Demolition Glow

The sun going down on Aspen House.

The Disappearance of Aspen House

With demolition on the smaller sections of Aspen House underway, the tower is wrapped up ready to vanish from the Swindon skyline.

Right Beneath Our Feet : Swindon's Lost Library

It's not every day you discover a library lost for decades whilst walking to buy a loaf of bread.

But at the back of Aspen House, in the alleyway that links Regent Street and Granville Street, just a few inches below where the tarmac has broken away, is a double-line of bricks.

Looking at this map from the Swindon Collection, it's marked in 1956 as a 'Arts Centre and Junior Library'. It's shape and location makes it seem to be the Northern wall, running South-West to North-East.

In a similar way to the remains of Byron Street that we found just a few inches below the street surface, it makes you wonder how many other buildings in Swindon lie just below our feet, waiting to be discovered...

The broken red brick sits clearly amongst the broken tarmac and fag-ends.

To give some context, the close-up picture is about an inch to the left of the left gate-post of the back of the Aspen House site.

Get the Meccano Out

Things are moving quickly at Swindon's Regent Circus development. Take a look.

Last Day at the (Registry) Office

Today I got the opportunity to look around Aspen House in Swindon's Temple Street. Empty since 2009 and scheduled for demolition soon, it was also the home for Swindon's Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths.

That means Aspen House has been one of the most important buildings in Swindon, registering every birth, marriage and death within the Borough during it's time.

One chair left, but no desk.

Still on the wall in the registry office.

The room where thousands of Swindon people got married.

The heavy door used to secure the strongroom containing the GRO Records (Swindon's Birth, Marriages and Deaths records).

The Civil Partnerships noticeboard.

The 2009 lists of the 100 most popular boys and girls names in England & Wales.

Details of the move to the Civic Offices.

From the roof, the Town Hall, Central Library and M.E.C.A.

From the roof, looking East/South-East.

From the roof looking North-East.

From the roof looking North.

From the roof down onto the registry office building and Temple Street.

From the roof looking North/North-West.

From the roof looking North-West.

From the roof looking North-West, showing the former WHSmith Bridge House, St Marks, the Outlet Centre, Renault Building, Westmead and Shaw Forest Park.

From the roof down to Granville Street Car Park and Havelock Street.

From the roof looking West.

From the roof looking South.

From the roof looking down to Commercial Road.

From the roof looking South-East towards the former Swindon College site. 

On the ground floor, the canteen.

Looking onto Regent Street from the Registrar's Office.