The Goddard family were a prominent landed family chiefly living in the northern regions of the English counties of Wiltshire and Hampshire and the western part of Berkshire, between the Tudor period and the early 20th century.
The Goddards were established at manors in Upper Upham, near Aldbourne, and at Clyffe Pypard (both in Wiltshire) from at least the late 15th century. From 1563 until 1927, the family were lords of the manor of Swindon, living on the Goddard Estate at the house known as The Lawn. Other important manors included Ogbourne St George in Wiltshire, Standen at Hungerford in Berkshire and Stargroves at East Woodhay in Hampshire.
The manor of Upper Upham, in Aldbourne parish south-east of Swindon, was held by Lacock Abbey from the 13th century until the dissolution, then in 1540 was purchased by John Goddard (died 1557). [1] His grandson Richard (died 1614) built a substantial house there in 1599. [2] The estate was sold by his descendants sometime before the early 18th century, but in 1870 was bought by Ambrose Lethbridge Goddard (1819–1898); his son Fitzroy Pleydell Goddard sold it in 1909. [1] Upham House still stands, altered and extended in the early 20th century, and later divided into three dwellings. [3]
Thomas Goddard of Upham acquired the manor of Swindon in 1563 from the Crown. He later purchased the Crown Inn, renamed the Goddard Arms, which become Swindon's de facto Town Hall, courthouse and council rooms until the mid-19th century.
Thomas Goddard's purchase was said to include profits of the fairs and the weekly market, 60 messuages, 40 cottages, 2 water mills, 100 gardens, 100 orchards, 600 acres (2.4 km2) of land, 200 acres (0.81 km2) of meadows, 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of heath, 30 acres (120,000 m2) of woods, 120 acres (0.49 km2) of pasture and one dovecote. [4]
The estate included the area known today as the Lawn, and was bounded by the High Street and the site of Christchurch. The manor house was rebuilt around 1770; it is probable that this was on the site of a mediaeval building. It was known as Swindon House until 1850, and later as The Lawn.
The family home was a double-cube fronted building of brick with stone dressings and a baluster parapet. To the east of this was a five-bedroom dining block that looked out onto the gardens. [4] When last occupied by the family, The Lawn had an outer and inner hall on the ground floor (giving access to a lobby and drawing room), a dining room with adjoining study, billiard room, library and gun room. There were two staircases leading to the various bedrooms, some with adjoining dressing rooms, and also the nursery and servants' quarters.
The grounds included an arboretum, lawns, artificial lakes and ornamental gardens and was used for entertaining, garden parties and fêtes. During cold periods the frozen lakes were used by the family and local residents for ice skating.
The last of the male line, Major Fitzroy Pleydell Goddard, a diplomat, died in 1927. His widow, Eugenia Kathleen, left Swindon in 1931. Subsequent to this, the house remained empty until it was occupied by British and American forces during World War II. Damaged by the military, it was bought from The Crown by Swindon Corporation in 1947 for £16,000. The sale included 53 acres (210,000 m2) of land, the manor house and the adjacent Holy Rood Church. [4]
The house was derelict by 1952 and demolished. The grounds were opened as parkland and remain so. Today, the wood, lake, sunken garden, elements of the walls and the gateposts at the entrance to The Lawns are all open to the public. The site of the former stables is now the Planks auction house.
Descendants of Thomas Goddard were lords of the manor until the 20th century. In the following list, descent is from father to son unless noted. [4]
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The Goddard family owned the Stargroves estate at East Woodhay from 1565 until about 1830.
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In the 1550s, Standen Manor in Hungerford was bought by John Goddard of Upper Upham House and it became one of the family's favourite homes. [7] The family purchased Clyffe Pypard manor in Wiltshire around the same time and divided their time between the two. [7] They were associated with this county for about 150 years. [7]
Aldbourne is a village and civil parish about 6 miles (10 km) north-east of Marlborough, Wiltshire, England, in a valley on the south slope of the Lambourn Downs – part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. From here an unnamed winterbourne flows south to join the River Kennet 4 miles (6 km) away near Ramsbury. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 1,833. The parish includes the hamlets of Upper Upham and Woodsend and part of the hamlet of Preston, which straddles the boundary with Ramsbury. The village of Snap became deserted in the early 20th century.
