Priory Vale
| Priory Vale | |
  Priory Vale Priory Vale shown within Wiltshire | |
| OS grid reference | SU135887 |
|---|---|
| Unitary authority | Swindon |
| Ceremonial county | Wiltshire |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SWINDON |
| Postcode district | SN25 |
| Dialling code | 01793 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | North Swindon |
Priory Vale is a community within the Swindon (England) 'Northern Development Area'. It is made up of the villages Redhouse, Oakhurst and Haydon End. Although not strictly part of Priory Vale, the nearby village of Taw Hill completes this latest instalment in Swindon's northern expansion which began with Abbey Meads and continued at St Andrew's Ridge. The area was developed during the early 21st Century.
The Northern Development Area is served by Thamesdown Drive, or the 'Northern Orbital Road' which runs through the centre of Priory Vale, linking Purton Road in West Swindon, itself an urban expansion area from the 1970s and 1980s to the new Blunsdon Bypass and towards Cirencester.
On completion, Priory Vale is expected to comprise just over 6000 new homes spread over 640 acres (2.6 km2) of land. The homes themselves take up 390 acres (1.6 km2), interspersed with 82 acres (330,000 m2) of open space.
There are currently six schools in Priory Vale spread over 45 acres (180,000 m2): Brimble Hill Primary School, Isambard Community School, Red Oaks Primary School and Uplands Secondary School all within the Priory Vale Learning Campus in Redhouse, Orchid Vale Primary School in Haydon End, and Oakhurst Community Primary School in Oakhurst.
The Northern Development Area is home to what was reputed to be the largest supermarket store in the United Kingdom with 97,000 square feet (9,000 m2) of retail space. As well as the superstore, the Orbital Shopping Park plays host to a number of big name stores, a drive-through restaurant, a petrol station and the superbly equipped and stocked North Swindon Library.
Location
Although a coterminous part of the urban area of Swindon, Priory Vale falls outside the main township and is divided between two parishes; Haydon Wick and Blunsdon St Andrew. The bulk of the expansion area lies within Haydon Wick Parish which covers the areas occupied by the developments at Haydon Wick, Haydonleigh, Greenmeadow, Abbey Meads, Haydon End, parts of Redhouse, Taw Hill and large parts of Oakhurst. Other parts of Oakhurst and Redhouse reside within the Blunsdon St Andrew parish. People living within these parished areas have separate Parish Councils each an elected local government body with in the case of Haydon Wick in excess of 13,100 electors.
The early years
St Andrew parish sits in Blunsdon, although not within the area of the Northern Development Area. This is a village dating back to the Iron Age, where the earliest ancestors fortified and built a settlement. Blunsdon is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Bluntesdone', at which time the settlement had a population of only two or three adult males. In 1281, there was also a reference to 'Bluntesdon Seynt Andreu'. Additionally in recent years, archaeologists discovered a Roman travellers' resting place on the site of the present-day Cold Harbour pub a mile or so away from the 'northern expansion', and the A419 main road through Blunsdon also follows the course of a Roman road known as Ermine Street that linked the historic towns of Cirencester and Silchester.
The recent Roman find at Groundwell Ridge Abbey Meads within the 'Northern Expansion' is believed to be a religious and ceremonial site.[citation needed]
Blunsdon Abbey was a prominent landmark in the area and inspired the title of the Abbey Meads development. The name 'Priory Vale' follows this monastic theme. Local tradition claims Blunsdon Abbey was originally an outpost of Godstow Nunnery near Oxford. Apparently, the land was granted to the Brydges family during the reign of Henry VIII.
In 1860, a wealthy sportsman, Clayton de Windt, purchased the estate and built a new house in the "latest Neo-Gothic style" to designs by E.Mantell of London. The builder was Thomas Barrett of Swindon, who created an imposing residence with forty bedrooms, grand interiors, entrance hall, billiards room and lavish furnishings. Clayton de Windt was killed in a riding accident in 1863, and sadly, in April 1904, fire destroyed the house and its contents.
