This church was the parish church for Swindon until the mid 1800's when   Christ Church   was built.   It stands in the former Goddard Estate, now known as   The Lawns.   The building in these photographs is the chancel and is all that remains of the much larger parish church.

The late Dennis Bird wrote a book about Holy Rood called "The Story of Holy Rood - Old Parish Church of Swindon", ISBN 0951763903, published in 1991 and printed by Thamesdown Community Press.   Dennis has managed to write about facts and information in an interesting as well as knowledgeable way.   We had viewed Holy Rood as a rather sad building, albeit in a lovely location, but Dennis' book brought the history to life and now the sadness is that only the chancel survives.

The church and grounds are usually kept locked but are opened to the general public in September as part of the Heritage Weekend when many places are made accessible that usually remain locked - so little time to go to so many buildings rarely open.

We have divided up our photographs of the building into 'Inside' and 'Outside' as it stands today; please bear in mind some of the features shown as being outside were originally inside the building.

Our visit in September 2004 was rather frustrating for us.   Rather annoyingly the weather was overcast, making our photographs appear dull; the showers made us run for shelter on more than one occasion.   To add to this, it was only later we discovered we had our camera set at a lower quality than we usually use for our church photographs and some gravestone/memorial photographs were not readable which may have been if the better setting was used.   We will have to return here another time and order good weather and make sure the camera is set correctly.

We did manage to photograph many of the gravestones before finally giving up as the light faded and rain became too heavy.   However, many of the inscriptions are simply too eroded to read so have not been included in these pages.   Some photographs have been included even if only a name is visible.   Please bear in mind we have guessed at some names and we would appreciate you contacting us if you know we have an incorrect spelling or the name is wrong.   Thank you

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September 2000 (391k)

September 2004 (832k)

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September 2000 (D005 - 95k)

Inscription above door - Johannes Vilett (in Latin) We will replace these blurred photos September 2000 (D006 - 137k)

September 2004 (857k)

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Figures on the Chancel arch (originally inside) September 2004 (968k)

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December 1999 (412k)

December 1999 (407k)

September 2000 (67k)

September 2004 (867k)

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Old yew tree - our shelter from the rain! September 2004 (997k)

The graveyard - now mainly grassed over, with stones placed around the perimeter September 2004 (782k)

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In memory of Brian BRIDGEMAN September 2004 (138 - 893k)

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In memory of Richard JEFFERIES September 2004 (140 - 728k)

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Looking beyond the stone walls September 2004 (845k)

September 2004 (989k)