Stargroves is a manor house and associated estate at East Woodhay in the English county of Hampshire. The house belonged to Mick Jagger during the 1970s and was a recording venue for the Rolling Stones and various other rock bands, as well as a filming location for Doctor Who.
Abbey House Gardens is a country house garden in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England, covering 5 acres (2.0 ha). The garden was transformed in the 1990s by the so-called Naked Gardeners: Ian and Barbara Pollard. In 2021 the property was acquired by new American owners, Whit and Kim Hanks. They plan to convert the house into a boutique hotel, while ensuring that the gardens are regularly opened to the public. During the 2022 summer season the gardens were opened from May to October on the second Saturday of each month.
Wallingwells is a small civil parish and hamlet in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England, with a population at the 2001 census of 22. The population remained less than 100 at the 2011 census, details were included in the civil parish of Carlton in Lindrick. The population was recorded as 27 at the 2021 census. It lies about five miles north of Worksop.
Broad Town is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Royal Wootton Bassett and 6 miles (10 km) southwest of Swindon. The parish includes the hamlet of Thornhill and the farming hamlet of Cotmarsh.
Clyffe Pypard is a village and civil parish about 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) south of Royal Wootton Bassett in North Wiltshire, England.
Swindon is a town in Wiltshire in the South West of England. People have lived in the town since the Bronze Age and the town's location, being approximately halfway between Bristol and London, made it an ideal location for the Locomotive Factories of the Great Western Railway in the 19th century.
This is a list of the sheriffs and high sheriffs of Wiltshire.
Lydiard Tregoze is a small village and civil parish on the western edge of Swindon in the county of Wiltshire, in the south-west of England. Its name has in the past been spelt as Liddiard Tregooze.
Ambrose Goddard (c.1727–1815) was a British merchant and landowner who sat in the House of Commons from 1772 to 1806.
Bushton is an English hamlet about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Royal Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire. It belongs to the civil parish of Clyffe Pypard.
Lawn Manor Academy is a secondary school with academy status in Walcot, Swindon, Wiltshire, England. Its site is next to The Lawn, a public park which was the grounds of a manor house, home of the Goddard family.
Upper Upham is a hamlet and deserted medieval village in the civil parish of Aldbourne in the English county of Wiltshire. Its nearest town is Marlborough, which lies approximately 5.6 miles (9.0 km) to the south-west; the hamlet is reached by a narrow lane off the B4192 Aldbourne-Swindon road.
Blackland is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Calne Without, just south-east of the town of Calne, in Wiltshire, England. There is a 13th-century church and an 18th-century country house, Blackland House. In 1881 the parish had a population of 50.
Gabriel Pleydell of Midg Hall in the parish of Lydiard St John in Wiltshire, was an English landowner and politician who served as Member of Parliament for the Wootton Bassett and Marlborough constituencies in the Parliament of England. Pleydell was born before 1519 into a large, affluent family. He entered politics in March 1553 as a member for Wootton Bassett, close to his family estate at Midgehall in Wiltshire. Pleydell's election to the Marlborough constituency two years later may have been made possible by his father's influential connections. He returned to the Wootton Bassett seat at the request of Sir John Thynne in 1563; he had supported Thynne in a dispute over the Knighthood of the Shire in 1559.
The Church of St Peter, Clyffe Pypard, Wiltshire is a parish church of the Diocese of Salisbury, England. It dates from the 13th and 15th centuries, and was restored by William Butterfield in 1860 and 1873–1874. The churchyard contains the grave of Nikolaus Pevsner and his wife Lola. St Peter's is a Grade I listed building and remains an active parish church.
Sir Thomas Buckler Lethbridge, 2nd Baronet (1778–1849) of Sandhill Park in the parish of Bishops Lydeard and of Royal Crescent, in Bath, both in Somerset, was an English politician and soldier.
Ambrose Lethbridge Goddard was a British landowner and Conservative Party politician.
Rudloe Manor is a 17th-century Grade II* listed manor house in Box parish, Wiltshire, England.