon’s iconic railway village was under threat of demolition. Purchased by the local authority in 1966 the 19^th century cottages were in a state of dilapidation and Swindon Borough Council were intent upon a project of demolition and rebuilding. However, a passionate local campaign and the vocal support of Sir John Betjeman, Poet Laureate, rescued the village and a programme of renovation began.

John Ham was born in 1860 in Pontnewyndd, Pontypool. His parents moved to Swindon soon after John’s birth and he spent the rest of his life living in the railway village. He appears on the 1871 census, a schoolboy aged 11, living at 29 Reading Street with his widowed mother Ann, his uncle and aunt, and his elder brother 13 year old William. William was already working as an office boy in the GWR Works and as soon as he was able to John joined him.

In 1881 John was head of the household at 29 Reading Street where he lived with his mother Ann and three engine fitting apprentices.

On September 10, 1885 John married near neighbour Emily Solven who lived at 21 Reading Street. John and Emily began married life at 29 Reading Street where they were living at the time of the 1891 census with their young son William, and John’s cousin George Rushton.

By 1901 the family had moved to 15 Faringdon Street where John died in May 1905 aged 44 years. Despite his premature death John had contributed considerably to life in Swindon as can be seen from the brief obituary published in the Wiltshire Times. He was buried in grave plot D80 on May 19, 1905 where he was joined by Emily following her death in 1926.

Death of Mr J. Ham – The death is announced of Mr John Ham, a well known member of the Council of the GWR Mechanics’ Institute, Swindon. Deceased, who was only 47 [44] years of age, had been a clerk in the GWR Works for the past 33 years, going there immediately on leaving school. He had been an active member of the Council of the Institute for the past 12 years. He was a prominent Oddfellow, being a member of the “Widow’s Hope” Lodge, and also a good cricketer. He leaves a widow and two little children – a son and daughter.

The Wiltshire Times, Saturday, May 20, 1905.