Today, the development occupies farmland and fields dating back to the 18th century. The villages Redhouse and Haydon End are named after these historical fields, while the village title of Oakhurst was taken from the name of the home at Haydon End Farm. Indeed, for many years, the Haydon area of Priory Vale was home to farm owners and ancient meadowlands.
Prior to 1928 the parish of Haydon Wick was part of the parish of Rodbourne Cheney.
A timeline of development
November 2001: The Mayor of Swindon, David Cox, officially opened the Northern Orbital Road. The three-mile stretch of dual carriageway provided the first stage of an important bypass to the north of Swindon. The new road gave access to the new supermarket and provided the necessary infrastructure to begin work on the planned community of Priory Vale.
The Asda supermarket opened for business on 26 November.
2002: Chris and Tracy Barnes with their daughters Natalie and Jessica, went down in history as the very first residents of Priory Vale. The couple took up residence in a three-storey built by Bloor Homes in their Saunders Brook development.
May 2002: The May bank holiday saw the installation of what was reputed to be Swindon's 'showiest' bridge. Specifically designed for all pedestrian, cycle, disabled and equestrian use, this steel stayed structure spans 62 metres across the Northern Orbital Road. The bridge was transported from Tyneside complete and ready to position, minimising any disruption to traffic on Thamesdown Drive. The bridge later featured in an advert for the Honda Civic which is built in the town.
November 2002: The Priory Vale Visitor Centre opened to the public on Tuesday 26 November 2002. The timber-framed building was designed by Nigel Clark Architects and built by EW Beard.
2005: Construction of the Learning Campus commences. The project involves designing, building operating five schools: Red Oaks, Brimble Hill, Uplands and Isambard Community School within the Learning Campus, and Orchid Vale in Haydon End.
September 2006: Red Oaks Primary School and Orchid Vale Primary School open. The first day at Red Oaks saw King George XI (aka Roger Day) leading the children through a story that culminated in planting a magic silver acorn. Children's TV personality Dave Benson Phillips joined the King and pupils for the ceremony. Meanwhile at Orchid Vale in Haydon End, children received a warm welcome from headteacher Debbie Kalynka. "We're building a community spirit at Orchid Vale and there is a spirit of working together," she said.
March 2007: In March 2007, the Priory Vale Visitor Centre closed its doors. Situated on Thamesdown Drive, the Visitor Centre was created to inform prospective buyers of available properties and direct people to developments throughout Priory Vale. With Priory Vale now an established location, Priory Vale's individual developers take on the responsibility to market their own properties.
September 2007: In September 2007, it is proposed that a new community centre will be completed to cater for Oakhurst and Redhouse residents, as they have no nearby community centre. The nearest amenities are a 15-minute walk or a mile drive to the near shopping complex.
The North Swindon Development Company
The first land deal that made Swindon's northern expansion project possible dates back to 1982 when housing developer Crest Nicholson acquired Abbey Farm from the Hitchin family. Shortly afterwards an option on the Francis family land became available and the arduous process of obtaining planning permission began in earnest. After years of intense negotiation, and precisely ten years later, planning permission for 10,000 new homes was granted in 1992.
Work commenced in 1993 and the former Francis land, just off Lady Lane was the first area to be developed. From a slow start, 81 houses were built and sold in 1994, building up to a massive 800 houses in 1997, quite an impressive increase within the space of four years. At the peak, the project had twelve of the UK's leading housebuilders building, it's hardly surprising that it took only seven years to build over 2,700 houses in the development known as Abbey Meads.
Some smaller developments followed before the final phase of the northern expansion project of Priory Vale. The planning cost of Priory Vale was substantially increased over the years and the cost of developing such a scheme was beyond the capability of one housing developer. As a result, the North Swindon Development Company (NSDC) was formed acting as an enabler in respect of all the works. The NSDC is owned and run jointly by George Wimpey, Westbury, Bloor Homes, Bryant Homes, Crest Nicholson and Walmart.
References
External links
- The Priory Vale community website
- Haydon Wick Parish Council Website
- Blunsdon St Andrew Parish Council Website
- New dig at Roman site in Swindon